01	Mea Culpa						02:00
	02	Leaden Legacy						05:07
	03	Semblance Of Confusion						04:09
	04	Black Tomb						06:29
	05	Follow In The Cry						04:06
	06	Silence From Afar						05:52
	07	Inimical Chimera						05:00
	08	Tortuous Threnody						06:13
	09	Yield To Temptation						05:53
	10	Ephemeral						03:05
	11	Beyond Me						06:11

2000 Transmission TM-023

After Forever - Prison Of Desire

Released: 2000
Label: Transmission Records
Cat. No.:
Total Time:


Reviewed by: courtesy Larry Daglieri, August 2000
Having briefly delved into this peculiar style of what we call "Beauty & the Beast" metal, I believe I have found my Karma amongst the many bands out there who are starting to provide a good push for this genre. In short, the style is aptly named because of the dual vocalists that the bands front, one usually being an operatic female with beautiful cords, and the other a death growler / screamer that complements the softness of the female voice. The differences between the singers in other bands usually lie in the aggressiveness, style, and input of the growling male singer. He can be heard either way up front in the mix as a lead, sharing the mix to complement the female, or sparingly placed back in the mix as an atmosphere rather than a focal point. In my case, I prefer the growler to be placed back in the mix as an atmosphere, especially when the female vocalist has a superb voice, and I prefer that the female voice be left to carry the music as the male complements and preserves the aggression of the music. Speaking of the music, this particular style usually consists of beautifully layered symphonic, gothic, crunching guitar driven metal. I believe that its this sound that appeals to and attracts the listener first, and then the vocals make the deciding difference depending on their particular taste.

In the case of After Forever, the band has injected its entire sound with just about every ingredient that anyone could possibly want in this type of music. Starting with the music, it's a nicely arranged disc filled with twin crunching guitars, beautiful / lush, atmospheric synths, laced with faster paced song structures than are normally found in this type of music. The female vocalist, Floor Jansen, is among the best in this genre. I have not found any "bad" sounding female singers in the many bands that I've heard in this style. I have heard many singers who "chant" their lyrics, whom I've deemed "enchantresses". I consider Floor Jansen to be one of the best in the genre, if not the best I've heard so far. Her operatic style, beauty and range far exceed most of the singers out there and I feel that her emotional injections into the music put her just one step ahead of the rest of the pack. She sounds like she has had some voice training as well, especially when it comes to her higher, operatic range which she uses quite well. Sharon Den Adel of Within Temptation provides a guest appearance on this disc as well, the other female singer who I coincidentally consider to be among the elite in the genre. The guitars are nicely layered, thick and crunchy. They have an aggressive edge to them as well, giving them an almost Ayreon-like sound, especially considering that the band is signed to Transmission Records, home of the great Ayreon as well, and mixed by Oscar Holleman, also a god of the great Ayreon sound recordings.

Speaking of productions, this is one of the best sounding discs I've heard in the genre. Usually, there are some sacrifices to be made in the sound dept for a lot of these bands, but After Forever have found a niche in the sound barrier and decided to go all out and make their disc sound just a bit more special than the rest of the pack. Of note, the vocals are extremely well placed considering whats going on musically. Floor can be heard at all levels of power, from the soft, clean plush moments to the wailing, heavier sides of the music as well. The male singer is placed a bit back in the mix, to provide atmosphere rather than focal point. Choirs are used heavily and wonderfully, providing a full, rich, eerie sound to the music. The bass is full and deep and can be easily heard amidst the twin guitars. The drums are just about perfectly recorded and have a "real" drum sound to them rather than some of the tinnier sounds that plague bands of this style. Much of the appeal of this disc comes from the great sound achieved, which in my opinion shows attention to detail on the part of the band to cover every aspect of the recording, which they have done superbly.

Overall, this is easily some of the best "Beauty & the Beast" metal on the circuit today. Its an absolute must purchase for all fans of this style, and for anyone who wants to know what this style of music is all about, After Forever is the definitive place to start. Its also one of the most diverse sounding discs in this style as well and should appeal to many of the progressive metal fans as well as metal fans.

More about Prison Of Desire:

Track Listing:

Sound Clips: www.afterforever.com

Musicians:
Floor Jansen - vocals
Mark Jansen - guitars, screams
Sander Grommans - guitars, grunts
Jack Driessen - synths
Luuk van Gerven - bass
Joep Beckers - drums

Contact:
Bergerhofweg 9a
NL 5953 NR Reuver

Website: www.afterforever.com
Note: will open new browser window

Email: afterforever1000@hotmail.com or afterforever2000@hotmail.com

Discography

Ephemeral
Wings Of Illusion
Prison Of Desire
Decipher




"Prison of Desire" (album)

Prison of Desire is the first cd of After Forever, recorded under the label Transmission Records. The cd was recorded in the Excess studio in Rotterdam (NL) during December and January 2000. A real choir was asked for the cd, consisting of Hans Cassa (Bass), Caspar de Jonge (Tenor), Yvonne Rooda (Alto) and Melissa 't Hart (Soprano). Furthermore Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation) was asked to join Floor in a duet on "Beyond Me". The cd was mixed in the studio RS29 by Oscar Holleman in Waalwijk (NL) during February and mastered by Peter van 't Riet at Sound Factory, Soest (NL).

