Search - After Forever :: Remagine

A heavier and less gothic After Forever

Murat Batmaz | Istanbul, Turkey | 10/03/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The guys in After Forever had to go through some big problems, the most important one being Andre Borgman's illness. Thankfully Borgman managed to survive cancer and returned to record the new album. Remagine is certainly a different After Forever release. Their new keyboard player Joost van den Broek not only gave the synths a much bigger and more vital role, but he also wrote all songs together with guitarist Sander Gommans. This has surely resulted in a quite different sounding album for After Forever, and it's bound to please and disappoint some fans at the same time.



Given that new keyboardist Joost van den Broek has an impressive back catalog with progressive metal bands and projects including Ayreon, Star One, and Sun Caged, it is inevitable that an album he co-wrote and arranged is going to have his sound stamped all over it. Joost is an incredible player. He isn't just about adding layers of gothic atmosphere, which the first two After Forever discs are popular for. He loves to experiment, throw in sound samples, effects, electronic elements, quirky time signatures, and synth leads into the songs, giving them a new face. Although After Forever will probably always be labeled as a gothic metal band, Remagine certainly shies away from the genre in more than one way. At times the music presented here is melodic power metal accented by cutting guitar work, while on other tunes, mostly because of Floor Jansen's angelic voice, the classic After Forever vibe is still there, only different. Moreover, the production the band employs on the album dictates a more aggressive and rawer delivery. The songs are littered with driving guitar and bass rhythms, forceful drums, quirky synth work, and excellent vocals from Floor Jansen. Sure, she still does use her amazing soprano abilities on some songs, such as the "Living Shields", one of the more conventional After Forever numbers with beauty and the beast-type of vocal exchanges and a terrific bass solo. However, Floor Jansen mostly impresses with her more clean singing voice on this album. Take "Come" as an example. Not only does this song represent the classic After Forever sound, punctuated by orchestral synths, electronic key patches, heavy guitars, but at the same time Floor's regular voice is used at its full capacity. Note how she harmonizes with her own vocals, moving from a more aggressive singing style to a more laidback and fragile delivery, and mixes it up with her beautiful soprano voice. The classical piano piece at the end is also gorgeous.



Arguably After Forever's most diverse release, each song seems to be purposefully written to stand on its own. This is no concept album like their previous effort Invisible Circles, so this has obviously enabled Joost and Sander to experiment with as many ideas as possible. Track six, "Attendance", is quite possibly the most experimental song they've ever done. It has nothing to do with gothic metal - this is a song filled with acoustic guitars, awesome synth work, and an overall industrial edge characterized by weird drum loops. "Being Everyone" is another song worthy of its interesting vocal melodies, where Floor Jansen's harmony vocals seem like they were inspired by 80's AOR - I know it sounds funny, but they certainly fit the music. "Free of Doubt" has a long silence in its end, while "No Control" features Sanders doing death growls and the other guitarist singing clean vocals. No Floor Jansen on this one. I love the guitar and keyboard interplay as well. "Only Everything" and "Forever" are the ballads, with occasional growls and face-ripping rhythm guitars. However, the most emotional track on the album has to be "Strong", a tune written for Floor's sick mother. Her voice sounds really strong on this track. As a matter of fact, Floor Jansen sounds incredible on this album. I've never heard her sing with so much aggression on any previous After Forever disc before. So if you decide to pick this album up and like it, make sure you seek out Freak Neil Inc. - Characters, also with Joost van den Broek and Floor's sister Irene Jansen in the lineup.



One minor complaint is about the artwork. It is truly disappointing and in no way represents the heavy content of the album. It has a strange 80's feel to it, but I just don't think it connects with After Forever's musical statements in one way or another. Remagine comes recommended to those who are willing to explore more melodic metal fury with aggressive vocals than just atmospheric gothic metal with lots of death growls and soprano vocals."

