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The Belgium thrashers After All are around for many years and been quite active the last couple of years. They not just presented good albums frequently, they played live a lot, too. With Cult Of Sin they present their latest piece of work.
Slowly they lead into Cult Of Sin with the intro Another False Prophecy - first with acoustic guitar, then the band joins in and the go full force. Towards the end you hear spoken words which sound like they were taken from some TV host... With My Own Sacrifice they storm off. The tune becomes a fast, guitar-driven modern thrasher with aggression and melody. The following Scars Of My Actions is another thrash metal track with fast drums and riffing, but Piet Focroul's vocals are a bit more based in power metal or true metal which gives the song a different atmosphere. With Betrayed By The Gods they change pace, a heavy up-tempo tune with power and aggression. At this one they have some guest, After All are joined by Agent Steel guitarists Juan Garcia and Bernie Versailles as well as Fates Warning / Armored Saint bassist Joey Vera. The guitar leads are counter part the vocal line - quite cool! After a few spins this song will haunt you! They storm off again with Devastation Done which reminds me of something, but I can't fathom it... Again they can surprise with tempi changes and unexpected twists and turns. Less fast, but almost catchy is Land Of Sin - one of my favorites - with it's heavy groove and fat riffs, this one features Andy LaRocque on guitar.. Acoustic guitar leads into Doomsday Elegy (2012) which is a kind of interlude, with Embracing Eternity they go full force ahead. But again they combine a melodic vocal line with heavy riffs and fast drumming. Even if the vocal line is melodic the vocals are also aggressive. Here singer Piet Focroul get assistance by Helstar's James Rivera. With Release they offer a quite long track with about 8+ minutes, but with speed changes they can keep the listeners attention. At the end there is a long silence, but don't stop the CD! Coz last, but not least you'll get a cover version on Dio's Holy Diver! A very heavy version! Sure, Piet can't keep up with Ronnie James Dio, so he varies a bit - and it sounds great! Different, but great!
The album is mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö. If you still don't know what to expect from After All, so check out: Betrayed By The Gods, Land Of Sin, Hollow State, Release and Embracing Eternity.
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