After Forever

[Valtiel]

 

Ako se covek oporavio od raka, nadam se da ce biti u top formi jer ocekujem novi album uskoro.

[Misantrophil]

slusao sam od njih samo ovaj poslednji album i uopste mi se ne dopada

[Kali Agna]

slusao sam od njih samo ovaj poslednji album i uopste mi se ne dopada

Nabavi Decipher, dopasce ti se sigurno

[Baki]

Nabavi Decipher, dopasce ti se sigurno

I meni je Decipher njihov najjachi album, mada nemam nishta protiv ni ICa!

[Kali Agna]

I meni je Decipher njihov najjachi album, mada nemam nishta protiv ni ICa!

Ja volim sve njihove albume. Svakako, jedan od mojih omiljenih bendova...

[Baki]

Evo shta je Floorka, tj. njen Sander rekao o textovima sa novog albuma Remagine, koji izlazi 5. septembra!

 

I've noticed, there are many topics about remagine,

so I will give my updates in this one (to keep it simple )

 

I already gave you a lot of details about the music,

let's now talk about the lyrics!

This time, we didn't write a concept album, so lyricwise, there was more freedom.

 

The intro and a few other songs are about dreams.

Dreaming can influence people, tell something about themselves, but also predict things.

Floor dreams a lot, and wanted to find out what it's all about.

Some of that, she wanted to share with the fans.

 

In that aspect, many songs are pretty personal and deal about different situations/emotions.

We didn't want to write another socialproblem related album, but then again there's one song that's related to the Russian schoolchildren that were kidnapped.

The choir in that song is really agressive, I think it's the best choirpart we ever wrote!

 

Lyricwise, this album is pretty versatile, but also shows a felcetion on the past.

When Floor wrote the lyrics for The Key (Decipher) she felt the way she described it there.

Due to experience/changes in life etc it could be very strange when you look back at the lyrics written in the past and Floor decided to give you an "update" about the feeling in that song.

Musicwise, the song has got nothing to do with the Key, but lyricwise you could say it's part two.

The song won't be on the regular album, but I'm sure you'll find it soon enough!

 

Bas has also given a contribution to the lyrics in a song that's about a relation between a living and a deceased person wich reflects a lot of anger and desparation.

This song will be a more epic one, the vocals are really emotional and are based on a duet between Bas and Floor.

 

 

[Kali Agna]

Oho, zar vec novi album? Nisam ni ovaj prethodni uspela da izgustiram

Well... let's DREAM about new songs...

[Baki]

Pa...IC je snimljen josh na leto 2003, ali je izdat tek u aprilu 2004, tako da su imali vremena da napishu nove pesme! Jedva chekam da izadje!!!!

[Supergalactic Lover]

Svaroze Baki, imas li Wings of Illusion DEMO? Mnogo dobar. Ako nemas javi se.

[Baki]

Svaroze Baki, imas li Wings of Illusion DEMO? Mnogo dobar. Ako nemas javi se.

Ma imam, ali to su samo dve pesme....pa ti si mi to dao josh krajem 2003, tad sam ih i prvi put chuo!!!

[Crow]

After Forever su nekad bili dobar band, ali ona losa gluma u Between Love & Fire. Uzasno. Smucio mi se ceo album, pa ga nisam ni preslusao do kraja. Ljigavo

 

Vracam se ja na Prison of Desire. Mnogo dobar album.

[Baki]

Gluma jeste ochajna, ali nisu to chlanovi benda odradili, vec Amanda Somerville i Jay lansford. A POD je nishta u poredjenju s kasnijim ostvarenjima!

[- Trinitus -]

Ja imam samo jedan njihov album.Neznam tacno koji je po redu,ali ima Forlorn Hope,Follow in Cry,Estranged na njemu.

Taj album mi je preteran.

[Baki]

 

Pruilichno neinspirativno...staviti sliku chlanova na cover!

