Prison of Desire | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 21 April 2000 | |||
Recorded | 17 December 1999 – 26 February 2000 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 54:05 | |||
Label | Transmission | |||
Producer |
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After Forever chronology | ||||
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Singles from Prison of Desire | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Chronicles of Chaos | [2] |
Prison of Desire is the debut album by Dutch symphonic metal band After Forever. It was released on 21 April 2000 by Transmission Records. The album contains the first four installments (three parts and a prologue) of The Embrace That Smothers, a collection of songs by Mark Jansen which deals with the influence and distortion of religion in human society. This theme was carried over to the Epica albums The Phantom Agony and The Divine Conspiracy .
The final track, "Beyond Me", features a guest appearance of Sharon den Adel, lead singer in Within Temptation.
The album was reissued in June 2008 by the re-financed Transmission Records, as a two-disc set containing previously unreleased studio sessions, instrumental/a cappella tracks, and a handful of demo recordings. [3] Guitarist Sander Gommans has urged fans not to buy this re-release through the band's official forum. [4]
In 2021, it was elected by Metal Hammer as the 6th best symphonic metal album of all time. [5]
All music is composed by Mark Jansen, Sander Gommans and Floor Jansen, except "Mea Culpa" by M. Jansen
No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Mea Culpa (The Embrace That Smothers - Prologue)" | M. Jansen | 2:00 |
2. | "Leaden Legacy (The Embrace That Smothers - Part I)" | M. Jansen | 5:07 |
3. | "Semblance of Confusion" | F. Jansen | 4:09 |
4. | "Black Tomb" | F. Jansen | 6:29 |
5. | "Follow in the Cry (The Embrace That Smothers - Part II)" | M. Jansen | 4:06 |
6. | "Silence from Afar" | M. Jansen | 5:52 |
7. | "Inimical Chimera" | F. Jansen | 5:00 |
8. | "Tortuous Threnody" | F. Jansen | 6:13 |
9. | "Yield to Temptation (The Embrace That Smothers - Part III)" | M. Jansen | 5:53 |
10. | "Ephemeral" | M. Jansen | 3:05 |
11. | "Beyond Me" |
| 6:11 |
Total length: | 54:05 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
---|---|---|---|
12. | "Wings of Illusion" | F. Jansen | 7:21 |
Total length: | 61:26 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "Leaden Legacy" (instrumental version) | 5:10 |
Total length: | 59:15 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "Silence from Afar" (radio edit) | 4:38 |
Total length: | 58:43 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "Wings of Illusion" | 7:21 |
13. | "Silence from Afar" (demo) | 5:59 |
14. | "Wings of Illusion" (demo) | 7:28 |
Total length: | 74:48 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "Wings of Illusion" | 7:22 |
13. | "Mea Culpa" (instrumental version) | 2:01 |
14. | "Mea Culpa" (a cappella version) | 1:50 |
15. | "Semblance of Confusion" (instrumental version) | 4:07 |
16. | "Follow in the Cry" (instrumental version) | 4:05 |
17. | "Follow in the Cry" (a cappella version) | 1:20 |
Total length: | 74:55 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Silence from Afar" (demo version) | 5:55 |
2. | "Wings of Illusion" (demo version) | 7:21 |
3. | "Follow in the Cry" (session version) | 4:04 |
4. | "Yield to Temptation" (session version) | 5:51 |
5. | "Semblance of Confusion" (session version) | 4:06 |
6. | "Beyond Me" (session version) | 6:13 |
7. | "Black Tomb" (session version) | 6:29 |
8. | "Tortuous Threnody" (session version) | 6:10 |
9. | "Ephemeral" (session version) | 3:03 |
10. | "Inimical Chimera" (session version) | 4:58 |
11. | "Silence from Afar" (session version) | 5:50 |
12. | "Mea Culpa" (session version) | 2:01 |
13. | "Leaden Legacy" (session version) | 5:04 |
14. | "Wings of Illusion" (session version) | 7:21 |
Total length: | 74:26 |
After Forever
Additional musician
Choir
Production
After Forever is a Dutch symphonic metal band with strong progressive metal influences. The band relied on the use of both soprano vocals and death growls.
Sharon Janny den Adel is a Dutch singer who is the lead vocalist of the symphonic metal band Within Temptation. She has been performing since age 14, and co-founded Within Temptation with partner Robert Westerholt in 1996. She was also elected to be the Dutch chairperson of the jury for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.
Floor Jansen is a Dutch singer and songwriter. She is the third and current lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish.
Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars of metal with different elements of orchestral classical music, such as symphonic instruments, choirs and sometimes a full orchestra, or just keyboard orchestration.
Consign to Oblivion is the second studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Epica, and was released in 2005. The song "Trois Vierges" features a guest appearance by then-Kamelot vocalist Roy Khan. The album's lyrics are inspired by the Maya civilization. The phrase "In lak' ech, hala ken” expresses the concept of unity of Mayan thought, after which the song "Another Me " was named. The CD was released with copy control on it. This CD started a new collection of songs, called "A New Age Dawns". This saga is continued on the album Design Your Universe.
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Markus Hubertus Johannes Jansen is a Dutch guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. A prominent figure in the symphonic metal subgenre, he is known for his work with the bands After Forever (1995–2002), Epica (2002–present), and MaYaN (2010–present).
Sander Gommans is a Dutch musician and songwriter. He founded the symphonic metal band Apocalypse with Mark Jansen in 1995, which later changed its name to After Forever. He played guitar and performed the vocal grunting parts in the band. He managed the band and was the main writer of After Forever's music.
Lucidity is the debut studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Delain. It was released on 4 September 2006 by Roadrunner Records. It was released in the US by Sensory Records on 22 June 2010. In 2016 the band celebrated their 10th anniversary by re-releasing the album.
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Antagonise is the second album by Dutch metal supergroup MaYaN. It was released on January 31, 2014. The 11-song CD, recorded at the Sandlane studio with producer Joost van den Broek, features guest appearances by Floor Jansen, and future band member Marcela Bovio.
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