Pelata O Gods of Metal, I humbly bow and beg for thy forgiveness. I have been ignorant too long. I had heard thy decree that After Forever was indeed amazing and blessed by thee, but I ignored thy voices. Forgive me, O spiked and studded ones. Forgive me, for as thou hast said, After Forever is the ultimate reigning ruler of the Operatic Metal Realms.

Floor Jensen is most fully blessed by thy hands, as her voice is the uttermost superior of any so-called ‘opera’ singers within thy gates. Her majestic, rich, soulful strains utterly demolish any other singers in her most worthy path. The mighty warriors you have placed at her side certainly bear your mark and seal and regal kings within their appointed dominions. Their newest offering Invisible Circles is truly and unequivocally your Metallic Will for all within the Operatic Metal Realms to bear witness to and allow to saturate their aural senses. Send forth ‘Digital Deceit’, ‘Blind Pain’, & ‘Beautiful Emptiness’ into their very souls and engulf them in thy Blinding Glory! Forgive, O Metal Ones, do not smite me! In return, I vow to tell all who will listen about thy servant After Forever. I will expel my dying breath declaring their superiority and ultimate, everlasting’.uh’kick-ass-ness to the masses.

Hear me, O minions of the Operatic Metal Realms! Deny your false idols and worship the Gods of Metal at the altar of After Forever!

arcane-beautiful I love this album, it's just one of the most perfect symphonic metal albums (well orchestral metal, although this band does have it's moments). This is one of the best albums of this fantastic and quite popular genre.

To be honest, when I first got this album, I thought it was going to sound like a lot of faux paux symphonic metal bands trying to get big in the music industry (unaware that they have been going since the late 90's). Boy, was I wrong.

It's a shame this band have broken up and this was their last album, because this really is a genre defying moment,

The prouduction and authenticity of the album is amazing, but the real attraction is the powerful voice of Floor Jansen. Extremely powerfull and amazing. Sometimes I have a hard time picking a favourite female vocaist out of her and other contending Dutch, Epica's Simone Simmones. I do prefer Floor slightly, but Simone does have a better operatic voice than her, and Floor has alot more power. Simone is the better looking one, so their evenly matched.

1. Discord - What an epic song. From the moment the orchestra hits hit you in the face, and Floor's voice gains your attention, it just makes every hair stand up. The most epic bit is the middle 8, her voice just excels so much power. 10/10

2. Evoke -Great mixture of epic symphonic stabs and synths. Great chorus. 10/10

3. Tranistory - Probabbly the weakest song on the album, but still a great song, nontheless. 8/10

4. Energize Me - The perfect song for a single. Infectious catchy. The song that got me into them. 10/10

5. Equally Destructive - Great chorus, and a very rocking song. 9/10

6. Withering Time - Great lyrics and some amazing use of a choir. 10/10

7. De-Energized - This song has the most growling in it. Sanders really is one of the most underlooked growlers, because he really knows how to produce and create certain pitches (being a well known grunter and screamer myself). Just very heavy, and some amazing instrumental work. 10/10

8. Cry With A Smile - Great arrangement. Almost ballad like. 9/10

9. Envision - Another slightly weaker song. Again, better than most symphonic metal bands top songs. 8/10

10. Who I Am - I have never really been interested in Doro that much, but she is actuallyagreat singer (although Floor does put her to shame). Great song, with an odd but amazing chorus. 10/10

11. Dreamflight - The 11 minute epic. Wow, very dramatic, with some amazing twists and turns. The arrangment is amazing, focusing on orchrestras, solo ambient keyboards, Floors many advanced vocal ranges, and some amazing growling. Epic as hell. Best song on the album. 10/10

12. Empty Memories - A nice slow based ballad. 9/10

13. Lonely - This is a bonus track, but I'm wondering why they didn't put it on the album, it is so beautiful. With just a piano accompaniment, and the power of Floors voice, it's a shame it's only on the special edition (Nuclear Blast albums at times but some of the best artists material as bonus tracks.)

CONCLUSION: Not many people like this genre, but if you want to get into it, I strongly advise you to get this album, it will change your perspective completely.

AtomicCrimsonRush Aggressive, haunting symphonic metal.

A fantastic symphonic metal band headed by the awesome vocal talents of Floor Jansen. It does sound similar to Nightwish though not as operatic and the orchestration reminds me of Epica or Within Temptation. However, After Forever stand their ground as taking an original approach to their sound. Each track has a different feel and atmosphere. At times beautiful and haunting, and at other times brutally aggressive.

My favourite track is 'Equally Destructive' that has one of the best chunky metal riffs on the CD. It begins with the mesmirizing riff and the chorus builds to a grand operatic scale. The epic is the 11 minute Dreamflight with many time changes and very good guitar from Bas Maas throughout. At times there are soundscapes that seem to flow like a stream and they are broken by grand blasts of metal guitars.

I recommend this for those who like their prog heavy, laced with strings and quiet moments. The vocals from Jansen are floorless (no pun intended) and there are some trademark growelling vocals from other members to balance the tones of light and shade.

4 stars without hesitation.

bonnek Hot on the heels of The Gathering, countless countries started assembling female-fronted metal bands. Holland alone already sprouted two big ones Within Temptation and After Forever, which both took the powerful singing style of Anneke Van Giersbergen on The Gathering's Mandylion into operatic and gothic directions.

After Forever started with a very uneven debut, but followed it up with two solid releases of which the third is probably the best and certainly the one with the highest prog-metal cards. The album flows without dips in the songwriting and has enough hooks to make each piece memorable. Floor Jansen is an excellent singer in this style. Her commanding voice is never shrill, her melodies never hesitant or trite. There's also a male grunter, a cliché of the genre and quite annoying here, as he is as inexpressive and tuneless as Floor is passionate and melodious.

A solid album in a style I quickly got tired of, but if you like Epica, Ayreon, Nightwish, Within Temptation or Therion, this album is worth checking out. Although I'd rather recommend you to go for the real thing and try the Gathering's Mandylion and Nightime Birds or the more experimental band Madder Mortem.

bonnek You wouldn’t think that a faceless band like After Forever would deem it necessary to continue making records after the unnecessary debut, but their kind of Gothic opera metal was a very popular style around 2000 and you know, even musicians need some food on the table.

The formula is similar to the debut but the execution is a lot better. The annoying male grunts are pushed further back in the mix and they hired a real drummer to kick some life into their operatic metal. Generally the playing is tight and to the point, nothing exceptional but functional enough to support the songs.

The bigger reliance on Nightwish and Therion pomposity has replaced their Gathering leanings. While that doesn’t really sound like a good idea, the result is actually better then the debut. I’d even say this is a decent album in this style of music and I tend to give it an occasional spin when I’m giving the vacuum cleaner a ride around the house.

From what I've heard the quality of the ensuing albums went down again after this one so if you want to check them out, I'd recommend you to give this a spin, especially if you're into the bands I've thrown at you here.