Here are the track list!!! :

 

 

 

CD + DVD (Making Of) :

 

1. Enter 1.06

2. Come 5.02

3. Boundaries are Open 3.44

4. Living Shields 4.11

5. Being Everyone 3.37

6. Attendance 3.27

7. Free of Doubt 4.40

8. Only Everything 6.33

9. Strong 3.38

10. Face your Demons 4.57

11. No Control 3.17

12. Forever 5.10

 

------------------

 

– SACD

 

SACD Surround Sound 5.1 / Bonus Tracks;

 

13. Taste the Day 2.54

14. Live and Learn 4.16

15. Strong 3.40 – Piano Version

Edited July 12, 2005 by Svarog Baki

[Wanda_CarrionBand]

Oh my God...Kako je obucena!Nisam nikad videla nijedan njidov spot.Jel ona tako i na spotovima?Bila sam na koncertu u Nemackoj i moram priznati da joj je odeca bila mnogo...ovaj...prikladnija.aj neka mi neko objasni kakva je gluma u pitanju.jako me zanima a slabo sam upucena

[Baki]

Ma na njihovom albumu iz 2004 imaju dve sekvence gde su dvoje ljudi glumili scenu svadja roditelja devojcice o kojoj se radfilo u konceptu tog albuma. Gluma jestre ochajna, ali ne i muzika!

Ne seri da si ih videla uzivo!!!! To je mojh san!!!!! Kakvi su bili?

[Wanda_CarrionBand]

Bili su odlicni!Neverovatni!to je bio festival na kome su bili i Nightwish i oomph i jos mnogi drugi.To je bilo ove godine,u februaru valjda.Ja sam u pocetku kao sve cekala da NW dodje na red.Imala sam album od After Forever ali sam ih tad slabo slusala.Na kraju se ispostavilo da su RASTURILI Nightwish.Neverovatno!Koliko god ja volela Nw,moram to da priznam.Bas se trude na sceni.Riba super mlati kosom a i simpaticno igra.Izvodi tamo neke kerefeke .Nightwish su radili koncert samo da odrade i uzmu kesh a ovi su dali sve od sebe.Svaka im cast!

[- Trinitus -]

Pjevaljka ista Liv Tajler.Btw ocajan cover.

[Baki]

Odvratno je ispala na slici...a frizura....uzas!

[Baki]

Na njihovom sajtu sad imate sekciju posvecenu novom albumu gde mozete chuti 2 sempla...obecavaju!

[Baki]

Evo poduzeg intervjua sa Sanderom i Floorkom o novom albumu:

 

 

Interview with After Forever's Floor Jansen and Sander Gommans

by Marta and Aad

 

It is a hot day, and here in the south of the Netherlands it feels even hotter. We find ourselves in the centre of town Reuver. It is 18:30, and the bells of the big church start to ring when we enter the house of Floor Jansen and Sander Gommans. The first thing that we see is, of course, the enormous He-Man collection, which makes Sander also enormously proud. Proud is also the word that can be described Floor's and Sander's attitude towards After Forever's upcoming release, "Remagine," due out in the beginning of September. When they talk about their newest material, you can feel their enthusiasm and satisfaction, but also a certain curiosity about the future reactions of the fans. We are invited to the living room, where the stereo is ready for a preview of the new album. But before we get into the details concerning the individual songs, let's concentrate first on some general aspects of "Remagine."

"Invisible Circles," After Forever's previous release was a concept album. Everything was dependant on the story, everything had to be connected. The new cd has a very different character.

Sander: "I think that, because our previous album was a concept, the writing process of the new material went so smooth and natural. When you're busy with a concept, you have to take so many things into account. During the writing process of the new songs, we noticed that the compositions sounded more to the point. Melodies were clearer. The sound was stronger. The contrasts were more visible. There's also a lot going on on the vocal level."

Floor adds: "On this new album, I wanted to use my voice in still more different ways than earlier. I can sing in an operatic way, but I can also sing with a light falsetto voice. And I can also belt or use more of a rock-voice. I wanted to play more with my voice in a conscious way. For example the first composition of the album, "Come," contains an operatic chorus. But then really operatic. The verses and bridges are, however, more rocky. My goal with this album was to show more variety, to keep it all interesting. This time I used the falsetto voice in a very conscious way. It has come back on this album. But on the other hand, I don't only sing high. I think that metal and opera work pretty well together. Operatic singing is, however, very intense to listen to. And that is maybe the reason why Nightwish e.g. has been using it recentlyto a smaller extent. And that is also the reason why I don't do it nowadays all the time either. And also because I can do more than only sing in an operatic way. And therefore I consciously used this time my falsetto and my opera voice, to make a distinction between these two ways of singing. Tarja from Nightwish - that's real operatic singing, and Sharon from Within Temptation sings more with a light falsetto. Both sing high, but the character is different. And I wanted to emphasize this distinction by using both voices, and combine them with some other things. To keep it interesting. Metal is such a varied genre, with so much power. Some bands, however, sound all the time hard and heavy, and after a while you don't notice anymore that it's actually so hard. Heavy moments combined with calmer parts sound even heavier. And it goes the same with singing."

