Well this is all a bit gutting! A quick bit of research before reviewing this has delivered one hell of an unexpected surprise and not an entirely good one. Firstly it appears the band snuck an album out completely under the radar called ‘Afterwords’ late 2013 and then bassist Marjolein left the band. Worse still they have decided to take an undetermined break from all activity for the foreseeable future. I only took my eyes off things for what seemed like a moment and one of the bands I have loved for a long time could essentially be no more. Hopefully they will bounce back as after all the Rutten brothers and Frank Boeijen have been active in the group for 25 years or so, right back to the time they enthusiastically laid down debut album ‘Always’ in their tender teenage years. I guess this makes it the perfect time to revisit it and courtesy of Peaceville, the label this almost ended up originally being released on, we now can do just that now.
For me this was an album that I always meant to pick up and never quite did and if I have heard it before it was a long time ago and long faded from memory. The first thing I found myself trying to do was place it and identify the band that I have loved for such a long time and get used to the fact that it exists in a completely different place. The band played more of a doom death style here and it is evident that certain others were rubbing off on them around this time. They cite Paradise Lost and Celtic frost in the liner notes and I also was thinking along the lines of earlier Samael and Septic Flesh a bit, mainly due to the somewhat occult and very present keyboard sound on these 8 tracks. It sounds very dated in a way but this just adds to the charm of it and it did at the time see the band signed, even if it was on a small Dutch label. Quite an achievement when some members were not old enough to sign their contract. Naturally one also has to get accustomed to the fact that main vocals here are handled by the very masculine sounding growls of Bart Smits rather than a female lead which the band became synonymous with. It’s also highly melodic and as far as this side of things is concerned tracks like opener ‘The Mirror Waters’ quickly make clear that they had a good grasp of how to write a compelling tune. Best of all there is a real feeling of mystery and magic about these songs. Again I cite the ever present keyboard as being a prime exponent of this as it tinkles along with progressive flair over ‘Subzero’ and at times it also makes me think of the evolving black metal scene and bands such as Cradle Of Filth that it essentially predates here.
Female vocals are perhaps something the band were thinking about at the time but it is not until third song ‘In Sickness And In Health’ that we get a very brief trill from Marike Groot, there are also some very trippy underlying keyboard effects too, something else the band would definitely go on to develop. If you missed Marike’s debut which chances are you did she is back later on with more definition on ‘King For A Day’ and really adds to the already heady textures of the music and can definitely hit the rafters with her powerful voice! As for the title track we pretty much get the chance to luxuriate ourselves in her soprano etched raptures. Smits seemingly later popped up doing vocals for a band called Wish who I have never heard and apparently provides vocals on the title track of new album ‘Afterwords’ (now I have to hear it). As for Marike it looks like she is still partly active in various non metal related projects.
Not entirely happy with the original recording the band had Rene Rutten remaster it a couple of years later in 1994 and Peaceville have here released both versions of the album in a 2 disc box set. Pick it up and compare and contrast yourself. I should slap myself for not getting this when it came out but have really enjoyed discovering ‘Always’ now. There’s a whole lot of charm to be found here and if you already know it no doubt plenty of nostalgia too.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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