AFTER EVERYTHING NOW THIS

"Hologram of Baal" meant a change in direction for the music of this band. For anyone who has listened to the three previous albums and also this last one, the change is obvious, the production seems to be darker and the maturity has increased notably. "After everything now this" is more of this new tendency, although handled in a subtly different way. The previous album was a kind of greeting to this new Church sound. In this one they have said, 'Ok, we have made our new intentions clear. Now let's get to the point'. And this is exactly what they've done. I have to advise people who have listened to earlier works from The Church that, at the beginning, this album is not an easy listening. Maybe even they made it in purpose, as a kind of sarcastic joke. However, the result of further listenings is really worth it.

The strange thing here is that most of the songs of this albums could be considered as ballads, something that wasn't too obvious in other albums. It is true that The Church has never been what you may call a 'fast' band, but in this album you can find the most slow, calm and intense songs that they have probably ever made. You can listen to songs like "Chromium" or "Radiance" and take account of this. They also have an excellent intro song, "Numbers", in this album. That is something good, because since "Aura" they had not made an intro song that really convinced me (maybe "Anaesthesia", but not quite).

So, I think that this album is a quite entertaining and enjoyable set of progressive songs and is a must for every single fan of the band.