AFTER INFINITY is a Finnish band formed by guitarist and songwriter Zsolt Szilagyi, known for his work with DREAMTALE and FROZEN FACTORY. The first album with the same title as the band’s name “After Infinity” is planned to be released on March 13th, 2024 via Mauste Records.
After completing the songwriting, Szilagyi enlisted the help of several friends to make his vision a reality. Bassist Roi Partanen from EVERFROST, while Gideon Ricardo from WOODS OF WONDERS wrote the orchestration. To further diversify the album, Szilagyi invited a number of accomplished vocalists, including Nitte Valo (DREAMTALE, ex-BATTLE BEAST), Mikael Salo (ex-DYECREST, ex-METAL DE FACTO, ex-EVERFROST), Leonard F. Guillan (ex-KING COMPANY ), Stephen Baker (FROZEN FACTORY), and Juanma Draven (CARVED IN ASHES).
This album was mixed and co-produced by Benji Connelly (EVERFROST, METAL DE FACTO) and mastering was entrusted to Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios.
The lyrical themes in the album navigate the darker worlds of life such as war, political turmoil, and loss, reflecting the challenges the world faces today. Despite these heavy topics, the album attempts to find the silver lining and illuminate the end of this journey.
As the opening song, an instrumental song entitled “Calm Before the Storm“, a song dominated by piano and orchestra and feels very cinematic. And then continued with the second song “I Surrender To You” which is a melodic power metal song with a light heavy metal rhythm which reminds me of one of the compatriot bands DREAMTALE, maybe it’s not surprising because Zsolt Szilagyi is the guitarist from DREAMTALE. The strong guitar and keyboard melodies in this song are combined with Leonard F. Guillan‘s soaring voice, dynamic drumming and catchy and melodic chorus. And don’t miss the strong and fast guitar solo that completes this song.
The third song “A Game Of Chess” featuring vocalist Mikael Salo, is a song that feels quite epic with a strong orchestra and they include choirs at several moments and the beautiful chorus in this song reminds me a little of the symphonic power metal band from France, FAIRYLAND in the era of the album “Score to a New Beginning“. The solo part is dominated by keyboard melodies and fast and bombastic drums.
The fourth song which again features vocalist Leonard F. Guillan “Do What You’ve Got To Do“, a classic ballad song that is full of emotion, with piano accompaniment and slowly increasing tempo entering the middle of the song and a solo part that is full of lilting guitar melodies. Followed by the song “Crown of Clowns” featuring vocalist Mikael Salo with bass playing, opening the fifth song, followed by strong and continuous drums and unique keyboard melodies. The composition of the progressive power song is quite even very pronounced in this song, with the anthemic chorus making the song easy to keep dancing in our brains.
“Capital Punishment” is an instrumental song with a modern feel that can be felt from the start. This song echoes with quite heavy guitar rhythms and power metal guitar melodies embedded in this instrumental song. At several moments I was quite reminded of the musical characters of AVENGED SEVENFOLD. Then “Without You“, a song with a beautiful guitar melody, immediately opens this seventh song, in this song the vocal position is entrusted to Nitte Valo (DREAMTALE), a strong and anthemic chorus colors this mid-tempo song, and at several moments in this song feels quite progressive but not too dominant. Strong guitar solos also complete this part of the song.
“The Power Beyond His Fight“, this song begins with a narrator and then is a melodic power metal song with the addition of orchestral elements, catchy and anthemic choruses coloring throughout this song combined with Stephen Baker’s melodic and clear voice and choruses in several moment. Keyboards and strong guitar melodies alternate to color the solo part of this song. What really surprised me when I first heard this song was towards the end of the song where the tempo of the song suddenly rose and then fell again in an epic and beautiful way.
In closing, a ballad song “Two Restless Hearts” with piano accompaniment and low notes from singer Juanma Draven‘s voice in a duet with Nitte Valo, as well as violin accompaniment can be heard behind. This song has quite a nuance of dialogue between the two singers with a musical aura that supports it.
Overall, the debut album “After Infinity” presents a quite varied musical experience and journey with the main component being Finnish melodic power metal music with catchy melodies and strong and beautiful choruses, the addition of an orchestra and songs that are full of emotion until creating epic elements in their songs. For those of you who are fans of bands such as DREAMTALE, SYMPHONY X, DREAM THEATER and AVENGED SEVENFOLD, it is highly recommended to listen to this album.
TRACKLIST:
1. Calm Before the Storm
2. I Surrender to You (feat. Leonard F. Guillan)
3. A Game of Chess (feat. Mikael Salo)
4. Do What You’ve Got to Do (feat. Leonard F. Guillan)
5. Crown of Clowns (feat. Mikael Salo)
6. Capital Punishment
7. Without You (feat. Nitte Valo)
8. The Power Beyond His Fight (feat. Stephen Baker)
9. Two Restless Hearts (feat. Nitte Valo and Juanma Draven)
LINE UP:
Zsolt Szilagyi – Guitars, Keyboards, co-producer
Roi Partanen – Bass
Nitte Valo – Backing Vocals, Lead Vocals (tracks #7, #9)
Gideon Ricardo – Orchestrations
SCORE:
Music: 9/10
Production: 9/10
Homepage: https://after-infinity.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afterinfinityofficial/