After Forever is one of my favourite bands.. then and now! I love their musical evolution. They are very inspirational to me as a musician, especially Floor and Joost.

Welcome to the thread

...i think this is a talented group...i really enjoyed their past works, specially decipher and invisible circles but didn't like much remagine, imo it sounds a little bit boring and repetitive...i saw them last year and floor has an amazing voice, the girl's power is even great live...i liked more the group with mark inside, it's a pity he left, although it gave birth to epica...

They're not bad. But I don't see them as being all that special. My opinion...

In my humble opinion, as much as I like After Forever, it is a blessing that Mark left, because Epica is way better a band than After Forever will ever be. Mark's creative freedom was limited within After Forever and now that he has the opportunity to do whatever he wants to do, his music has grown to an even higher level.

That said, I think After Forever is doing pretty well without him. I disliked Invisible Circles, but Remagine is a very nice heavy / power metal album. Their new keyboard player is brilliant and he will entertain you like never before if you ever get the chance to see this band live.

Hmm, maybe I should go to the Stargazers Metal Meeting after all to see this band..

Written by Guest on 17.05.2006 at 08:33

In my humble opinion, as much as I like After Forever, it is a blessing that Mark left

I totally agree! Since Mark left, After Forever has been able to grow into a much more mature band, shedding all of their "gothic" past. Epica is obviously more of the style that Mark enjoys so it's a good thing he figured that out. Sander's and Floor's and Joost's songwriting ability has really had a chance to shine in the last 2 albums (and EP), it's incredible what talent was hiding there!

I agree, but I think this did not happen until the release of Remagine. Exordium was not at all bad, but nothing special either, with only four original songs and two covers. Invisible Circles was downright horrible. What was up with the excrutiating 'prog' elements? Prog meaning annoying bits of speech in between and the most laughable excuse for a concept album ever! Seriously, there's not one song on Invisible Circles that managed to capture my attention. Also, they feature some of the worst growls I have heard in ages. At least Mark knew how to grunt/scream.

That said, I think After Forever made the ultimate comeback with Remagine, and they owe it all to their new synths player Joost van der Broek. This young man almost completely composed the new album all by himself and has gained After Forever some of the best reviews in ages. With their new style, After Forever is right back up there with the big bands in their genre, but I'll never forgive them for the horror that was Invisible Circles.

I really disagree with you, Lost One I think Exordium is an amazing EP, one of my favourites. Beneath is one of AF's strongest songs, and Glorifying Means shows that they can really kick ass, Heavy Metal style

I also really enjoy Invisible Circles. The dialogue is AWFUL but if you edit it out it becomes an amazing CD. Don't let that ruin it for you The melodies and harmonies are very strong, as are Floor's vocals. As for the growl vocals, personally, I think Mark was a terrible growler, and seemed to add them in unnecesarily. If extreme vocals are placed well in the music, that is the most important part.

After Forever continue to mature as a band. I'm glad many of their fans see that. It's sad when people abandon them because they didn't make "Decipher part 2" or try to be more commercial and accessible. They're more and more progressive with their compositions so the music isn't as easy

Well, I can proudly say I am not that kind of guy. In fact, usually when everyone gives up on a band because they have changed styles, that is when I start liking them! Take Stratovarius' self-titled release in 2005, for example.

Anyway, I did not mean to say that Exordium was bad by any means, but it just didn't grab me by the throat quite like Decipher or Remagine. My favourite song from the Exordium EP was actually 'The Evil That Men Do', which is probably the best Iron Maiden cover ever, together with Sonata Arctica's 'Die With Your Boots On'.

Also, I did not really know Mark's extreme vocals before Epica, in which the male vocals are pretty good and well adjusted to the rest of the music, so there is in fact little I can say about that.

About editing out the dialogue parts..

Whether or not you leave them in does not change the fact that After Forever were wrong to include them, because it was their choice to do so and it was that choice that destroyed the album for me. If I edit them out, I am simply trying to deny that they went haywire when producing this release. The melodies and harmonies of Invisible Circles are very boring to me, there's not one riff or tune that sticks with me.

You are absolutely right as far as Floor is concerned though. Her vocals are consistently beautiful on every album and of course, Invisible Circles is no exception. I just don't like what she did with the concept and the album art that comes with it.