The new cd is already being promoted as the quintessensial After Forever release: on the one hand, we get to hear many old, trusted elements, but on the other hand, the album is still fresh, and there are also many new aspects to be discovered.

Sander: "The old elements are the melodies, which are now more present. Not thousand melodies at the same time anymore, but melodies that come strongly on the surface. That was also on the first albums. Later, with "Invisible Circles" we moved into a different, more progressive direction. I also think that you hear the old elements in Floor's voice, though it sounds now way better and is used in many more ways. But the idea of the operatic singing is back now.

Floor adds: "And Arabic things. That's not really new, that's something that has always been in our music."

Sander continues: "And, of course, another new element: Joost."

Indeed - "Remagine" is the first After Forever's album in a new line-up. The first one with the keyboard-player Joost van den Broek. During our conversation, and also while listening to the new compositions, it becomes clear that Joost's influence has been extremely important. Both Sander and Floor speak with lots of pride and admiration about him:

Sander: "When you listen to the album, you can hear that we have now a real keyboard player. Not just someone who just plays things, in a classical way only. We have now someone who brings a different sound to a cd. He does many different things. And he has also co-written the music. So he brought his influence to the songs when it comes to the composition, the form and the sound"

Floor adds: "He creates his own sounds. You won't hear him playing any standard Casio-things, or some stuff from a sampler. Joost has also his own typical style of creating melodies. He has more of a progressive background, and you might think that the cd would contain many keyboard solos, but that's not the case. He knows how to write in a functional way. And you can hear it well. The collaboration of Sander and Joost is really something fantastic. They went into the rehearsal room and there was some kind of fire, some chemistry. They were writing one song after another"

Sander adds: "I have never experienced it with anyone else. I never could write songs so smoothly together with someone. I have never had this sort of chemistry with someone before."

Floor continues: "Actually together they created the basis of every composition. The rest was only the matter of filling things in: 'Look guys, this is the verse, this is the chorus, and here comes the mid-piece, etc. It's gonna be like this. Could you maybe play here something like this? Could you do this and that here?' And in this way others gave their contributions. That's how it went. Not that their role was not important, since without them you don't have the After Forever-sound. But Joost's influence is really huge."

Sander: "For the first time there was someone who was also thinking in the terms of production. I am myself pretty much busy with such things, but there was earlier no one who would think in the same way. 'If we play it like this, then it's gonna sound like that on the cd.' And that's important. Joost knew already beforehand how he wanted songs to sound. He had a big influence. And then Floor's vocals completed in all perfectly. I couldn't have wished for a better process than the way it all went now. Really fantastic!"

As we can see, the band knew already before entering the studio how they would like their new cd to sound. Which aspects of the sound were most important for them?

Sander: "We wanted the cd to sound modern. To sound clearer and hard. And we have succeeded. We wanted the vocals to be in front, but not in such a way that the rest becomes soft. We wanted the audience to hear all the things that Floor does with her voice well. There are way more things going on than on our previous albums. The mix was done by Sascha Paeth and Philip Colodetti in the Gate studio, in Wolfsburg. We were there during the mixing process of the first track, and we told them what we wanted. The rest of the songs came to us per emai, and Joost and me sent messages back, telling Sascha and Philip what we thought. But I think the pre-production, done by Joost, gave already a clear impression of what we meant"

Floor adds: "We all listen more to rock and metal than to, let's say, gothic music. I think we have always been a pretty heavy band, but I think that only now it is clearer than before. I guess if we recorded 'Decipher' with the same sound as 'Remagine', it would also sound way harder. The mix of 'Decipher' was pretty ok, but not really very heavy. The new cd has really much more power. And there's much more space. Already beforehand , from the moment that the very first note was written, more space was created. So in the parts when guitars play the most important role, they indeed play the most important role. The keyboards complete the parts, but that's it. It's not that we have here some keyboard line, and there again some different melody. There's more space, and that's why the cd sounds more powerful. When a keyboard melody comes, or a choir part, then there's more space for that element in the song. Everything is on its own place. And calmer parts are then really calm. And very minimal. This time it was mostly the matter of throwing unnecessary things away. That's why the album really rocks!"

