Floor Ends Eternity

After Forever are definitely not newcomers and they hardly were a band to be ignored. Part of the rich atmospheric metal dutch scene, it is hard to stand out when there's The Gathering and Within Temptation to compete with. Not to mention the fact that the so-called gothic/atmospheric/operatic or whatever you want to call it metal is a genre that was repleted so fast that it was very hard to convince you are not another dull copycat. After Forever managed to do just that and keep their name to the surface, but not exactly near the clouds.
However, it is their new self-titled album that is their undeniable peak and one peak that leaves many, many others looking up in their direction. The band managed to trim their music enough so that songwriting could shine, without compromising their character one bit. "After Forever" is full of majestic classical music, furious heavy riffs, catchy melodies and a variety of rhythms and vocals. The vocals...miss Floor Jansen is simply a wonder. We already respected her, but she really really shines on this one... she goes from epic operatic singing, to being aggressive and powerful and then to fragile pop with remarkable ease.
Since words hardly do justice to the music described, you should really listen to the magnificent "Evoke".