Ah yes, a band from my homeland. The Netherlands is quite famous for a lot of things, including but not limited to cheese, clogs, windmills, tulips, a tolerance for homosexuality, lax drugs laws, and more things which are generally frowned upon and looked up to by the rest of the world. Little did they know that one of the flattest countries in the world also produced high-quality Gothic-tinged symphonic metal in the form of the sextet After Forever. Modelled a little after their commercially more succesful compatriots Within Temptation, they quite exceed the moderately low standards that band has set for this style of music.
In fact, After Forever pull the whole "beauty and the beast" style of metal off with aplomb and grandeur. The band used an orchestra to record the whole thing; not anything new by any means, Therion did this way before After Forever did; but nevertheless, it holds up quite well, and the orchestral elements add to Ms Jansen's soprano vocals. Again, female vocalists are a dime a dozen these days, but again, After Forever plays their cards admirably.
Floor Jansen is indeed the most remarkable aspect of this band. Her vocals are high and powerful, and the melody lines she uses carry the songs onwards effectively. She doesn't use a grating or shrieky voice ever, or degenerate into senseless offkey wailing; her voice is always nice and supple and never becomes misplaced or out of synch with the song. She knows how to use her voice in the right way, and she never overindulges, which basically makes the vocals a pleasant listen.
She is continually backed by the aforementioned orchestra and guitars, who chug out riffs so common to the genre. They don't change chords often or do hyperspeed frantic solo excercises, but the guitars are generally dark, downtuned and atmospheric, to enhance the feel of the music. Again, this is a cliche of the music which the band conforms to, but they simply play it well, and on the more uptempo songs, like the beautiful Monolith of Doubt or Zenith, it all comes together in Gothic metal excellence.
And this is basically what the band is all about. The whole album is a continuous run of good form for the guys and girl, and every track sees them doing something different tempo and melody-wise, without ever succumbing to the dangers of repetition or merely creating what had already been. The band may play a style that is oversaturated to the death, and they may not be the most original of all the metal bands out there, but for a band at such a young age and already showing such a remarkably high level of consistency and quality, they certainly are at the top of the heap of bands who play this way. After Forever certainly take the crown for Beauty and the Beast metal, and if you want to get into the whole genre, this album belongs in your collection.