"Prison of Desire" was released in April 2000 and was received very well by a lot of magazines. Soon after the release in the Netherlands the cd was released in many other European countries, including Belgium, Germany, Czechia, Italy, Portugal and Greece. After that the cd was released in other parts of the world, like Japan, Brazil, Chile, Canada and Israel.

Meanwhile a lot of copies of "Prison of Desire" have been sold all over the world.

"Prison of Desire" contains eleven tracks:

Mea Culpa (The Embrace That Smother - Prologue)
Leaden Legacy (The Embrace That Smothers - Part I)
Semblance of Confusion
Black Tomb
Follow in the Cry (The Embrace That Smothers - Part II)
Silence from Afar
Inimical Chimera
Tortuous Threnody
Yield to Temptation (The Embrace that Smothers - Part III)
Ephemeral
Beyond Me



After Forever - Prison of Desire
Country of Origin: The Netherlands
Format: CD
Record Label: Transmission
Catalogue #: TM-023
Year of Release: 2000
Time: 54:05
Info: After Forever

Tracklist: Mea Culpa (2:00), Leaden Lecagy (5:07), Semblance of Confusion (4:09), Black Tomb (6:29), Follow In The Cry (4:06), Silence from Afar (5:52), Inimical Chimera (5:00), Tortuous Threnody (6:13), Yield To Temptation (5:53), Ephemeral (3:05), Beyond Me (6:11)
Wolverine, eat your heart out! Here is Dutch Prog-Dark-Metal band After Forever, from the Arjan 'Ayreon' Lucassen stable Transmission Records. Combining the darkest classical music influences (think Wagner), with pounding bass, female soprano crystal-clear vocals and melodic grunts, makes this one of the best debut albums I have heard recently. Gothic symfo pur sang, from a band with very young members.

The classical choir opening on Mea Culpa sets the dark tone for the album, and gave me a good change to pick up my Latin again. That may be a little critisism on the album: the lyrics are over-pretentious, using words that I have never even heard of (and trust me, I have had plenty of education in that respect). This track seemlessly flows over in Leaden Legacy, and together they make a perfect pair. In fact, I was so impressed that, before playing the rest of the album the first couple of times I listened to it, I just replayed these two tracks over and over. The perfect voice of the female vocalist, the beautiful dark melancholic melody, the excellent grunts and the perfect production of the tracks astounded me.

Semblance Of Confusion is proggier in style, with lots of rhythmic variations, and very classical ornaments to the melody. A somewhat more complex track that takes a bit longer to get used to. Some Iron Maiden influences in the guitar playing cannot be denied.
Black Tomb opens calmly, with some melodic keyboard chords, and acoustic guitar. Then a Threshold-like part follows, with pounding guitars and mildy dissonant keyboards, to enter into a very fast part, almost Dream Theatre-esque, intertwined with heavy grunting. Again a very well worked out track.
Follow in the City features an Middle-Eastern melody line in its opening. The classical choir, singing a duet with grunting and howling deep vocals, is particulary effective in this track.

Then, to my opinion, the albums collapses somewhat. Their box of tricks has been used up and the rest of the album does not bring any surpises any more. Silence From Afar is a ballad, quite straightforward and in the same atmosphere as the rest of the album (quite bombastic). A nice symfo-ballad though, with some (keyboard)-flute and a heavy faster middle part. The next couple of songs feature the same ideas as the previous ones. The guest appearence of Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation and the 'Indian' on Ayreon's Into the Electric Castle) on the last track is worth mentioning. A powerful ballad to end the album. One advantage of getting a deal with Transmission Records: vocalist Floor Jansen will do a guest appearence on the next Ayreon project as well.

All in all a very good album, a bit in the vein of some of the Into The Electric Castle pieces. But where the Castle was pure genius due to the very varied music, After Forever focusses on a handful of ideas that are repeated a couple of times. Of course, they will develop further and in the future I hope they will develop a more varied style. But what lies here before us is something to be proud of. If you like dark bombastic, Gothic symfo, add this one to your collection! Just listen to the soundclips on their homepage to get an idea of their skills. And note the excellent production, both sound-technically and the thick, stylish booklet!

Conclusion: 8.5 out of 10.

Remco Schoenmakers