A PERFECT FOREVER

Their first album was good. This is better. The production is much better, and the compositions tighter but also less conventional. It's a tad heavier in guitar riffage and guitar sound than the predecessor, which works quite well.

Speaking of riffage, I really think hte guitar riffs on this album are superb and even more varied than on "Purification", and I also like how they incorporate harmonies and melody into the riffs. I think the drumming is much more engaging and less "careful" than on the debut album, starting to experiment with odd time signatures as well, and the keyboards are less prominent, giving the album a hint of Fates Warning-ness. "A Perfect Forever" also offers a lot of changes in time and every song contains numerous riffs which are very well stitched together - without ever reaching the extemity of Metallica's "...And Justice for All"; it is more like Queensrÿche taken to the next level.

The intro riff to the "Sanctified" is really cool; it is complex, obviously requiring some skill to perform, and melodic at the same time. In fact, the entire song is somewhat of a bullet train progressive metal journey through a number of breakdowns, buildups, abrupt tempo changes, and loads of cool riffs - all withing the time span of 6:36 minutes. "Kingdom Come" is melodic and contains twin leads galore, while "Future Without a Past" combines power metal melodies with percussive guitar riffs and constitutes another of the albums high points. The track, "Curfew" includes a duet which really highlights Torben Askholm's odd but drawing use of vibrato. In fact, I dont's think there are many weak moments on this album, other highlights being "Approaching the Inner Circle", "The Wanton Blades", and "A Perfect Forever" all of which carefully combine compositional complexity with heaviness and guitar melodies.

"A Perfect Forever" is a really good album. I think it will appeal to fans of both progressive metal and power metal, and perhaps even some open minded hardcore progheads will like it, too.

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