I was panning to see them when they made a tour together with Nightwish ( I think it was the end of the 2004 year ) buut...when I tried to by the tickets 5 month before the concert they were sold out...damit...quite a disapointed cause I have seen nightwiash before but as I am a big fan of AF I was really pissed off.

Si now I don't know when I'll see them or have such an opportunety...

As for my favourite album than it's Decipher ...maybe cause it was the first that I heard and IMO it's more melodic than the others.

Written by Susan on 17.05.2006 at 09:11

The dialogue is AWFUL but if you edit it out it becomes an amazing CD.

...which is exacly what i did too. i made an mp3 version with no dialogues and then i started to enjoy the whole album more!!

Although I prefer the music and vocals of Invisible Circles to Remagine, I just can't get myself to listen to the damn thing. In that album it seems to me that AF were taking themselves a bit too seriously and the lyrics were terribly whiny. The atmosphere of Remagine is much MUCH better, but still not great. I do think they have a great one in them though!

i think they made a small change in their style on last album(s).they started to use hard and agressive guitar rhytms and i think they did well.remagine is a master-piece and their best in my opinion

yeah .. i agree with this change ...
but for me ... i see that more growlings are needed..

but IC was perfect too..
Decipher is also good and the most one which gave Floor hi right turn to show how much her voice is good

Not one of my favorite bands but still quite good. Floor's voice is good and quite pleasent to listen to and fits the backing growls nicely.

yeah...I love them the way they are really...but I agree with Everdream1986...more growling would defenately make things a little bit better...

the first albums are majestic... I don't agree with Lyrinan, as I think Mark was an EXTRAORDINARY growler, he has an incrediby dark and scary style... "Prison Of Desire" is my favourite Gothic Metal album ("gothic" metal album)

I actually developed a grudge against After Forever. I remember how much I did in fact love Prison of Desire, and I actually went to see them live a couple of years ago... and that's when it happened, we were in the middle of the crowd and then Floor appeared and my boyfriend started using me to push himself upwards to see Floor and he was going all 'omg she's so hot' and drooling and just acting falic in general, ugh, I got so mad at that concert I could have spit on Floor, even though I got to kiss the bassist bwahaha as revenge of course, bad bad girlfriend... anyway since then, I can't really stand the band, I didn't give a chance to the other albums, even though Prison of Desire still remains... good imo

hehehe nice story Linak but IMO Floor is ANYTHING but hot (I find her rather ugly actually)....

and I couldn't believe it when I saw the cover art of Remagine... Floor seems like ready for a bondage sesion.

uuuuh!!! *high five* we are so in sync!! lol like lost soul mates or something! Yeah!! Boo Floor!! lol *hugs*

yepp yepp AF are one of my absolutely faves too. I do too love all of their works, including the ''oh so awful'' Invisible Circles. Remagine seems to be my fave currenlty, And Floor still rocks the scene and kicks the hell out of all the female singers

I find this band very unique because like Southern Wind say, Floor is not beautiful but she have an amazing voice. I mean, a lot of this 'female fronted bands' have just pretty faces (well and great voices as well) and a lot of people like those bands just because the singer is hot so they forget the music. This is not the case here. The musci they make is really good.
I saw them in live and was great Floor have so much energy!! this girl rocks

Well, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes, and to me Floor is very attractive. However, I do feel that I find *any* musician (or person in general) more attractive when I enjoy their art or their company or their conversation. Perhaps I would not have thought much of Floor, or any vocalist, if her talent was mediocre, but being that I find her a very accomplished and diverse vocalist, it makes her all the more interesting and intriguing.

I'd love to see them live to see in person what the band sounds like---and looks like haha--but I have a strong feeling I'd be as impressed as I think I would be!

