Critical and Commercial Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Maximum Metal | |
| The Metal Crypt | (2.7/5) |
| Metal Italia | |
| Metal Storm | |
| Musical Discoveries | |
| RevelationZ Magazine | |
| Sputnikmusic | |
After the almost unanimous praise received by the album Decipher and the perplexities raised by the new musical direction of the EP Exordium, there were great expectations for the new album by fans and specialized press alike. The complexity of the music and concept of Invisible Circles produced mixed reviews, ranging from highest praise to complete failure, even in the same publication. The bold move of making a concept album about such a controversial matter was generally appreciated but, Eduardo Rivadavia said in his Allmusic review, this could be a "slightly overambitious creation". The Maximum Metal reviewer states that "concept albums are always hard to pull off and not many bands can do it well" and "here is another failed attempt". It was the general opinion of most reviewers that Floor Jansen's lead vocals are at her best and "her performance here is powerful, dramatic and very impressive overall, no matter how she chooses to sing". However, her lyrics were sometimes considered a weak point of the album, despite the fact that the band "placed as much emphasis" on them "as they did on the music". Sam Grant of Sonic Cathedral Webzine considered them "trite" and "disappointing". In particular, the spoken dialogue by Somerville and Lansford was generally considered badly acted and detrimental to the music which, on the contrary, was generally considered the strong point of the album. The change of musical direction, with the introduction of progressive metal elements, and the many variations of style adopted in the songs were generally praised, to the point that a Metal Storm reviewer compares After Forever to "Symphony X with Floor Jansen on vocals". Only a few reviewers remained nostalgic of the gothic and symphonic sound of Decipher and denounced a "lack of direction" and "too much confusion" in the music of the album.
The album sold enough in the Benelux to remain in the Dutch Mega Album Top 100 chart for eleven weeks and in the Belgian Ultratop 50 Albums chart for two.
It reached position No. 24 in the Netherlands and position No. 74 in Belgium. The single "Digital Deceit" reached position No. 41 in the Single Top 100 chart in the Netherlands.
Read more about this topic: Invisible Circles
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