"Remagine" was recorded mostly in the Excess studio, in Rotterdam. Some parts, however, like Floor's vocals, choirs and strings, were recorded in Wolfsburg, Germany, in Sascha Peath's studio. Grunts and the vocals of Bas Maas (the band's guitarist) were recorded in Sander's home studio, in Reuver. Why has the band chosen for this combination? Didn't they consider the option to record everything in Wolfsburg or e.g. everything in Rotterdam?

Sander explains: "I guess it has to do with me. I know that Sascha is an incredibly talented person. Especially now I know it. I know his productions do not necessarily have to sound the same, like Kamelot, Epica or Rhapsody. I know he can deliver varied productions. But somehow the albums from his studio that I mostly get to hear are always very much filled with things that I don't like. And me, I love an open sound. The other thing is that we, as a band, want to have a nice atmosphere during the recordings by having more band members together at the same time in the studio. It's not really possible in Wolfsburg, since it's so far away. And in the Excess studio we can sleep and eat together. The atmosphere is great. And Hans Pieters (from the Excess studio) is someone who knows his job and he lets you decide. He even lets you record things yourself. So we have actually taken the production of this cd in our own hands to a big extent."

Like the last time, during the "Invisible Circles"-sessions, Floor went to record her vocals to Wolfsburg and collaborated there with a vocal coach, Amanda Somerville.

Floor: "When I record my vocals, I need someone who helps with express the right emotions. I don't necessarily need someone who would assist me with the technical aspects. 'Floor, hold your stomach in!' or something like that. I know it all. But because I write my own vocals and because I practise so much, some level of spontaneity gets lost. I have some certain idea of how things should sound, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's the one and only way. That's why I am open for other suggestions. Someone who would tell me:'Floor, more emotion, try it like this, etc' And such a relation I have with Amanda. It worked already perfectly during the recordings of the previous album. In no time we became friends. But apart from that, there's this chemistry between us. She knows what I mean and can complete me. And that's most important. The previous time I felt more need for support. And also in helping me with some vocal melodies. I write my own parts, and then we look at it in the studio together. Is that ok? Or maybe it can get better? This time I wanted to do that again, but actually hardly anything has changed because it was already good. It's not because my vocal melodies are not good enough, and then I go to the studio to make something out of it. But just because I think that when someone assists me, then it all can get maybe still better. I also have learnt a lot from the last time. So I paid more attention to the structure, I tried to make it more catchy, and to write the lyrics in a more logical way. And then during the recordings, Amanda was next to me, telling me: 'Floor, more emotion, open your mouth, too much vibration, too little vibration, too early, too late, etc.' This kind of things. When there's someone assisting you, the singing can get only better. She gets the very best out of me. And that's most important for me that someone supports me. I have to admit that it was not that easy. During the first week I was there alone. Sander was still in the Netherlands. We felt bad about André. And then Sander comes to Germany and gets appendicitis. Of course, it has a big influence on you. You have to go with him to the hospital. And then you have to record your vocal lines again. That's why it was really fine that I had Amanda next to me."

Sander adds: "It's really one big family there in Germany. We really have great contact with everyone. I miss them immediately when I am not there. It's really nice in Wolfsburg. Those are all fantastic people."

Floor: "So Sander became ill, and he still had to record his grunts. But recording grunts with a painful belly doesn't really work. That's why we couln't record grunts in Wolfsburg. We have decided to do it here, in our home studio downstairs. We already had done our pre-production here, and it all went really well. The results were so good that we decided to record the grunts and the vocals of Bas here in Reuver."

Like it has been said already earlier, the choirs were this time also recorded in Wolfsburg.

Floor: "We had a really fantastic choir. Amanda also sings in it. I am the soprano. The mezzo-soprano is sung by an Icelandic singer. Amanda sings the alto. All the male voices are done by Previn. He's really incredible"

It seems that After Forever has found a great team of people with whom they can get along perfectly on a professional as well as personal level. Not only in Wolfsburg, but also with Hans Pieters from the Excess studio.

Sander: "His best quality is his calmness. And the fact that he can work with people who have their own clear ideas and that he executes it all without saying: 'I know it better, etc.' We, as a band, have our own vision, and he allows us to let it all come on the cd. But he still controls things to a certain extent, and if there's something that doesn't make sense to him, then he interferes. But he still doesn't block the whole creative process of the band. And that's exactly what we need."

