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After Forever - Prison Of Desire



8.3 | 277 votes |
Release date: 24 April 2000
Style: Symphonic gothic metal

Owners:

384 have it
23 want it


01. Mea Culpa (The Embrace That Smothers - Prologue)
02. Leaden Legacy (The Embrace That Smothers - Pt. I)
03. Semblance Of Confusion
04. Black Tomb
05. Follow In The Cry (The Embrace That Smothers Pt. II)
06. Silence From Afar
07. Inimical Chimera
08. Tortuous Threnody
09. Yield To Temptation (The Embrace That Smothers Pt. III)
10. Ephemeral
11. Beyond Me [feat. Sharon den Adel]
12. Wings Of Illusion [Japanese bonus]
13. Leaden Legacy [instrumental version] [bonus]
14. Silence From Afar [radio edit] [Chilean bonus]

Additional info
Recorded between December 17th 1999 and January 16th 2000 at the Excess Studio (Rotterdam, The Netherlands).
Choir recorded & produced in February 26th 2000 at RS29 (Waalwijk, The Netherlands).
Mixed February 1st, 2nd & 21st till March 5th 2000 at RS29 (Waalwijk, The Netherlands).
Mastered at Sound Factory (Soest, The Netherlands).

The Japanese version contains the bonus track:
12. Wings of Illusion (07:24)
The Chilean version includes:
12. Silence from Afar (Radio Edit) (04:37)

Also released on digipack, limited to 3000 copies & containing a 12th track:
12. Leaden Legacy (Instrumental Version) (05:10)

Re-released in 2008 by Transmission (to the band's dislike) with the following Bonus content:
Bonus tracks Chapter 1 (on CD1):
12. Wings Of Illusion (07:22)
13. Mea Culpa (Instrumental Version)(02:01)
14. Mea Culpa (Acapella Version)(01:50)
15. Semblance Of Confusion (Instrumental Version)(04:07)
16. Follow In The Cry (Instrumental Version)(04:05)
17. Follow In The Cry (Acapella Version)(01:20)
Bonus tracks Chapter 2 (on CD 2):
01. Silence From Afar (Demo)(05:55)
02. Wings Of Illusion (Demo)(07:21)
03. Follow In The Cry (Session)(04:04)
04. Yield To Temptation (Session)(05:51)
05. Semblance Of Confusion (Session)(04:06)
06. Beyond Me (ft. Sharon den Adel)(Session)(06:13)
07. Black Tomb (Session)(06:29)
08. Tortuous Threnody (Session)(06:10)
09. Ephemeral (Session)(03:03)
10. Inimical Chimera (Session)(04:58)
11. Silence From Afar (Session)(05:50)
12. Mea Culpa (Session)(02:01)
13. Leaden Legacy (Session)(05:04)
14. Wings Of Illusion (Session)(07:21)
(The 'Session' versions are rough mixes)

Guest review by
marco
Rating:
9.0
First, I'm sick and tired that After Forever is always compared to Nightwish or Within Tempation because After Forever has a style that is somewhat similar to them although they are not power metal like Nightwish. Their style is not so easily defined. The wide use of background singers and classical musicians like the Embred Strings consisting of Ebred Reijen , Noemi Bodden , Janin Baller , Carla Schrijner , Roxane Steffen and Irma Kort but they are playing on the follow-up album Decipher. On Prison of Desire however the guest appearances include Sharon Den Adel on 'Beyond Me' and the After Forever Choir: Hans Cassa , Caspar De Jonge , Yvonne Rooda and Melissa 't Hart on 'Mea Culpa', 'Leaden Legacy', 'Follow in the Cry', 'Silence from Afar' and 'Yield to Temptation'. And that's a power package none the less. But now, let's go back to what is really important, the music.

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published 27.08.2003 | Comments (5)

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Comments

Comments: 4   Visited by: 364 users
16.07.2011 - 08:04
Rating: 9
ohmayhem

I stumbled upon After Forever in search of the first three installments to Epica's 'The Embrace That Smothers' series, so naturally, parts of this album were the very first material I heard from this band. I still remember those years ago how captivated I was by the melodies and Floor's sweet, yet powerful voice. It was only lately that I've become a huge fan of this band and fell in love with this album. For a debut album, it is breathtakingly brilliant, and I can honestly say it's an album I often have on repeat.
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13.04.2018 - 00:18
Rating: 6
Mountain King
K i K o
This album is somehow bland with a few highlights here and there. A few interesting songs for me were "Beyond Me" & "Yield To Temptation".
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18.06.2020 - 10:53
Rating: 8
TSRodriguez

This sounds almost folky at times with his kinda desert evoking melodies. There are huge highlights here, Leaden Legacy, Follow the Cry, Beyond me and my Favorite is Tortuous Threnody. Sometimes the bass lines peak behind the simple riffs and piano melodies and results in a very compelling experience. The only thing I don't like is the male vocalist, not because I don't like grunts, but because he kinda sounds like he is trying too much, I don't know, it sounds goofy to me, just like Jansen on the first Epica album.
Of note, Floor Jansen steals the show here, in some of the songs (Tortuous Threnody) she sounds incredible, one of the best operatic performances I've heard.
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09.03.2022 - 09:02
Rating: 8
GrimReaper85

In first part of the album vocals are too much, it gets annoying really quickly. It gets much better with Follow in the Cry and the rest of the album.
Nobody mentioned Wings of Illusion, it's the best track.
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