01	Ex Cathedra						02:02
	02	Monolith Of Doubt						03:32
	03	My Pledge Of Allegiance I						06:24
	04	Emphasis						04:20
	05	Intrinsic						06:43
	06	Zenith						04:21
	07	Estranged						06:56
	08	Imperfect Tenses						04:07
	09	My Pledge Of Allegiance II						05:07
	10	The Key						04:48
	11	Forlorn Hope						06:20

After Forever - Decipher

Released: 2001
Label:
Cat. No.:
Total Time:


Reviewed by: Larry Daglieri, February 2002
Bands like After Forever don't come around often. More times than not, bands just starting out in the business release a semi-noticed disc, one that gets some sort of attention from a small group of fans, and then either fade off into the distance, release a mediocre sophomore follow-up, or mature and keep on trying to make a statement without really putting a dent into the masses of ears eager for something different or great. In the case of After Forever, their first release Prison Of Desire was incredible from the start. Everything about the disc and the band screamed out greatness - from the incredible artwork, class, production, vocal performance, style, and performance. Dubbed "Beauty & The Beast" music by most familiar with this style, the band has a crunchy dual guitar attack, laced with tons of keyboards, and a very operatic female singer complemented by dual "growlers" or "grunters". The combination works well if done right, and although lots of people have a tough time warming up to this style, there is no doubt that After Forever reached many ears and converted them over to this style of music. The music is warm, melodic, gothic, eerie, haunting and beautifully powerful all at the same time.

It would be difficult for any band to top a debut release like Prison Of Desire given its quality, and Decipher, the newest release, was eagerly awaited by many eager to see how a band could top greatness a second time around.

Suffice to say that Decipher has topped Prison Of Desire in every conceivable way. From the even better artwork, songs, atmosphere, vocal performance, production and maturity, the band has managed to somehow outdo themselves and crank up greatness to another level. A couple of things have changed within the band apparently to accomplish this feat. First, the keyboard player and drummer have been changed. Equally competent players have replaced them. Violins, violas, violin cellos have been added to make the sound more gothic and atmospheric. Acoustic guitars adorn lots of the sound. Floor Jansen has increased her vocal ability somehow -- she was adorned on Prison Of Desire" for her ability to sing in a variety of styles, including opera to semi-pop style to all out aggression. She sounds much more confident and powerful this time out. The "Beast" parts have been minimized, although After Forever used them very sparingly and wisely than most bands in this style, and this is how the band have found their way into the hearts of those who feared this style because of overuse of the growls. On Decipher, they are used even more sparingly and in only the most necessary parts of the songs to emphasize the emotions within. This gives Floor even more chance to show off her style and ability. The guitars are still heavy and powerful, which is the basis for their power and heaviness. Solos are kept to a minimum, allowing the synths and violins to do their thing. The dramatic, epic style of the songs has also been increased - giving the impression of this band standing before a huge orchestra and choir.

The ballad between Floor Jansen and guest vocalist Rein Kolpa on "Imperfect Tenses" remind me of Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman performing some musical track from a huge modern play. It's beautiful as well as haunting and fits perfectly with the style and sound of After Forever.

The production even goes further than Prison Of Desire, and only Oscar "Ayreon" Holleman, Stephen van Haestregt, and Peter van 't Riet could combine their talents to produce sound this huge from so many instruments being played at once. The sound will certainly tax your sound system and show just what a band can really do with sound given the opportunity to work with people who know what huge sound is all about.

This band is without a doubt going to have a huge future if they can keep up the greatness as they have from the beginning. As more and more people get to hear this style of music, they will be able to appreciate what this band has to offer in a different way than most others in this genre. If darkness, power, atmosphere and huge epic songs are what you look for in music, look no further than this band. This is absolutely essential for any listener of progressive metal music and for those who think that "beauty & the beast" music isn't what it is cut out to be. After Forever represents the first line of quality in this genre, and with releases like this, will be around for a long time leading the way for this genre to become more accepted worldwide. Mind-blowingly incredible.

More about Decipher:

Track Listing:

Musicians:
Floor Jansen - vocals
Mark Jansen - guitars, screams
Sander Gommans - guitars, grunts
Lando Van Gils - synths
Luuk Van Gerven - bass
Andre Borgman - drums, acoustic guitars

Contact:

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 (2001)



After Forever - Decipher
Country of Origin: The Netherlands
Format: CD
Record Label: Transmission Records
Catalogue #: TM-029
Year of Release: 2001
Time: 54:46
Info: Afer Forever
Samples: None

Tracklist: Ex Cathedra (2:02), Monolith of Doubt (3:32), My Pledge of Alliance 1 (6:24), Emphasis (4:20), Intrinisic (6:43), Zenith (4:21), Estranged (6:56), Imperfect Tenses (4:07), My pledge of Alliance 2 (5:07), The Key (4:48), Forlorn Hope (6:20)
After Forever was one of the major discoveries of the last two years with their debut album Prison of Desire. They played a very impressive amount of gigs in the Netherlands, but also a couple abroad. In the meantime, even I had the opportunity to see them live in Eindhoven, together with Within Temptation a while ago. They gave a very strong performance, even though their metal side is more to the front live than it is on the album(s) (the fact that during the breaks thundering death metal was played didn't really help either...).

As was to be expected, their new album basically continues the style of the previous album, and at a first glance it even seems a copy of ideas of the first album. For instance, the classical piece with which the album opens, the choir etc. is an almost literal copy of the musical idea of the first album, also the build up, with the second track being not too complicated, and having a rhythmically more challanging third piece comes close to Prison of Desire. However, after the album has settled a bit more, and it takes a couple of spins to achieve that, it slowly becomes apparent that After Forever has grown in their music, the whole album sounds more mature, and in a sense both (even) darker and more balanced than their debut. The deep grunts are not used as heavily any more and Floor Jansen sings more in a "normal" voice (even though she does use her soprano vocals now and again). In fact, in some parts her voice even starts sounding a bit like Lana Lane.....

The impression I had after listening to this album for a week or two is that this album definitely is more "progressive" than the debut album. Especially the rhythmic section has improved a lot. I personally was most impressed by My Pledge Of Allegiance, which has a complex, yet still very catchy and powerful rhythm line. I think a lot of symphonic and progressive rock fans will love this album too, as the album is very varied and even contains sensitive ballads like for instance Intrinsic, where Floor Jansen manages to put a lot of emotion in her singing. But before everybody falls asleep, one is awakened with the powerful metal piece Zenith.
The use of original classical instruments like cello and violin, as well as a real choir, adds enormously to the overal dynamics of the album, especially in a piece like Estranged, which goes through a whole range of moods and can also be considered quite a masterpiece. In Imperfect Senses, After Forever does something new: a duet between Jansen (soprano) and a male tenor. Damn, you almost would think they were sponsered by Joop van den Ende and they are practicing for After Forever - The Musical ;-) (Dutch joke). All jokes set aside: this ballad is a bit too sweet for me, even though melodically it is well composed. After that my favorite piece returns with My Pledge Of Allegiance #2, featuring many of the themes of part 1.

In conclusion: After Forever have lived up to the expectations and produced an album that at least rivals the previous one, and indeed in most places excels over Prison Of Desire. Again, as we are used with Transmission releases, the production and packaging are flawless and stylish. This one is bound to become a classic too. If you like bands like Within Temptation, Therion or The Gathering, I insist that you try this one out!

Conclusion: 8.5 out of 10.

Remco Schoenmakers