Interesting, almost but not quite

Michael Evers | 08/01/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First off, I will preface this review with two things. 1) I started listening to After Forever backwards, meaning that I started with their new release, and am working backwards, thus older knowledge of the band does not exist for me. 2) In today's day and age, female fronted bands are becoming more and more, and thus, they are going to be held to higher standards. Their is no shortage of operatic, classically train female vocalists starring in these bands. The real question is, does After Forever meet or exceed previous artists in the field or are they just another generic, rabble?



This album takes a pretty common theme, these days, female fronted with a male (or 2, at times) backing her. Not all songs feature male vocalists. Unlike Nightwish and a few others in the genre, the one of the male vocalists is very growlly, not Behomoth unintelligable babble, completely incoherant, and thus need a translator growls, but growls nonetheless. They also use another male vocalist, who by my standards, is quite bad, and he should just go about playing whatever instrument he is assigned.



Now, to the actual music!



The CD opens with "Come", but after an interesting keyboard string, it breaks out a guitar riff, which sounds very close to "King of Terrors" by Symphony X. At first, I was like, oh boy, not a good sign, but the actual music to the song is not a rip from the song, so it's ok. To note here, the opening vocals by Floor are very, very good. She has a very beautiful voice. Then you get into the chorus and she's doing some opera voice, which although decipherable, is overplayed and overused in this sort of genre. If I wanted to listen to Nightwish-esque, I would put in a Nightwish CD. We all want new, unexplored territory here. Then we go into some chorus with pretty much everyone singing, which really isn't bad, but then after that, Floor busts out the most beautiful voice I have every heard. I sent shivers down my spine! This is how she should sing, and does more of this on their newest, self titled album.



Next we have "Boundaries are Open", which starts nice and pretty much finishes that way. It has a very intersting main line, and kinda feels like I might bust this track out while cruising in a car. For some reason, with this song, I think of Virgin Steele, "The Buring of Rome". My only gripe, if it really is one, is that this song has no real chorus to it, more just screaming the name of the song -- a bit hammerfallish, and the only real complaint.



Living shields is either a like it or hate it; personally, as I'm not a fan of growling, I'll leave it.



I think the next 2 songs "Being Everyone" and "Attendance" are pretty generic and bland. Personally, I think a bit more effort could have gone into them, they are OK tracks, but definately not ones I will put on my favorites playlist.



The next song "Free of Doubt" is intersting. It has a very good keyboard line, boarding actually on very popish.



Next we have "Only Everything" and again, I just can't seem to get into this song; it's slower tempo, and for whatever reason, I just do not find anything appealing to it.



"Strong" is the next song, and it's a ballad. But let me tell you, as a guy, I find ballads appealling, as if a breath of fresh air, but most are generic and mindless and put very little thought into it. 80's ballads are a thing of the past, but Strong is probably one of the better ones you'll hear out of this genre. The song is well played and written. Kudos!



"Face your Demons", "No Control" and "Forever" are all good songs. Nothing mind boggling, but definately, favorites material.



All in all, it's a solid release. I see where they have come from, and can say, that where they are heading is in a better direction. In their self titled album, they move even further away from their opera singing, and move more in line with what I find is appealling to me, her singing as her and not an opera singer. At times, it will fit in with a song, but as I mentioned before, there is so much of that already.



Floor has a unique voice, one that doesn't require effects and other stuff to make her sound great. Her voice is mature, not kiddy or pop oriented (like Annette from Nightwish, sorry). She also has a very powerful voice and can be heard, and clearly, I might add, through all the instrumentation.



One last comment is this album has very little direction. It's definately not a concept album, and more in line with "The First Chapter" by Circus Maximus. What I mean by that is, each song has a life of it's own. One song might be heavy, heavy distortion on the guitar, and another might be cleaner. I cannot find out if they are trying to be progressive, goth, or symphonic. It's hard to tell, since there are elements present in each. Judging by this and their next album, I would honestly say, they are pushing more progressive (yes, they have an epic on their 5th album), and pushing more away from the female fronted masses.







"