The last couple of months a number of high quality Dutch progressive hard rock albums have been released. This is probably why I had pretty high expectations for After The Silence’s mini album Final Fantasy. After discovering the album was mastered by Peter Brussee, who also mastered albums by Kane and Ayreon, expectations only grew.

I hate to say this but Final Fantasy turned out to be a major disappointment. In twenty five minutes you’ve heard all the possible rock and prog clichés you can imagine.

The music sounds like it’s being recorded in a freight container (maybe this is the metal influence you can read about on the ATS website) and the sound of Ingrid van den Hof is so flat you can barely hear she’s singing in English. Man, I hate negative feedback but I must remain objective: Final Fantasy is an excruciating reality.