After Forever

Hailing from the Netherlands, After Forever embodied a fresh strain of heavy metal that surfaced in the new millennium, one that drew upon established strains like doom, Gothic, and power metal yet countered the prevailing force with the unexpected addition of a delicate female vocal presence. That role fell to operatically trained soprano Floor Jansen, whose work evoked the Gathering, Tristania, and Nightwish. While still in their teens, Jansen joined guitarists Sander Gommans and Mark Jansen, bassist Luuk van Gerven, keyboardist Jack Driessen, and drummer Joep Beckers to reshape the mid-'90s metal outfit Apocalyps into After Forever. The group then aligned with Transmission Records and unveiled its first album, Prison of Desire, to strong praise in 2000; the more polished follow-up Decipher arrived the next year, now featuring keyboardist Lando van Gils and drummer Andre Borgman. Domestic visibility climbing rapidly, the band spun two tracks from Decipher—"Emphasis" and "Monolith of Doubt"—into separate E.P. releases, while Jansen also contributed to space-metal composer Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s acclaimed Star One endeavor. An EP/DVD titled Exordium & Insights appeared in 2003; after Bas Maas stepped in for original guitarist Mark Jansen, After Forever delivered its third studio album, Invisible Circles, in 2004.