We have already discussed the music and the production. Let's now move to the lyrical aspect of the album. Lyrics, just like the last time, were written by Floor. However, this time the work went very different, since was no story now, no concept, no main leading theme.

Floor: "Well, a couple of songs deal with dreams. 'Enter' and 'Come' are about falling into a dream. And you see these grotesque, theatrical figures who invite you: 'Come join us all.' Such an unreal situation. You just enter a dream. And 'Being Everyone' and 'Only Everything' are also about dreams. But from a different point of view. It's not really a description of one dream. That would be even impossible to do. And I couldn't do that to myself. My dreams are not that nice (laughs). I don't know why. But it's definitely not a concept. It's more of a coincidence that dreams appear in more songs. There is also a song about the events of Beslan, 'Living Shields.' I also wrote a couple of personal lyrics. So there are more different topics this time."

Let's now concentrate more on the individual songs.

The intro, "Enter," is quite unlike any other After Forever intro. Like Floor already earlier mentioned, it represents the moment when you enter a dream. Or shall I say a nightmare? This piece sounds quite threatening. We get to hear many different voices (a funny detail is that some of them come from Joost and Sander), and the keyboards create a really disturbing atmosphere.

The intro is connected (musically and thematically) to the first real composition on "Remagine," namely "Come." I think this song pretty much sums up what After Forever now stands for. It contains many typical After Forever elements, like tempo changes, choirs, high operatic vocals. But it also introduces some new aspects, like more progressive sounding keyboards, more playing with keyboard sounds, a nice piano outro that reminded me of some black and white films from the 1930's or 40's. The vocals of Floor sound very varied. In verses and bridges she uses her rock voice; a bit like on "Invisible Circles," but in the chorus she uses her operatic vocals. The chorus is also a very memorable moment, since it brings a change in the mood to the song and its melody is really beautiful. The choirs sound also way stronger than on "Invisible Circles." There's more dynamics in them, more expression. Especially the male vocals sound now stronger. I thought the male choir parts on the precious cd were pretty soft, lacking some power. All in all, "Come" is a very dynamic song and a strong opener of the album.

The next song, "Boundaries Are Open," is more of a straight-forward, rock composition. Mid-tempo, very catchy, with strong riffs. This one has a really 80's-feel.

"Living Shields" is a more intense song. The first one on the album with grunts. In this composition choirs have quite an important role. Like it has been mentioned earlier, Floor wrote the lyrics shocked by the events of 1 september 2004 frim Beslan, where many school children were taken hostage, and finally, killed by terrorists. Floor: "I wanted to describe what happens when different religions and different ethnical groups clash together." The choir represents the voices of the children. The atmosphere of the song, ans also its topic, reminded me a bit of Nightwish's composition "Kinslayer." Though this one is more aggressive and more dynamic. It should do very well live.

"Being Everyone" which follows is going to be the (first) single from "Remagine." It's according to Sander a "feel-good track." It begins with a calm intro, where Floor uses her falsetto. Her voice sounds delicate. The whole song is very catchy, and less "extreme" than other songs on the album. Therefore it's quite easy to understand why this particular track has been chosen for a single. It's indeed, like Floor her described it, "the most mainstream song" from the album. It contains a beautiful mid-piece with a nice piano and lovely vocals.

The next song, "Attendance," is probably most "different" from what we are used to from After Forever. It is based around a heavy, industrial beat. The atmosphere is quite threatening. It contains grunts, but this time Sander uses his voice in a slightly different way. The mid-piece features a nice choir part accompanied by high, more atmospheric vocals of Floor.

Floor: "In this song I am wondering what someone would experience if they came to our Planet Earth for the very first time. Someone with a similar background, with similar values. What we consider as good and what we consider as bad. You come on the Earth. What do you see then first? Do you see beautiful things that can be found here? Or do you see the bad things? In the chorus I sing from the perspective of someone who stands at the airport and welcomes the tourists: 'Now enter, here's our dream-world. View the splendid sights. You can always tell we'll never learn.' You can immedialtey notice that humans do not learn. It's cynical: 'Look, this is our 'wonderful' world.'

Sander: "This is actually a song that was planned from the beginning. Some months ago we went on tour with Oomph and Samael. And Samael has this kind of compositions. With this kind of feel. Joost and me really liked it. And then we decided to experiment with this style. Actually it contains some parts from the first song we wrote for this cd, but eventually threw away. However, we used one riff, one riddle in 'Attendance.' Later on I put on 'Monsters of Rock' by Judas Priest at home, and I became very enthusiastic. This is such a great track. This song also contains the atmosphere we were trying to achieve."

The song that follows, "Free of Doubt," is again fast and hard, with a heavy mid-piece. The keyboards accents are very present. The singing is very varied.

The next composition, "Only Everything," might be seen as the centrepiece of the album. It's the longest song on the cd, and also the most varied one. It begins in a calm way, with piano and acoustic guitars. Sometimes we hear very unusual keyboard sounds. Floor's vocals in this part are definitely one of the vocal highlights of "Remagine." A lot of emotion, lots of delicacy. Later on, the song changes its course. The transition to the harder part is very strong. The singing also becomes stronger. Later on we get many heavy up-tempo parts with grunts, cool guitar riffs and choirs. Floor called the choir parts even "rapping with opera." A rich and very powerful song.

Floor: "'Only Everything' is one of the lyrics about dreams. At night you can actually do everything you want. You can go everywhere, you can be everyone. 'Being Everyone' (as mentioned earlier) is also about dreams, that in a dream you can be everyone. You dream that you're someone else. Sometimes I dream that I am a man, and I find it absolutely normal. But you can also be many different people within one dream. So within one dream you switch to someone else. There can be 5 different people in one dream, and sometimes for a while you look at things through the eyes of one of them. 'Only Everything 'is not really written from a perspective of someone. But it's more about how remarkable things can be in dreams. The title is inspired by Clive Barker, a famous fantasy authour. He has a book called 'Galilee,' which is written from a personal perspective. It's like a diary of one character. This person doesn't know what he wants, but he wants everything. Only everything. I liked it so much. That describes in a way what you can do and what you want to do at night in a dream.You want only everything."

The next song, "Strong," is according to Sander "the best After Forever ballad ever. No other ballad of ours can top this one. There's so much emotion in it." It begins with a delicate singing, a nice melody, with a atmospheric beat beneath it all. The song has a very melancholic atmosphere. When we find out what inspired Floor to write the lyrics, it become obvious why it sounds so melancholic. Floor has difficulty with keeping her eyes dry when she hears this song.

Floor: "It is one of the most personal lyrics I have ever written. It's about my mother. I have written it about her. Some years ago the doctors diagnosed her with arthritis, a form of rheumatism. I thought it was really terrible. And she herself of course too. In the beginning she found it difficult to learn to live with it. You know that you have something that cannot go away. Something that can only get worse. You cannot do many things anymore. And that while you're still quite young. My mother became 50 last year. So this song was dedicated to her. How great she can deal with this problem. And how strong she is. It's a coincidence - well, a "coincidence" is really a bad word to describe it - that this song also has a lot to do with Andre's (Borgman, the band's drummer, diagnosed with cancer - ed.) situation. With his illness. And not only his. Also of Marielle and Peter from the fanclub. People who are so ill, but who can deal with it in such a strong way. This song was originally written without drums. Later on we thought it would sound actually better with drums. And Andre recorded his drum parts, during his illness, in between the chemotherapies. One day when he felt better he came to the studio and recorded his parts."

Another striking element about 'Strong" is a long, emotional guitar solo, played by Sander. The solo was recorded in one take.

Sander: "You cannot play such a solo 1000 times in a row. There has to be some emotion in it. I still played it a couple of times more, but there was way less feeling, emotion in it. The solo could be maybe better when it comes to the timing, etc. But that doesn't matter. It has to sound real. You hear the emotions there."

Floor adds: "It was difficult for me to sing this song. You cannot really sing when you're crying. Your throat is squeezed. But you still have to translate your emotions into singing. At the end of the song I sing: 'And together we will stand strong.' That last word sounds so fragile. But I left it like this. There's emotion in it. It's very poignant."

The following song, "Face Your Demons," is one of the most interesting songs on the album, if not the most interesting one, when it comes to the vocals. There are many little vocal experiments, Floor plays with her voice in many different ways. The song contains many quite challenging vocal lines. It's a pretty up-tempo, dynamic track.

Floor: "The lyrics are a bit sarcastic. It's like there's a little red devil sitting on your shoulder, that makes you do all kinds of bad things, and confronts you with your most negative fears. You have to 'face your demons.' To look your fears into the eye. This is not a very personal lyric. First I wanted to write about my own fears, or fear in general. But later I thought it might be too heavy fot this track. That wouldn't fit here. So I wrote about it from another, more humoristic perspective."

