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After Forever - Prison Of Desire review



Reviewer:
9.0

277 users:
8.25
Band: After Forever
Album: Prison Of Desire
Release date: April 2000


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]

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 [solo violin], Noemi Bodden [violin], Janin Baller [viola], Carla Schrijner [violacello], Roxane Steffen [doublebass] 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 [Within Temptation] on 'Beyond Me' and the After Forever Choir: Hans Cassa [bass], Caspar De Jonge [tenor], Yvonne Rooda [alto] and Melissa 't Hart [soprano] 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.

Prison of Desire opens up with 'Mea Culpa', which is a lovely choral piece backed with keyboards and filled with layers of vocals, both male and female. This short choral piece is the opener for 'Leaden Legacy', a very melodic and atmospheric song, which is contrasting Floor Jansen's classical singing with the male grunts. The third song on this brilliant album is 'Semblance of Confusion' which is a power package that again shows us the power of Floor's voice. The fourth song 'Black Tomb' is a slow ballad at first, but from the middle of the song the pace starts to speed up to a powerful instrumental piece that leaves the listener a bit short of breathe. The follow-up 'Follow in the Cry' is a hypnotic song and features some very interesting singing styles at the end of the track. 'Silence from Afar' is a bit slower but has the same style. I guess it's good to have a slower song at this point because the follow-up 'Inimical Chimera' is - like most songs on Prison of Desire - fast and yet again packed with orchestral power. Huh, I'm running out of breath here while listening to 'Tortuous Threnody' & 'Yield to Temptation' while the last one being more powerful due to the terrific grunts that yet again seems to amaze me.
The closing track 'Beyond Me' is a nice ballad between Floor, Sharon Den Adel and the grunter but every time I listen to this track it's hard to separate Floor's voice from Sharon's. They are just so similar that someone who has never listened to Within Tempation and After Forever can't tell the difference.

To conclude, I'd say that this is a good album although, on some parts, it starts to repeat itself. That can be quite frustrating sometimes but we must also consider that this is After Forever's debut album. According to the fact that the first album is almost always the most boring one, I would say that After Forever will surely surprise us with better releases in the future.

Written by marco | 27.08.2003




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 5   Visited by: 93 users
25.08.2006 - 20:01
The Alchemist
Metalchemist
A great album, though this is their first album, this is one of the best works of the band, and yes, their style is unique, I've always had the impression of a persian sound in many of their songs, it's really unique.

Also, the variety of voices and instruments in the album is excellent
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I'm not afraid to die, I'm afraid to be alive without being aware of it
Sensorium - Epica
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02.09.2006 - 20:33
Rating: 9
Bash'
:)
this on is a best album, to me, and for the band itself IMO...

i can't beleive the song Beyond Me, how much it's beautiful, every other songs are also excellant..

this was the last album for them i gained to complete the disco here... and was the best really (+1)
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I saw her standing by the crimson sea...
Isolated by the silent thoughts...
Her gazing was intense but so dead...

The teardrops corroded the soil.. She couldn't say a word to me...
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16.09.2011 - 04:39
FELIX42

AWESOME DEBUT!!
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26.02.2013 - 03:36
Epictemptation

I'm listening to it right now and I got to say Beyond Me is just amazing, anything with Sharon sounds like heaven
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23.10.2015 - 23:49
Rating: 9
muhammed sonata

In my opinion this is their best album,Floor voice really sounds charming and captivating,best moments for Floor
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