10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
After Forever deserves the world !, March 26, 2004
This review is from: Invisible Circles (Audio CD)
At this moment I'm listening to this brandnew cd, it's still warm from the press. After Forever continue where they have stopped after Decipher. This new cd is a conceptcd which tells a story of a 14-year old girl, queen in her own fantasyworld, but in real life filled with hate for the world and especially her parents. Maybe not a very happy theme, but the music is brilliant. Beautiful violins and piano's are completed with the superb voice of Floor Jansen, heavy guitars and low grunts.
Invisible circles is definitely worth buying if you are in to this kind of music and in my humble opinion they deserve to become well-known all over the world.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
So for those who believe in this life spin out of the circle..., August 9, 2005
In my opinion, this is the best album of 2004 :)
I'll start by mentioning the good things about this album
POSTIVES
VOCALS: Wow. Floor is AMAZING. And I used to think Mariah Carey was a good singer. My mistake.
The growls aren't bad either, although some people have complained about them.
MUSIC: For music it's solid. There aren't really any guitar solos, so it's nothing special, but it's nicely arranged, so the music is good. The keyboards are awesome!
LYRICS/STORY: As you all probably know by now, this album tells the story of an abused girl, and the lyrics are written in a play format, meaning several songs have dialouge. In addition the album insides have the girls diary entries, so you can follow along with the story. It's very well written, and may put a tear in your eye.
NEGATIVES
VARIETY: Unfortunately, I have to give this album a star below what it deserves, because there just isn't much variety in the songs. But I guess it's not that big of a deal, because I love every song on this CD.
SONG HIGHLIGHTS
CHILDHOOD IN MINOR- This isn't one of my favorite, and none the less its not even really a song. It's an intro, and a rather creepy one at that. It sets the mood for the album, but eventually fades into the choirs at the begining of "Beautiful Emptiness"
BETWEEN LOVE AND FIRE- Floor and the growler, Sander, exchange vocal duties in this song. Floor plays the mother, and Sander plays the father. Basically, the song explains what happened before the little girl was born.
ECCENTRIC- A beautiful piano ballad that tells the feelings of the girl after a rough day at school. It may put a tear in your eye when you first hear it.
VICTIM OF CHOICES- The climax of the album, which features Sander, Floor, and the choir. I'm not going to give too much away, because you'll have to figure out what happens for yourself.
Overall, this album is definitely worth every penny. In an age where songs about money, sex, and bling are considered "Great Music", it's good to know that bands like After Forever still make music about issues in society that have a meaning
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great! Great! Great!, April 10, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Invisible Circles (Audio CD)
I've only bought "INVISIBLE CIRCLES" yesterday, but I must say it gave me already a very good impression of the 'new' After Forever'. The style is very different than the previous album "DECIHPER". This time, there is a more down-to-earth theme instead of the more 'fantasy'-like style of the previous albums. It's a concept-album that tells us the story of a 14-year old girl and her parents. She is hated by everyone and seeks a refuge into TV and internet. The 12 tracks fit together like a puzzle. This time there are also less choir-vocals and orchestral arrangements in the music. Every track has its charme; from the instrumental intro (CHILDHOOD IN MINOR), to the harder songs (BLIND PAIN, SINS OF IDEALISM), to the slower piano-song (ECCENTRIC).
Last point to review: the artwork in this limited edition is beautiful!!
So, this was everything I had to say about INVISIBLE CIRCLES.
If you're into gothic metal you'll still like this but also other metal fanatics will enjoy this gem!
It's a great! great! great! album!!
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