Foreverlin - Still After

Foreverlin

Still After
Pando Records/Warner Music Group; 2015

3.4 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Peter Blomberg (guitar/vocals), Caleb Blomberg (guitar/vocals), Anthony Riedl (bass/vocals) and Burke Florom (drums/vocals) are Foreverlin. They are a Christian band that formed in 2012 and to be honest I wouldn’t have figured out that they were a religious band if I didn’t read it. The band recently released an eleven-song album entitled Still After. The band is unequivocally at their best when they reach for the heavens and go epic with a dash of post-rock and they aren’t afraid to experiment. Unfortunately they don’t always do that and sometimes shoot for a predictable hard rock/pop vibe that sounds like a million and a half other bands.

After a brief intro the band launches into “Pathways” which is a highlight. The song is dynamic, somewhat unique and well delivered. The last minute of the song is worth the admission alone. They find an epic groove the melts your face with crashing drums, cascading vocals harmonies, a steady bass and a killer guitar.

The next song “Escape” deviates from a lot of the unique aspects that made “Pathways” work.  They slash away at power chords and end up sounding like an indistinguishable alternative band. The band has more success with “Speak” which is soaked in reverb from head to toe and contains a couple of inspired moments that tend to happen in the second half of the song.

I like what they did with “Rest.” They showed that they didn’t have to rock out every song. Perhaps the title is intentional and serves as an intermission at around the halfway point. Either way the band creates some nice textures and tone in the ambient arena.

Another highlight is “Alaska” which is a dynamic song that contains a number of impressive and creative parts. Everything from the army-like snare rolls, to minimal electronic elements to the cathartic ending with orchestral strings is effective and emotionally resonant.

Still After is a solid album and the only songs that didn’t quite work were the ones that fell in line with predictable mainstream hard rock. Luckily, there are only a couple of instances of that and when the band nails it they hit it out of the park. Feel free to listen to the album all the way through but if you want to get to the best of the best I’d start with “Pathways” and “Alaska.”

official website

Tweet