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AFTER THE FALL

Heavy Prog • United States


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After The Fall picture
After The Fall biography
Founded in Connecticut, USA in 1986 - Hiatus between 2005-2011 - Still active as of 2018

Hailing from Connecticut,AFTER THE FALL have been around since the late 1980's, and their line-up consists of Mark Benson (vocals,guitars), Ken Archer (keyboards), Jeff Brewer (bass) and Rich Kornacki (drums,percussion).
AFTER THE FALL released their first two albums, "The Last Hero" and "Light and Shadows", in 1988 and 1991 respectively. Sadly these are cassette only releases, and are impossible to find. Their third album, "In a Safe Place", was released in 1997, and their first two albums were digitally remastered and were released in 1997 with the title "Before".
Their many years of commitment to their music have led them to international acclaim in the Progressive Music world. They have performed at several of the leading Progressive venues in recent years, including the annual ProgDay festival in 1997, and again in the pre-festival concert in 1999. Fans of Progressive Rock gave AFTER THE FALL similarly wild acclaim in their appearance at the Orion Studio Concert Showcase Series,in club appearances in NYC and the northeast,and sharing the stage with THE FLOWER KINGS during their 2001 performance in NJ. Epics from their 1997 show at ProgDay are presented in the official "ProgDay Encore" box set,a limited edition 7-CD retrospective box set of the ProgDay Music Festival, providing audiences an opportunity to obtain a live recording of some of the best material from their four studio projects.
AFTER THE FALL has also made numerous appearances on FM rock radio stations,college and university broadcasts, and television over the past several years.Their music has been showcased by progressive DJs and Web-Jocks in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Uruguay, UK, France, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.
AFTER THE FALL released their 4th studio album "The Living Drum" in 2001, and 2005 saw the band put out their best album to date,the stunning "Knowledge" album. After the album's release, the band went on hiatus until 2011, when they were invited to perform at Ohio Prog Festival in 2012. Unfortunately, the festival was cancelled due to poor ticket sales, and the band dropped off the radar once again. They are currently looking for a drummer in order to resume their activity.
AFTER THE FALL plays in a modern progressive style that is predominantly art rock but comb...
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AFTER THE FALL discography


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AFTER THE FALL top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.71 | 7 ratings
In A Safe Place
1997
2.92 | 16 ratings
The Living Drum
2001
3.25 | 21 ratings
Knowledge
2005
3.84 | 36 ratings
Early Light
2018

AFTER THE FALL Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

AFTER THE FALL Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

AFTER THE FALL Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.50 | 6 ratings
Before...
1998

AFTER THE FALL Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

AFTER THE FALL Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Early Light by AFTER THE FALL album cover Studio Album, 2018
3.84 | 36 ratings

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Early Light
After The Fall Heavy Prog

Review by Marty McFly
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars Heavy, venturing into Crossover Prog (or if you wanna talk categories, maybe Neo) and not shying away from jazzy harmonies, melodies and whatnot (though on the light side of Jazz). Strongly melodic first track, more experimental on the rest of albums.

I was a bit concerned about those 5 albums the band released so far because of low ratings, but although it's my first album by this band. Not bad, really enjoyable listen is this one.

Favourite tracks: 1)Eartly Light 4)The Weaver, Watcher and the Cutter. The rest is quite a good too. The track I didn't like is second one, McCoy for some reason I can't explain.

 The Living Drum by AFTER THE FALL album cover Studio Album, 2001
2.92 | 16 ratings

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The Living Drum
After The Fall Heavy Prog

Review by maryes

4 stars When hearing AFTER THE FALL - "The Living Drum" I could recognize immediately some influences plenty forts of bands as RAINBOW, PALLAS, YES, E L & PALMER, SAGA and still other, but, in spite of that and of some moments that nothing has there to be with the style of the mentioned bands (as in the track 5 "Hopeless" in that the keyboardsolo and acoustic guitarsolo, reminds me more the style of Spanish progressive bands)., they get to mix all these influences with a lot of easiness and good musical taste what turns his work quite interesting and easy of absorbing. Besides the quality of all musicians is unquestionable. I detach the tracks 1 "The Year of the Dragon", track 4 "Dancing With Daggers", track 8 " Whitehead Street" and track 10 " Reprise." Finally an excellent hard-prog mixture with symphonic- prog. My rate is 4 stars!!!
 The Living Drum by AFTER THE FALL album cover Studio Album, 2001
2.92 | 16 ratings

BUY
The Living Drum
After The Fall Heavy Prog

Review by Gatot
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars After the Fall is Connecticut's progressive rock band that have been around since the late 80's, and "The Living Drum" is their fifth studio release. Unfortunately the previous albums were recorded on cassette format. The music of After The Fall is basically a blend of influences from previous legendary bands like ELP, Yes, Saga and a bit of Kansas. There are lots of guitar solo as well as multi-layered keyboard that favor both the symphonic prog music as well as Kansas-like. Altogether, the band has its own identity despite influences from others.

