Customer Reviews

Remagine

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was never really into After Forever. Like The Gathering and a host of other bands, they always played second fiddle in my mind to bands like Nightwish, Within Temptation, and Lacuna Coil. But I'm glad I gave their latest effort a listen. This album totally rocks. The annoying growling is minimal and Floor Jansen's vocals are absolutely beautiful. What sets it apart from the earlier stuff of thiers I've heard is that this album JAMS. That, and their other stuff always seemed incomplete somehow. Like the songs were unfulfilled ideas. No really memorable or catchy melodies. This album is different. It is headbanging AND beautiful. Highly recommended. The only reason I give a 4 instead of 5 is that it doesn't quite rise to the level of the other bands I mentioned. But, it may rise in my estimation over time. I will definitely be listening to it A LOT.

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.

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.

Here's AF's 4th full-length album, and I'll have to say it's their most ambitious by far. They've cut back on the operatic passages tremendously for one thing. On top of that, new keyboardist Joost adds in his own style of industrial-sounding synths and beats - WAIT! What?! Don't ask me, but it really doesn't sound all that bad (bar a few intros that sound like recycled 80s synth pop fillers). The guitars also sound a lot crunchier and more intense - making the songs sound grittier and overall more METAL. Gone are any of the gothic metal cliches the band have been plagued with over the years, and good riddance!

As for songs I like from this album? Well, there aren't really any I dislike. However, the ones I favor would have to be "Come" - an energetic headbanger and perfect opener for the album, "Attendance" - a rather short industrial-metal tap-your-foot kind of song, "Only Everything" - a proggy number that builds up as it goes along, "Strong" - a beautiful tearjerker where Floor sings her heart out, "Face Your Demons" - an interesting rock/power metal mix, and "Forever" - a chilling closer that resembles some of AF's earlier work. Also note that an SACD version exists with 3 bonus tracks - but can ONLY be played on an SACD player (which I don't have, so I can't say anything for those).

Stylistically, Remagine doesn't differ too far from 2004's Invisible Circles, so hardcore fans of the first two albums may not catch on to the new AF all too well. The rest of us however are in for a real treat. This is #1 on my album of the year list.

10/10

[PS - As far as the copy limitations go, be warned that this CD may not properly play in all computers. I have yet to try it on mine, but I have placed it in my DVD player (which doubles as a CD/MP3 player), and it wouldn't play at all. I haven't even been able to listen to the SACD tracks yet - I wish they would've just added them on as regular bonus tracks honestly. An annoying detail, and it won't affect my opinion on the wonderful music, but I wish the label wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to enhance this CD, because as far as I can tell, it wasn't worth it.]

Mediocre synth-metal continually hovers around generic, aspiring only to the less-mediocre stereotypical qualities inherent in an Evanescence or Therion.

Pretty good CD. Best one since Mark Jansen left, I'd say. Floor's great, as usual.

After Forever is one of my favorite bands,I discovered them by accident and the first song I heard from them was their cover of Iron Maiden's classic 'The Evil That Men Do' and I was blown away...the vocals blew my mind and the rest of the band was so tight and the production was amazing! So I went out and bought the entire collection,I also immediately bought this one 'Remagine' with the hopes that they would have some really catchy songs to go with the outstanding musicianship that exists in this band and on some of the songs like the beautiful 'Forever' I got my wish,my favorite song on the CD is Face Your Demons with some really thought provoking lyrics and it is very catchy,but the rest of the songs don't quite stick in your head,it is more music to listen to if you want to be impressed by top notch vocals and great musicians
I keep hoping that they'll eventually either go in a more commercial writing direction or if needed,hire some outside writers because this band is far too talented to be left out of the mainstream

the upside - some of the best female rock vocals I've ever heard,some really strong songs like 'Face Your Demons' "strong' and 'Forever'
great production

the downside - the songs are just not very memorable (which I really hate to say)

the bottom line - if you (like me) are a fan of great female vocals and some heavy rock music (like Evanescence) then check out this great band,they've got a lot of potential and I'm anxious to see where they can go in the future (the cover of Iron Maiden's 'Evil That Men Do' shows just what they can do with a great song) definitely worth checking out if you like great musicianship but the lack of songwriting abilities makes the asking price a bit too much to shell out,if you can find it cheaper (like 10 bucks or less) it's definitely worth buying...I love this band and I'm rooting for 'em...donutman says so!!!

