I don't have the original Harthouse version, but was lucky enough to find a new and sealed copy of this SPV Poland/Big Blue version licensed from Matsuri Productions, for only 5 euro!!!
Speak of a good bargain...

Anyways, there's little new and groundbreaking that I could add with my two cents that hasn't been already said about Koxbox' debut release. What I can say is that this my most oftenly played album by these danish veterans, which should be saying a lot, especially when one keeps in mind their impressive discography.

Not quite on the same level of intricacy and complexity as any of their more venerated subsequent work, but that has yet to prevent me from getting the kicks out of listening to "Forever after"! It's somewhat more melody inclined and innocent than than anything else they've released, excpet maybe for "Stratosfear EP", and that is what I often missed in their later work. Tracks like The Point Of No Return, Space Traveller and Tribal Oscillation all have great melodic segments, which go hand in hand with the somewhat slower paces of the tracks. None of the tracks have the "in medias res" structures, they all take time to build and then drop a killer melody during the last two to three minutes. I missed that on "Dragon tales", which had more in store for the listener willing to cope with challenge, but abbandoned the catchiness I cherished so much whilst listening to this album.

Yes, it sounds dated, but for fans of the group it remains essential nonetheless, as it does to fans of layered and forward thinking old school trance. It may have lost some of its appeal during the years, especially when compared to the other two Koxobx gems, "Dragon tales" from 1997 and "The great unknown" from 1999, but despite the general consensus which dubbed the latter two as classics, I must admit I don't quite feel like these guys have ever again recorded anything up to par with the first four tracks from "Forever after". It's powerful, at the time as fresh as it got, raw and uncut, while maintaining a very distinct and psychedelic touch, unparalleled by many of their contemporaries.