Written by Linak on 04.06.2006 at 07:54

I actually developed a grudge against After Forever. I remember how much I did in fact love Prison of Desire, and I actually went to see them live a couple of years ago... and that's when it happened, we were in the middle of the crowd and then Floor appeared and my boyfriend started using me to push himself upwards to see Floor and he was going all 'omg she's so hot' and drooling and just acting falic in general, ugh, I got so mad at that concert I could have spit on Floor

hahaha Linak you're so funny. Floor is my hero but I can understand your hating her awesome.. I'd hate her too if my man acted like that!

hahah, this band is awsome to listen to while you are driving your car and wanna attract some attention to your self. for example, i was playing their album Prison of Desire in my car last night. and it was pretty loud. so i was just crusing around at 80 km an hour. for soem reason, this gangstered up car pulls up next to me on a traffic light, and i think it was 50 cent singing 'them ma bitches n hoes. ju ain havin non son! ooooohh' or something like that. so we started competiting against who can get 'louder' and then the guys from the car started staring at me coz i mean, it was the ending of tortuous threnody, with floor singing. and then yeild to temptaion's choir intro. so they were like 'waht the fuck you listening to? is that evanescence? they are gay!' and then the growls came in. and they were like :O the fuck is that? and then i stated head banging while i raced of growling at them



but apart from that...the band is aright. i used to really love them when i was getting into metal. now i'm sort of getting bored of them. i still think that their album 'invisible circle' or soemthing like that, is a pretty cool album. lyricly speaking, i love that album. music wise, its not a horrible album at all. its pretty cool. some of thier balads/balaeds are pretty cool, and their heavier stuff is cool too. not as good as thier prison of desir. and thier album umm..desolation, or whatever it was called...i never had the chance to listen to it, but i heard a few songs, and one song really stood out to me, the one with the intro done with sitars. i love sitars!

but yeah, the band is aright. and i do dare say, i like them more than epica. epica i find rather boring. although most of my gothic metal friends say that epica butchers after forever. i beg to argue.

I like both After Forever the one with and the one without Mark. The one with Mark gave 2 incredible albums, and some of my fav songs like "Beyond Me" or "Monolith of doubt". But yes, the AF without Mark is as good or maybe better. Floor Jansen's voice is my favorite in the metal (not in the music, as Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard is my fav). I love their sound evolution.

I don't know why there are too many people don't like Exordium. It's a very good EP. Someone said that it's not special but I don't think so. For example, the cover of The Evil That Men Do. It is awesome. And in my opinion, it's more amzing than the original song of Iron Maiden

@duyhung: I agree! Exordium is an amazing release. It definitely makes my list of favourite EP's of all time. "Beneath" has become one of my favourite AF songs. After I listen to it I always crave more of AF's powerful side. "The Evil That Men Do" is a great cover. I'm always weary of metal covers of other metal songs but this one lives up to it. "My Choice" is a killer ballad, really shows off Floor's ability to be powerful and sensitive at the same time. I must also mention "Glorifying Means" which I originally thought was a cover. I wasn't used to AF kicking this much ass so I assumed it was another cover (Similar to The Evil that Men Do). And then it finishes off with the lovely "Someday I'll Fly Away" which seems WAY out of character for the rest of the EP but then I realized it's like a smooth "come down" after the high that was EXORDIUM!

After Forever have posted video footage from their second rehearsal for their upcoming recording sessions at their official website. Click here to check it out. Footage from their first rehearsal as well as pictures can be found in the "downloads" section at this location.

After Forever issued the following announcement yesterday :

"After our gig at the Booch? Festival in Heerlen (NL) the 20th August we are having an after-party in my favourite bar, De Kroniek, and you're all invited!!! From 8:00 o'clock everyone of the band will be there to have a glass of beer and a chat with you guys. We also have a 'special suprise' for you! Also DJ Theo Samson will be there with his radio program Rock On Your Radio so we can listen to all the classic rock-songs!!

We all hope to see you in De Kroniek: Pancratiusplein 53 Heerlen (about 100 meters from the festival site)!!!"

The band has updated their tour schedule. It is now as follows:

August
20 - Booch? Festival in Heerlen, Holland

September
2 - Baroeg Open Air in Rotterdam, Holland
9 - Appelpop in Tiel, Holland
23 - RandRock in Vriezenveen, Holland

October
7 - Live 'N' Louder Festival in Mexico City, Mexico
17 - Live 'N' Louder Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil

(Source : http://www.afterforever.com)

I'll be there at the Live n Louder

I believe After Forever is one of the best gothic metal bands...and not only. Various influensed with great vocals (not only great...beautiful also!!), and great music. I think we shouldn't be so hard to the band:banger: