Within Temptation, Epica, After Forever: The Netherlands has a steady export product in gothic metal. A recent tour of South America by After Forever, the co-founders of the genre, even led to hysterical scenes among fans there. Within the aforementioned list, After Forever is also the band that remained most loyal to metal. The rough parts on their latest album Remagine even remind Slayer and (the
… old) Sepultura. But there are mainly tried-and-tested gothic elements such as pseudo-Gregorian choirs, classical interludes and wide-ranging guitars that alternately play half and double tempo. The ultimate weapon of the band is singer Floor Jansen with her clear and powerful semi-classical voice. Remagine is an atmospheric and tight album that cannot be criticized. The question is rather whether the entire genre is not starting to become somewhat uniform and is ready for new impulses, before it perishes from its own humorless pretensions. (MR)more