"No Control," the track that follows, is quite a striking composition. Like Floor has described it, it's "the Yield to Temptation of this album." The song is very aggressive, very raw, containing many grunts, and singing of Bas. And no Floor! For the first time in the history of After Forever Floor's vocals do not appear in a composition (except for the intros). What was the idea behind it? Was it done on purpose?

Floor explains: "It's a really heavy track. I thought to myself: 'I don't think it would add anything if my vocals were in it.' For example 'Blind Pain' from 'Invisible Circles' is such a hard track, and when my voice appears, however I would sing, it gives the whole song a somewhat calmer quality. It makes it 'rounder,' more melodic. And this one track had to remain really raw."

Sander: "Floor wrote the lyrics about me. About how much I can get annoyed about ceratin people and certain rules in the music world. Things I cannot stand. I cannot let some things loose and I keep feeling annoyed."

Floor adds: "Sander gives more than 100% to something, and then because of some rules things are not possible anymore. So he has 'no control.' It's about losing the grip of something. It's really irritating. Quite funny that those are my words about him, sung by him himself."

Sander: "And it's all true. When I read it, I thought: 'Yes, it is exactly like this.' But I could never write it all in such a way. I'm no lyric-writer." The annoying thing is that you want some things as a band, you have some ambitions, but something stands in the way. It also has to do with the fact that we are placed in this genre. The ones listening to heavy metal say: 'Ah, After Forever, that's a soft gothic band.' But on the other hand, the gothic fans say: 'After Forever is not gothic anymore.' So we are trying to find our own place. And you can do two things. To do what everyone wants you to do. Or do what you want yourself. The first thing is not really a problem, but then you're just not honest. Of course, we want to sell a lot fo records and to reach as big audience as possible. There's nothing wrong with it. It would be even strange not to want it. But the audience has to also understand that we want to be honest as a band. And we don't want to do what people expect from us."

Which brings us to the last song on the album, "Forever." This one can be called a pretty typical After Forever song. I got the idea it sounded a bit more bombastic than the other songs on the cd. It contains Arabic / Eastern motives in the music, but also in the vocal melodies. The whole song is a duet between Bas and Floor.

Floor: "The subject of this song comes from Bas. We wrote the lyrics together. It's about a man (Bas) who has lost his beloved. I sing the part of that woman. I am dead. I can talk to him, but he cannot hear me. And he tells about his frustrations, and anger, and his pain. Actually it's a little love story. But not that banal."

After having listened to the album "proper," we also got to hear the two bonus tracks which will appear on the Super Audio version the cd. The track "Taste The Day" was originally called "Remagine." It's a nice ballad, with a melodic chorus and nice piano. The second song, "Live and Learn" can be seen a sequel to "The Key." Musically it's not really related, but thematically it touches the same problem.

Floor: "'The Key' on 'Decipher' dealt with the fact that I always tend to aim too high. I expect a lot from myself. Which is not really a bad thing. Except when you expect too much. There are 10 things to do. 9 things went well, 1 not, and you're not satisfied. And that's what bothered me then. Now I'm older, and maybe also a bit wiser. I still have that feeling, but I'm one step further. I can see also positive things in it. I can see it as a challenge to be able to deal with it."

After the "listening-session" we still had some time to talk about a couple of different issues. The topic of Andre came back again. During his illness he visited the studio in Rotterdam a couple of times. How did the other band members experience these visits?

Sander: "It had of course a lot of positive influence on us. When you don't see him at all, then you start thinking of him as a very sick person, which he also was of course. But when he visited us we got a different image of him. You could see what he'd been through. But not like you saw someone terribly down, or someone who totally lost all the joy of life. He was exactly the way he always was. Even more enthusiastic. He was someone who hasn't lost hope. This visit was very important for us. But I think also for himself. First of all, it already helped him to know that his drum parts from the pre-production were used for the album. If that hadn't been the case, it could have felt for him like a slap in his face."

 

After that we went to discuss the band's new album cover. This little image has stirred a lot of controversy. It is indeed quite unlike any other older After Forever cd-cover. It features a band photo, and presents also a new look of the band. Both Sander and Floor admit that it was a conscious decision, some kind of a statement.

Sander: "We wanted to present ourselves more as a band with balls. Because that's what we are. We are not a band that loves unnecessary decorations or posed sadness."

