Album: After Forever by After Forever

After Forever called this album their "past, present, and future" and they weren't kidding. You'll find classical symphonic elements like on their debut, bombastic Decipher-era rhythms, straight up metal Invisible Circles-style, and most importantly a continuation of the dominating progressive step forward they took with Remagine. As was evident on Remagine, the addition of Joost van den Broek on keyboards has been invaluable to this band. His compositions seem to take them to the breaking point of their talent and what an incredible ride it is!

This is a very cohesive collection of songs; a true album with focus and direction, yet, each song is individual and memorable. Immediately catchy hooks like in "Evoke" and "Equally Destructive" will draw you further into this very visual experience while the guitars in "De-Energized" will simply whip through your body. Their chosen single, "Energize Me," is a stunning song with a catchy and instrumentally impressive intro followed by a powerful song with strong evidence of keyboards throughout and a great solo, both of which couple to make this a phenomenal song.

Vocalist Floor Jansen's immense talent and versatility has been obvious since the beginning yet she continues to surpass herself with each release; this album is no exception. If you don't already consider her one of the best voices in heavy metal then maybe this album will convince you.

Sadly, however, this was to be After Forever's last album as they disbanded in 2009. But this was their best album so... what a way to go out, on the back of an amazing album. Having helped define The Gothic Metal genre After Forever's legacy remains still and can be seen in bands such as Sirenia, Delain and Epica.

Overall: 4.9/5 - I just can't capture with words the sheer energy and joy that this band bottled up and recorded for us. They clearly love making music and their passion made this incredible album that much more memorable and exhilarating than others of the genre. this has to be After Forever's finest release ever!

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Album: The 13th Floor by Sirena

Shuffle on MP3 never seems to do its job but tonight its actually throwing out string of amazing song and it must know its Sirena week! So with it being Sirena week I've shuffled into my old Sirena collection. Anthony has already completed a review of Sirena's Enigma of Life of readable here, but here is my thoughts on their previous album: The 13th Floor.


The Album
Stepping away from Sirena's early work to more 'main stream' 13th floor still maintains its Gothic genera but accessible to many. The album merges the divine vocals of Ailyn (formally on Spanish X-factor, glad to see she was saved!) with a powerful and eerie latin choir and death vocals. Personally I love to see different vocal types merged to create an effect, the 13th floor does this, the death vocals are well placed with Ailyn alluring vocals taking stage backed up by the choir for effect.
Instrumentally its nothing special but neither is there much room to fault it. A multitude of instruments complement the vocals, violin and piano give the symphonic which along with the choir give the album its feel. Generally drumming is nice and heavy complemented with effective rifts,

Notable Tracks
The Path to Decay - The first song and the single taken from this album, the path to decay is a great song, although heavy its very symphonic and accessible.
Sirens of the Seven Seas - One of my all time favourite songs! While this album will never be my favourite this song is on of my all time favourites. It is the only track to be lead by male vocals and they are clear male vocals that eventually blend into grunts as the character of the song succumbs to Sirens. A great song that shows off Sirens full retinue, an amazing end to the album.


Summary
The 13th Floor is kind of album that each song you listen too you think is amazing but they don't stand out in your mind. While this is a good album and has loads of great songs, it just lacks something to make it amazing and I'm struggling to find what that is.

3.8/5 - Not a special album but by no means bad, full of great songs and you wouldn't regret owning it.

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Too harsh? Too generous? Please comment bellow :-)

Album: The Enigma Of Life by Sirenia

For his fifth Sirenia project, The Enigma of Life, founder and guitarist Morten Veland seems to have settled on a female vocalist as Spain's Ailyn returns to the mic. once more. The Enigma of Life has all the elements that define Sirenia: symphonic, melodic, and sometimes bombastic metal with signature soaring female vocals and guitar solos. The songs 'This Darkness' and 'A Seaside Serenade' are typical of this formula. Yet, over the course of listening, The Enigma of Life seems to have a more accessible nature, a lively almost melodic rock feel. 'Fallen Angel', 'Darkened Days to Come', and extremely catchy 'Winter Land' swell with foot tapping rock appeal. 'Winter Land' certainly has commercial, radio-friendly, viability.

Having made this assessment The Enigma of Life closes with four songs that could pitch either way. 'Coming Down' and 'This Lonely Lake' couple that rock sensibility with the drama of symphonic metal. 'Fading Star' moves closer to bombastic and melodic black metal with addition of death growls. The closing piece, the title cut, is pure epic symphonic melodic metal. While typical of the genre, the songs on The Enigma of Life are varied and entertaining, having an alluring and unexpected attractiveness. Quite possibly this could be Sirenia's best work.

Having said all this, however, many fans feel that the album is a large departure from Sirenia's previous albums. But my advice to those naysayers is stick with it and you'll see that while still a variation from other albums it follows the progression Sirenia have shown through their albums. It is a classic album following in the sound of After Forever and Nightwish.

Overall: 4.1/5 - A stunning and evocative album showing that there is still hope for the Female-fronted metal genre. Stick with it and you'll see what I mean!

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