Welcome ELP-like music!

You might be impressed with the opening track "The Year Of The Dragon" (9:40) which has a good combination of melody, harmony and energy. It starts rather symphonic in style with a blast of music combining guitar solo backed by multi-layered keyboard that later flows into more dynamic textures in faster tempo. You bet! This is ELP kind of thing that has been familiar to your ears. Fans of legendary prog music would definitely move into excitement with this promising opening track. When vocal enters the music, it reminds me to the style of Pallas "The Sentinel" music. Again, the pulsating keyboard work is really excellent and it makes me love this song at first listen, no doubt! The keyboard solo is also stunning, augmented with sudden music break using bass guitar as main rhythm section. Great opening track for the album!

"The Mystic" (2:50) is a ballad with 12-string guitar as main rhythm section. "Dancing With Daggers" (8:06) starts with Floydian guitar solo performed in rough mode. The music that follows is relatively fast speed with keyboard layers and guitar riffs as main rhythm section. It's quite dynamic song with stunning keyboard work, tight bass lines. Oh I like the opening part. When the vocal enters, there is a break with something similar like Kansas' music. "Hopeless" (6:29) is another acoustic guitar based ballad. "It All Flows To The Sea" (11:41) brings back the music into form with stunning guitar solo backed beautifully with long sustain keyboard work. "Christina's Song" (2:53) is a nice piano based ballad. "Whitehead Street" (5:00) opens with bass guitar solo followed by ELP style music, followed by Floydian guitar solo.

"The Living Drum" (19:28) starts with a male vocal aca pella that reminds me to the one in "Cry for Help" in Arena "Pride" album. The music enters at approx 1:20 with the sounds of drums and male chanting. It's quite nice intro part. It then flows into guitar riffs and solo while drumming is still performed in percussion style. When keyboard and acoustic guitar works join the music it makes an excellent music. The music then moves in crescendo with changes in drums with electric guitar forms music riffs. As the title implies, this track include drum solo. It reminds me back to "Incomudro" from Kansas, even though the song is totally different.

Overall, this is a good addition to any prog music collection. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW (i-Rock! Music Community)

 Knowledge by AFTER THE FALL album cover Studio Album, 2005
3.25 | 21 ratings

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Knowledge
After The Fall Heavy Prog

Review by Gatot
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars Having bombarded myself with heavy side of progressive music with sort of heavy riffs typically produced by progressive metal bands, I find it relaxing turn my attention to symphonic prog band like AFTER THE FALL. Well, that's my first reaction when I first listened to the music of the band. Obviously there are three tracks with very long duration - approx 20 minutes - plus some shorter tracks. The way I see the album is quite ambitious in style as the band seems like blending many elements of prog music spanning from symphonic, neo prog and a bit flavors of progressive metal. When talking about neo prog, one might expect something catchy and melodic from the vocal or instrument solo, while on symphonic style one might expect something with grandiose symphony emulated from the instruments with certain nuance.

To give you a bit of understanding about After The Fall music, imagine a combined styles of Pallas, IQ, Camel and a bit of Fates Warning in the music of this album. The opening track "Came the Healer" is one of long duration tracks which consume 19:20 minutes of your listening time. It flows through a combined notes and chords produced from keyboard, guitar backed with bass and drums. It's quite good for those of you have been familiar with symphonic prog or in fact neo progressive rock. There are well balanced instrumental solo like guitar in the middle of the track followed beautifully with keyboard solo. Some musical segments remind me to the music of IQ even though it's less melodic. There is of course benefit for not implanting catchy / melodic parts in the song because it will last longer in the mind of the listener. However, the risk is that the song is not that catchy compared to other counterpart neo prog bands. The first track gives an image of relatively complex structure throughout the song with different styles of music.

"The Call" (7:54) sounds like a ballad with acoustic guitar as main rhythm section augmented by keyboard. Electric guitar also delivers its solo right after middle of the track.