Floor: "The cover presents us as a rock band. More like an old heavy metal band, but then in a new form. Without all the tight leggins or bug hairdos. This is After Forever. This is our face."

So the new cd presents the band's new image and also a pretty new approach towards music. How do Sander and Floor look back now at their older releases?

Sander: "Well, at the moment when an album is released, we see it as our best work. Otherwise we don't release it. So at the moment when it comes out, it contains for us no weak points. I can try to look back, but there's no point really. All the weak things you hear now, are maybe left unnoticed by your audience. When an album comes out, you stand behind it totally. At the moment when all these albums were released I was proud as a peacock. I am still proud of all of them. Nothing feels like a new release. However, when I listen to 'Prison of Desire' or 'Decipher' now I still hear the flaws in our playing, the sound that I don't like anymore. And when you compare Floor's voice to how it sounds now…"

Does it feel the same for Floor?

Floor: "In a way, yes. But I still can place myself in those times. That's what you have to do. You approach music now differently. You listen to music also in a different way. You write in a different way. I just did some stuff on 'Prison of Desire.' I did what I thought sounded good, and it fit to the rest. Now I'm more aware of my voice. Now I hear some things, and I think: 'Oh, I shoud have done it differently.' But it's not really relevant anymore. When the first cd was released, we were indeed as proud as a peacock. There was some magic in it. We cannot make such a cd anymore. We wouldn't want to, but it was really something special for that time. And when you think how old we were at that time. How young I was. I didn't have any experience with singing. Had never had any singing lessons before. Though some reviewers still called me 'a classically-trained soprano.' That was not bad. But on the other hand, I still sometimes think: 'Shit, If I had had some experience then, some musical background, it would have sounded better.' But there's also something positive about looking back at all these cds from 'Prison of Desire' through 'Decipher,''Exordium' and 'Invisible Circles' to the new album. I see my personal growth. And I'm proud of it. It's something I work on very hard as a singer. You can see my evolution. There are many songs on these cds that are very strong. For example 'My Pledge of Allegiance.' That's one of our best compositionss, I think.But you listen to these albums in a different way than someone who's not that much busy with music. And you listen to them differently because you can never be objective. You always know how it felt then and how it feels now. You can also get tired of some songs."

And what are according to Sander and Floor the strongest aspects of the new album?

Floor: "For me the variation. The wide spectre of my own contribution, as well as the music itself."

Sander: "I agree with Floor. I also think the purity and honesty of this album are its strong aspects."

Floor adds: "And also the fact that we did it all ourselves. There are so many bands that let the people from the studio do all the work. Especially in this genre. All depends on who produces it and who does the arrangements. I don't want to underestimate anyone, but I am extremely proud that we could do it all ourselves. And that in spite of all the obstacles, 'Remagine' has become a very strong cd."

 

12 July 2005.

 

 

[PlanetHell]

after forever...

hm...

shta su oni? gothic? nekoliko puta dok sam slushao album iz 2004. sam stekao utisak da je to heavy,,,

mada oni horovi dovode do gothica...

shta znam... nisu loshi,... pevachica ima dobar glas...

ali su im pesme naporne...

 

ne znam, mozda greshim poshto josh nisam detaljno preslushao, ali to je prvi utisak

[Kali Agna]

after forever...

hm...

shta su oni? gothic? nekoliko puta dok sam slushao album iz 2004. sam stekao utisak da je to heavy,,,

mada oni horovi dovode do gothica...

Meni oni naginju na power, sto zbog glasa pevacice, sto zbog brzih rifova, ali kada gledam u celini, ipak su gothic

[Baki]

after forever...

hm...

shta su oni? gothic? nekoliko puta dok sam slushao album iz 2004. sam stekao utisak da je to heavy,,,

mada oni horovi dovode do gothica...

shta znam... nisu loshi,... pevachica ima dobar glas...

ali su im pesme naporne...

 

ne znam, mozda greshim poshto josh nisam detaljno preslushao, ali to je prvi utisak

@ PH

ccc........naporne pesme....razocharao si me!

 

 

Meni je samo Prison of Desire gothic album, a sve ostalo je neki dark progressive sympho heavy papazjanija.

A inache Floorka ima mnogo mocan glas, i svestrana je! Mozda najbolja pevaljka u metalu!

[Kali Agna]

A inache Floorka ima mnogo mocan glas, i svestrana je! Mozda najbolja pevaljka u metalu!

Najbolji clean vokal