I've been really immersing myself into the prog/symphonic metal genre as of late and this was the first After Forever CD I purchased on a whim, without having heard any clips. I bought this CD along with other from similar artists (Dreams of Sanity and Xandria) and this album was a million times better than the other two, which I either thought was horrible from the start (Dreams of Sanity) or just didn't interest me or move me (Xandria). This album has it all, excellent musicianship, amazing and textured production, beautiful singing and melodies, driving and emotional instrumentation, smart proggy musical passages. What is not to like? Nothing. This album was on repeat for 2 weeks straight. Every song from start to finish amazed and moved me. Even the songs with the male cookie monster grunts, I didn't mind so much. They were balanced out well, they weren't overbearing and they seemed to fit within the context of the songs.

The addition of the musical prodigy and genius Joost on keys/synth programming to the band was certainly a step in the right direction. Its obvious from listening to his synth work that this guy knows his stuff. He can play! Its also evident that he has a very strong understanding for what "works" in terms of song composition. And he did an excellent job in the co-production of the album.

I've only heard one other After Forever album (2001's Decipher), and Remagine is definately the best so far that I've heard. Floors voice on this album is simply flawless. I won't go into my evaluation of Decipher, but you can tell on Remagine that her voice has improved and/or the songs are written better for her voice.

Get this album. It is worth it. I can't wait to hear their new album coming out this year.

Having grown up listening to heavy metal bands from the 80's, I just can't stand most of the current gothic metal bands, they just bore me to death.

But this band is different. "Remagine" is an excellent work from (IMO) the best Gothic Metal band, After Forever. Lead vocalist Floor Jansen is amazing, the best singer in the genre. Sorry but the other girls don't have the range much less the power to drive a metal song as well as Floor. Other girls have beautiful voices, but so does Floor, and she can sing aggressively while the others can't! The rest of guys are very good, playing with an authentic metal edge. Try to see a video showing After Forever on a live performance and you understand what I'm talking about.

Even if you don't like gothic bands you'll like this CD.

The other reviews say it all, this album is great.
However my main disapointment is the copy protection on this CD. I bought my CD in Germany and have been informed that amazon sell the same copy protected version (maybe there is no other version?)
Basically when you try play this CD on a PC, windows media player automatically requires a license to do so. For most people the only problem with this is they cannot put the songs on their MP3 or ipod etc. But it is even more restricting still. I, since moving back to student halls after playing the CD on my parents PC at home, I cannot play it on my personal PC. Why? because I am behind a firewall on a network which I cannot tamper with. Not only this, but I was worried the firsttime I realised this cd had copyright and a window popped up in my media player with the word 'sony'. I believe this is the same copyright protection sony are currently being sued for as it apparently opens up your computer to internet spyware/viruses.
Yet another concern , is how long this cd will last anyway. Will in 10 years time I play it on a PC and be told 'sorry you've used up your limit on how many computers you can play this on' ? As technology rapidly grows, will you still be able to aquire the license in a few years time? With an album this good I'd like it to at least last a few years, but it seems to have lasted a month before I'm stuck.
If you buy the CD , you should have the right to listen to the tunes, but with this much hassle it seems like you ARE the one pirating music! now I can't even listen to the thing, because my CD player is broken and I 'only' have a CDrom drive and an MP3 player to play it on, neither of which work.
I understand why the label decided to put it there, in fact I learn a lot of information about this kind of tecnology and the effects it has on the industry because of the course I'm taking. But this much restriction on a cd is NOT going to make a huge difference on sales figures, or even any difference at all.
So this is my warning to buyers. I don't like giving it because After Forever are a brilliant band, one of my favourites and this CD is great. But even I wouldn't have bought it had I known about all this. I'd wait for some other normal version