Blown Away by After Forever- Forever
sorry this such a long post - but it's the one that matters the most...
To make this connect, when you examine After Forever's music you will see they are definately Metal but don't play with a symphony nor even a real violin player, so can they be qualified as Symphonic Metal? They don't sing about morbid subjects and most of thier music is rather upbeat, so can they be considered a true Gothic Metal band? The band had a long run (breaking up just last year, 2009) and they pre-date the majority of bands in these genres. One of the founding members left After Forever and formed Epica, who gained nearly immediate popularity. Also note that their singer, Floor Jansen, has essientially one of the best voices in all of Metal, a notion that has been gaining strength over the years as fans convert from Within Temptation and Evenescence into fans of Epica and After Forever. Another note is that After Forever has become regarded just as much a Progressive Metal band as much as a Symphonic and Gothic Metal band. So... Now What?
I choose to take the rest of this blog in the direction I started... to share my experiences and my learnings and all my bookmarked songs in the order in which I found them up to the current date and the music I am currently listening to. This process is meant to show the moments of what I find to be truly inspiring, emotionally moving and fulfilling and how they all lead into each other. I just may not have enough words to describe what these next 3 songs represent to me.
I had already known of After Forever (AF) as I was getting into Epica and other bands directly linked to AF but what I found was some inconsistency and I couldn't correlate why or what kept me from just spilling straight into their catalog. I began to confuse the first song here on this post "Beautiful Emptiness" with other songs until I found a video with the lyrics. Practically immediately something struck me around the 0:15 mark. A note that is hit by the powerful voice of Floor Jansen. It opened my eyes. It is in an upper echelon of notes that places Floor in a class among few. I knew I had listened the song through quite a few times and enjoyed it immensely but something had changed within me, I had accepted to a greater degree the Beauty and Beast aspect of AF, I heard technique and songwriting, and brilliant musicianship. It lead me to check out as much as I could and then I found some of the first links to their last release, a Self Titled disc and I simply could not believe what I was hearing. The band wasn't just capable musicians, they were Amazing musicians and thier influences from all the metal I had grown up listening to like Maiden, Sepultura, Testament were peeking through. Apparently the addition of Joost Van Broek on Keyboards has a lot to do with it. On this release the music was dynamic and bombastic, full throttle in attack and Floor Jansen was poising herself not just a great singer but one who is gallantly capable of blowing everyone completely to bits. They simply have shattered the ceiling of what is possible in the genre and made the new vantage point somewhere on Mt Everest.
A recent search of reviews on the albulm showed to me I wasn't the only one blown away... I've found reviews on websites for Progressive Metal, Gothic Metal, Symphonic Metal, Female-Fronted Metal (FFM) and CD resources like Amazon and streaming sites like Last.fm to praise the release and give it very high ratings. The census was that AF will be missed as thier last release, thier swan song, could had possibly placed them at the forefront of the genre, ahead of bands like Epica and even the Grandfathers Nightwish, Within Temptation. This disc will only become more and more revered...
After Forever 2007
After Forever on Last.fm
After Forever on myspace.com
See all of their releases @ After Forever on Amazon.com
Beautiful Emptiness - Invisible Circles 2004 Right off a quick start with a full chorus and Floor Jansen is flexing her strength in the Operatic range. This song goes through a multiple of paces as it goes from the operatic to a heavy grinding section where she shows off her very strong lower more metal range. That's only the first 60 seconds so hold on tight, this roller coaster of a ride then breaks down into almost silence as the vocals float quietly above showing all the passion and feeling of only the most accomplished singers. The light touches on the piano wander loosely, allowing the slowly swelling strings to fill in as the intensity rises back to the heavy grind section.
The song, which is about full-on rage and hatred and is exemplified by the following metal grunting section. The contrasts are everything that the Beauty and Beast style is meant to be and they do it better than just about everyone. There is a building bridge in which has the feel of much resolve and builds into yet another staccato metal beat, which shows thier Progressive Metal side. My only beef with this song is that the final deathmetal grunting section, doesn't feel needed but does end the song nicely.
Once the intial shock of the rollercoaster feel wears off, what you begin to experience on re-listens is a song full of range, from the dynamics, the intense energy and passion and superb flawless vocals which move about and take you with them. Musically the band is top-notch and is not lost in production. Everything can be heard from the basslines, the quick stops, the string accents, all which emphasis the hugeness which the song conveys. Its all ear candy for me and it gave me the desire for more... I just had no idea I was only prepped for a bigger and heavier ride...
Transitory - After Forever 2007
This song is Heavy! Finally I find a song that takes all my favorite Metal influences and merges them together into a single onslaught. Beauty & Beast lyrics combined with breakneck speed, high quality production and devastating vocal delivery. All this qualifies AF as a contender to be perched at the top of all Goth-Symphonic-Melodic-Prog Metal. It may be a huge title to live up to but listening to the first break at 1:18, it has all the feel of Death, Carcass and Sepultura and it totally blew my mind. I was already convinced that AF was becoming my favorite band but at this moment I was having an out of body experience here. This passage quickly leads into a high speed keyboard solo, followed by a bouncy breakdown which is very common to AF. The last verse speeds up into a massive climax. My only beef here is this song is untypically short. Of all songs I never want to end, it clocks in at beatles time, 3:30. It ends as quick as it began. Now I want MORE....
Who I am - After Forever 2007
I wouldnt say I am easy to satisfy. I am one very jaded music fan. I listen to a broad scope of music and rarely am I ever this excited about anything. This song, also from the landmark self-titled release features a duet, a rather perfect one in fact, with former Metal Queen Doro Pesch. It took me a little while to realize it was a duet but nonetheless it is a highly exceptional song. The bait here, or hook as one might call it, is a harmonized vocal at the end of the chorus, which hangs over head while the band slams out a heavy pounding. The verses are flip-flopped question and answer style, between Doro and Floor respectively. Doro does the main solo, complete with an epic choir and with Floors' harmonized ending. The result is a feeling that your head is about to explode as you try to take in everything that is going on. The second verse is flip-flopped again with Floor first then Doro, the beat is hypnotic and sexy. I call the song the sexiest in the genre, but a fellow listener pointed out Eyes of Eden's "Dancing Fire" is another contender...(see previous post: Addictive songs from Germany). As Who I Am pounds along, all of a sudden - THAT moment, THE OMG happens. At 2:28 The dual harmonized voice of Floor leads in a breakdown and your mind is melted. I Freaked out when I heard it and was about to backtrack the song to hear it again but the song just kept on supplying the wow factor. The breakdown is followed by an amazing harmonic minor Arabian-styled melody on keys matched with Floor's melodic voice on top. Then a heavy pounding section with a wild synth effect provides a headbanging inspired section. The major climax shifts a keychange and then the final dramatic haromized ending leads to a simply a perfect ending. Ok now you can go back to 2:28 and experience it all over...
Shortly after I fell in love with this band I had learned of their breakup, the word from the band was "they no longer felt the passion" It sounds like an impossible concept, considering how truly awesome and inspired most of the music on their last albulm sounds. It also seemed to have a major impact on the genre as other bands have since stepped up their game. Floor Jansen has now began a new project called ReVamp and I will focus on a few songs here in the future as well as what I refer to as "The Greatest Moment in Symphonic Metal History". I could also feature song after song from AF but I feel I need to focus on a few other key findings I was listening to at this time, a group I call "The Others"
Next update: "Music from The Others"
