As a concept album based on a story of an abused girl, this album is to be rated as an album, not a clump of songs randomly put together. Once anyone buys it, he/she can see that in the lyrics booklet, the story is written in diary format under most songs (Childhood in Minor being the exception).

It is hard to live the story if you are not perusing the booklet, and that's what I did. I was amazed at the results. The music's tempo and ferocity reflect the lyrics and the diary entries very well. However, they don't include every word in all the songs, especially the heated talking between the supposed father and mother of the main character in this album.

It becomes extremely hard to pick favorites from this album, but songs that stuck out for me were "Eccentric", "Victim of Choices", and "Between Love and Fire".

This album is really disappointing.

First of all, the album concept is completely cliche. It's almost as if the band members couldnt think of anything better so all decided to pick a stupid album concept out of a hat. It definitely is off-setting.

Second of all, Floor's vocals couldn't be more ridiculous. She sings almost the exact same note throughout the whole damn CD. It's like shes trying to make us aware that she's a "wonderful" soprano and that she's extremely gifted to be able to do the note(s) she does. Theres no strength or beauty in her voice, just ego. The listener is unable to find any emotionally connection with in voice.

Third of all, the CD pictures are laughable. It's pretty hard to take the concept of a broken home story seriously when all the band members are dressed in black and turquoise leotards and posing in the most humurous positions possible in every other page of the CD booklet. I swear they just dont want to be taken seriously on this one.

Overall, the whole thing was just ridiculous. The songs weren't good by any means, Floor fell short, the concept was horrible, and the artworks were worth a few laughs.

Don't get this album. You'll regret it.

I've listened to all their past albums and the one after Invisible Circles and I must say Invisible Circles is my favorite After Forever album.

I've read a few reviews and they're a bit harsh. I'm a huge fan of concept albums, Queensryche, Ayreon etc... and this one is just as good.

Sometimes, I find myself wondering why ex-guitarist and primary composer Mark Jansen departed After Forever to form Epica... and then I listen to Invisible Circles. In the three years since AF's ear-opening album, Decipher, the band has seemingly decided that their flawless approach was in need of some renovation.

The music on Invisible Circles has, at the same time, the most aggressive songcraft ("Blind Pain") and the most watered down balladry ("Eccentric") seen on an After Forever album to date. The full, lush orchestral arrangements have been replaced by proggy keyboard leads and symphonic enhancements that no longer sound so much symphonic as they do synthetic. The guitars have developed a definite sense of crunch and an attitude of progressiveness that sees them exploring some rather elaborate arrangements and halfway interesting riffing patterns, acoustic segments, and leads... halfway interesting because a lot of it sounds forced, like they tried too hard and only half-way succeeded. Andre Borgman's drumming has moved in a similar direction, once again acting as a breath of fresh air in a genre saturated with predictable and trite percussion. Floor is... Floor. However, there's something about Floor on this album that doesn't really sit right with me. I have immense trouble saying or writing anything negative about her talents, but throughout this album her voice sounds sort of strained. Maybe it has something to do with her delivery - much more immediacy, drive, and power that seems almost forced; not quite as pure and angelic. Perhaps I'm just being nitpicky... she still blows her peers out of the water with extreme prejudice. With the departure of Mark Jansen, growling and snarling duties have been taken over by guitarist Sander Grommans, and while the vocals themselves aren't bad, they seem dreadfully out of place at times... not really complementing Floor so much as just taking up valuable space.

The album starts off promisingly with "Childhood in Minor", which evokes images of children playing in a carousel. Not just any carousel though, but a carousel that's under the watchful eye of some sinister, invisible entity. This subtly menacing mood rolls over into "Beautiful Emptiness", which sees Floor reaching for the heavens (hah, no pun intended) straight off the bat, but quickly abandons that and meanders through driving metal, piano-led serenity, and one or two instrumental evolutions before reaching "Between Love and Fire"...

...and here, my friends, is where the true horror of Invisible Circles is revealed to the audience.

