Nowadays every metalhead knows Floor Jansen as the powerhouse vocalist of Finnish symphonic metal legends NIGHTWISH. However, twenty years ago she was working hard to make a name for herself on the metal scene with Dutch symphonic metal band AFTER FOREVER. In this respect, the band’s third studio effort, “Invisible Circles,” was an ambitious concept record with quite a heavy theme drawn from Sander Gommans’ direct experiences – how growing up in a dysfunctional family can affect the emotions of a young child. The album was released on March 25th, 2004, via Transmission Records.
As one can easily imagine, the music is dramatic and layered to properly accommodate such a topic, and this album showcases the band not only as all-around fine musicians but also as accomplished songwriters. Doubling as a metal opera complete with spoken word passages and intense backing orchestrations, the album revolves around the life of an unwanted child and her bitter parents, with Floor Jansen’s lyrics switching back and forth to present both points of view. On the surface, this may seem like a linear story – there’s a couple who have to choose between raising a child or pursuing their careers (“Between Love and Fire”), with the daughter unwillingly becoming the subject of their frequent quarrels and frustrations (“Sins of Idealism”), which makes her feel isolated and depressed (“Beautiful Emptiness”), seeking solace in what the Internet has to offer (“Digital Deceit”). But the story has more depth and layers than that; we later find out that the father was in a similar situation growing up (“Victim of Choices”). This insight into his early life connects with the girl’s pain (“Reflections”). The closing track “Life’s Vortex” offers a third layer of meaning as the neglected daughter, now grown-up and a mother herself, is about to make the same choices her parents made. The way the story is constructed ties in with the title, as the same invisible patterns map out the lives of three generations.
Musically, “Invisible Circles” (as well as the 2003 EP “Exordium”) represents a stylistic shift from the symphonic/Gothic sound of their previous albums that were influenced by Mark Jansen’s taste in music. But since Mark Jansen wanted to expand on the sound of 2001’s “Decipher” and the rest of the band wanted to go in a more aggressive and progressive direction while still retaining the core sound, he left the band and quickly formed SAHARA DUST, a symphonic metal act that developed into one of the genre’s top exponents – EPICA. Consequently, this left AFTER FOREVER enough space to adopt the necessary stylistic changes and tweaks through which to convey the story, themes, and messages of the concept that Sander Gommans and Floor Jansen were developing. The result is an album that is complex and intense in its instrumental and vocal delivery (definitely one of Floor Jansen’s best) and epic in scope though not as immersive in its storytelling as a concept album should be (and the voice-over acting isn’t helping much). Nonetheless, the juxtaposition of the operatic parts and the grunts makes the narrative more expressive and emotional while the keys and orchestrations soften the heavy guitars and pounding drums.
From a vocal standpoint, the piano ballad “Eccentric” is a real delight, while a cut like “Blind Pain” is quite brutal, the album moving between these two extremes with ease, with the symphonic arrangements emphasizing the melodies. The vocal dynamics in both “Sins of Idealism” and “Victim of Choices” make them not just intriguing listening experiences but also album highlights that showcase Jansen’s singing prowess and versatility, as she seamlessly switches between operatic passages and a more theatrical style of singing. Moreover, the beauty and the beast approach works really well, not just in terms of contrast but also when it comes to adding emotional weight to the situations, which, in turn, makes it less of a cliché and more of a narrative device. On the downside, the music is more aggressive and less nuanced than on previous outings, which may be the reason for the mixed reviews that the album got upon its release. Despite all this, while touring this album, the band got to play at important festivals such as Graspop Metal Meeting, Pinkpop, Dynamo Open Air, and Wacken Open Air.
So, how does “Invisible Circles” hold up twenty years after its release? Well, it still feels a bit overambitious, trying to do too much and not quite hitting every mark. However, where it does succeed, it does so brilliantly, mainly in the vocal deliveries and instrumental passages. To phrase it differently, this is the type of record where the good outweighs the bad, as these songs are overall rather strong and well-crafted, with good production that makes every little detail pop. Despite its shortcomings, this album proved that AFTER FOREVER was not merely a fleeting presence on the crowded Dutch metal scene; they had great prospects for a future career. Unfortunately, that future didn’t pan out as expected, with the band breaking up in 2009 after two more releases.
written by Andrea Crow
Tracklist
1. Childhood in Minor
2. Beautiful Emptiness
3. Between Love and Fire
4. Sins of Idealism
5. Eccentric
6. Digital Deceit
7. Through Square Eyes
8. Blind Pain
9. Two Sides
10. Victim of Choices
11. Reflections
12. Life’s Vortex
Lineup
- Floor Jansen – female vocals
- Sander Gommans – guitar, grunts
- Bas Maas – guitar, clean male vocals
- Lando van Gils – keyboards
- Luuk van Gerven – bass guitar
- André Borgman – drums
Label
Transmission Records