"Motherland" is an epic with 20:43 duration which comprises five parts: i) Motherland ii) A Call To Arms iii) Battle Cry iv) The Realm v) In The Arms Of Love. It starts with something heavy music with symphonic style. The song moves in similar manner like the opening track with upbeat tempo at the beginning part combining the work of keyboard as main rhythm section accompanying vocal line augmented by guitar solo during the vocal part. I believe this is the song about national pride where the band tries to remind that the nation is calling you (the people) home. There is a bit of Yes style here in this track plus some IQ / Pallas styles as well. There is a musical break at minute 5:55 followed with ELP like keyboard style at 6:00 followed with musical interlude.

"Between Images Flesh And Shadows" (2:49) has a nice acoustic guitar fills followed by vocal power in mellow style. This short track seems like a bridge to connect to the next track "Precariously Poised On The Precipice Of Pandemonium" (7:35) which starts with solo drums followed by music riffs. The keyboard solo is stunning.

The concluding track "Ode To Man" (19:40) is another epic track with four parts: i) Did You Know? ii) The Family iii) The Race iv) Reflections. It's another good track with good flow from start to end, exploring multi styles throughout the track. The acoustic guitar work is good, followed with full blast of music with dynamic way.

Overall, this is a good addition to any prog music collection which mostly favor those who like symphonic and neo prog music. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

 Knowledge by AFTER THE FALL album cover Studio Album, 2005
3.25 | 21 ratings

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Knowledge
After The Fall Heavy Prog

Review by barp

4 stars I would categorise After The Fall as rather more symphonic than heavy from the showing on this album though they are certainly capable of an energetic display of bombasity.The album consists of three monumental compositions (approx 20mins) two weighing in at nearly 8 minutes and one short piece. There is nothing startlingly original in most of the compositions, but the playing is superb throughout - especially Ken Archer's keyboard work using vintage organ sounds. which I consider worth the price of the CD on its own and probably the strongest influence on my rewarding it so many stars!
 The Living Drum by AFTER THE FALL album cover Studio Album, 2001
2.92 | 16 ratings

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The Living Drum
After The Fall Heavy Prog

Review by apps79
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

2 stars This band comes from USA and plays pure progressive rock.The song structures are very well arranged and the musicianship is very strong.You can hear influences from KANSAS,YES,GLASS HAMMER and generally their main influences come from the american scene...But...oh man...the vocals are awful,they spoil all the good effort.The singer should do it better in a country band than a progressive one.If they find another vocalist,then they could be a really good band...now...sorry...but only 2.5 stars...
 Knowledge by AFTER THE FALL album cover Studio Album, 2005
3.25 | 21 ratings

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Knowledge
After The Fall Heavy Prog

Review by Prog-jester
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Oops...I'm a bit late with my First Review Competition - already reviewed! ;)

AFTER THE FALL is just another New Symphonic Prog band. Don't take it as an offence, but they don't suggest ANYTHING new to the genre, mostly playing long tracks (lacking both in melodical gift and creative side) for the sake of its length, with noticable influences from FLOWER KINGS, GLASS HAMMER and mildest from DREAM THEATER. Not dark, not challenging - you can find also a lot of AOR attitude here. Not recommended, even though this is NOT BAD - personally I've had enough of bands of that kind.

 Knowledge by AFTER THE FALL album cover Studio Album, 2005
3.25 | 21 ratings

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Knowledge
After The Fall Heavy Prog

Review by chopper
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars I only came across this band recently, they are a mixture of art rock with hints of metal with some occasional Glass Hammer-like keyboards. This is their most recent album released in 2005 and gives you 80 odd minutes of music including 3 20-minute epics in "Came the Healer", "Motherland" and "Ode to Man". The music itself is reminiscent of other US prog bands such as Salem Hill and the afore-mentioned Glass Hammer, so will appeal to fans of those two bands. The bass sound is a bit "plonky", much like Glass Hammer's "The Inconsolable Secret" but generally the sound and production is good, albeit occasionally a bit "dry", and the band are all excellent instrumentalists. The vocals are of good quality. The music varies from the short acoustic number "Between Images Flesh and Shadows " to the tongue-twistingly titled "Precariously Poised on the Precipice of Pandemonium" which is a good riffy number, to the 3 epics.

Whilst there's nothing startling original here, you get strong melodies and instrumental flair and, as I said, it should appeal to all fans of the US "AOR" prog school.

Thanks to Raff for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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