Around three minutes into the song, the band drops out and spoken dialogue ensues between two individuals - a male and a female arguing and yelling about various broken-home related things. It becomes apparent that this is a concept album. A concept album about a girl growing up in a home full of discontent. A girl unloved and unwanted by her father. A girl growing up in confusion as she's trying to figure out how everything went so horribly wrong. In other words, an extremely cliché concept. The male and female mentioned above are the father and the mother in this melodramatic soap opera. Now, the concept itself isn't really the problem - the problem is with the actual delivery. This act (and all that follow) is so horrendously pathetic that I would actually feel embarrassed should anybody ever catch me listening to this album in public. Honestly, I'm afraid to recommend this album to anybody I know in real life because of those interludes. They are awful.

Of course, those spoken interludes make up an almost insignificant portion of the album's running time, and are mostly placed at the end of a given song so that they become easy to skip and erase from your mind - permanently.

Ironically, the part of this album that really floors me also makes up an insignificant portion of its running time. The part in question lasts for approximately two seconds and comes in at roughly 1:15 (and again at roughly 1:22, for a total of four seconds of music) into "Two Sides". It is Floor Jansen singing a particular line in harmony with herself, but the way the vocal lines are layered and her absolutely godly delivery is just so completely incredible that it makes me want to lay down and die peacefully... and the effect is multiplied ten-fold through headphones. As silly as it might seem to buy a 59+ minute album just to drool over four seconds of it, I think I can safely say that I would do it with Invisible Circles. Label me daft. I care not!

Another standout moment is in "Sins of Idealism". Floor's vocals throughout the last minute or so of this song are totally reminiscent of past glory.

So... basically, just skip through the inane acting portions. The rest is still good After Forever material.

After Forever teased fans with what they were capable of on "Exordium"; now with "Invisible Circles" we get a better idea of the kind of power that this group holds in its hand. The band is labeled as Melodic Dark Metal and this fits especially well based on the lyrical storyline that is the basis of the album. The Soprano that is Floor Jansen blends her amazing voice with the sad topics of loss, hardship and disappointment in one's self. Behind her is a forceful group of talented musicians made up of Ben Maas (guitar, vocals), Sanders Gommans (guitars, grunts), Luuk Van Gerven (bass), Lando Van Gils (synths) and Andre Borgman (drums). The 6 member band has a full and in your face sound based on their musical abilities and the varied style of vocals presented during the songs. Both Sanders and Ben offer Floor accompaniment during the songs to some good result. Lead Singer Floor Jansen is stunning in her looks and a hurricane with her vocal prowess. One thing I felt when I heard her sing was a commanding power that is unlike the group's peers in Nightwish and Epica (also Dutch and led by former After Forever guitarist Mark Jansen). The piece wastes no time in showing you that After Forever means business with the rousing "Beautiful Emptiness" and it begins the tale of a young girl, a child of loveless parents. The enclosed booklet allows you to get the whole story in a lot more detail throughout its 16 pages. The story itself has some interesting moments but the dialogue between the central characters that is blended in some of the songs takes a little bit away from it. The level of some of this seems distant, and my guess was they wanted you to feel this was being overheard from a distance. That kind of perceptions is better left for video or television since an album makes you question your hearing or the recording process. I think that to make this a better concept album, the dialogue should have been less prevalent and perhaps spread out more between the songs.

There are a number of solid tunes on the album. One of my favorites is not heavy at all, but is a slow piano piece by Floor alone, entitled "Eccentric". During this tune, we get to see a softer side of Floor and just how beautiful her voice is when used in this fashion. Some fans might be reminded of when Amy Lee of Evanescence does this type of thing, however I feel that Floor has a better overall presence. Musically interesting at many points, I feel listeners will take to tracks like "Through Square Eyes" and "Blind Pain", mainly for the different changes in time and technical ability displayed. After Forever has a few good points in their favor and they do not sound like a Nightwish clone. This allows you to absorb their music and not feel like you have heard this somewhere before. "Invisible Circles" is the group's third full-length release and I believe this sets them apart from other groups who are fronted by powerful female vocalists. Check them out.