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After Forever exploded on to the symphonic/goth/power metal scene in 2000 with their debut album Prison of Desire. Although it was uneven, it was a solid debut which set the stage for the follow-up, 2002’s Decipher, which boasted a tighter sound and better song structures. Both albums received rave reviews and in 2002 the band toured with Finnish metal stalwarts Charon and Nightwish. Powered by the incredible vocal talents of the lovely Floor Jansen and complemented vocally by the grunting and growling of guitarists Mark Jansen and Sander Gommans, and augmented by heavy riffs and lush keyboards and string arrangements, After Forever made a name for themselves quickly. However, after the departure of Mark Jansen, who left to form Epica, many people questioned the band’s ability to maintain their momentum. Those fears were put to rest by the awesome mini-album Exordium, which introduced new guitarist Bas Maas and hinted at a slightly new direction. That new direction was fully realized on their 3rd full length album, 2004’s Invisible Circles. Invisible Circles is a concept album, based on the story of a young girl who is unloved by her parents and picked on and teased by the outside world. She finds escape in the world of the internet and computer games, but that is only a temporary escape from the world which has cast her out as an unloved and unwanted child. Powering you through the touching and emotional story are the powerful vocals of Floor Jansen, who is unmatched in the metal world when it comes to sheer power and punch. Her voice could shatter beer bottles if you set them too close to the speakers! In contrast to her powerful, beautiful female vocals, the deep and angry grunting of Gommans creates a strange but amazing combination of vocal melodies. New guitarist Maas also contributes vocals, but in another contrast, delivers a rich, powerful, deep clean male voice. The three voices make quite a combination that reminds me of Tristania’s 2001 tour-de-force World Of Glass. Instrumentally, the grinding guitars of Maas and Gommans, the powerful drumming of Andre Borgman, the underlying bass riffs of bassist Luuk van Gerven, and the keyboard work of Lando van Gils give the music haunting beauty and melody as well as take-your-head-off heaviness. I didn’t know it was possible to go this heavy and still maintain the great melodies! More of a power metal approach was taken on this album, which makes the music as heavy as a Mack truck and at times as fast as an Indy car! The band does away with the doom metal approach for the most part on this album, although the beautiful and dark string arrangements remain a trademark of After Forever. Song highlights include “Between Love and Fire”, where Floor and Sander duel it out vocally playing the role of two young lovers who have dreams of success, only to be shortcut by the impending arrival of a child. “Sins of Idealism”, which feature Floor as the child trying to get through to her uncaring parents, the beautiful “Eccentric”, which makes me think of the days when I was tortured and teased almost daily by the jerks who I went to school with. Makes me cry every time I hear it! Also, “Blind Pain” and “Two Sides” feature more great dueling between Jansen and Gommans. The only flaw in this otherwise great album is the spoken word interludes. While the female voice sounds great, the male voice sounds like such a dork! The man saying “I don’t have time to raise a BRAT!” makes me laugh every time I hear it! Takes much of the power away from what should be a powerful addition to the storyline. All in all Invisible Circles is a masterpiece! After Forever has done it again! One of the best albums of 2004 along with Nightwish’s Once and Ayreon’s The Human Equation. Highly recommended! Reviewer: Matt "Snowy Owl" Bankes
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