"Afterglow" is the follow-up to 2012's "The Weight of Oceans". This is a more concise album than its predecessor. On this album I could hear OPETH influences in their mix of harsh death metal stylings and melodic elements.

"Fire and Ocean" is a fairly fast, combative number. Tobias Netzell has a somewhat metalcore-like delivery on this track. But as the album progressed, I got used to the vocals and they grew on me. The next two tracks - "The Grinning Mist" and "Ashen Crown" - didn't have much of an impact on me. However, paying close attention reveals the interesting contrasts between Nezell's clean vocals and his Mikhael Åkerfeldt-like growls.

For me, the best parts of "Afterglow" were "Below Rise to the Above" and "The Lighthouse Keeper". The former begins with bright riffs contrasting with a slowly picked counter-melody. The main melody is interesting, as are Daniel Liljekvist's drum fills - the cymbal-heavy motif keeps the song ticking along. The clean vocals are especially good on this track. The mournful, echoing riff in the chorus is something that stuck in my brain. The solo near the end is done beautifully, and its spacey tone transitions well into "The Lighthouse Keeper". The intro drifts along in a dreamy fashion, then things go into heavy mode. Clean, rapidly-picked riffs lead into a quiet interlude with the rumble of the bass clearly audible. A tom roll then brings the song into death metal mode again, and this time round some slow "blasting" is brought in by Liljekvist.

The band has gone with an organic feel on this album; I feel that they've managed to avoid putting out something which sounds obviously studio-manipulated. The bass guitar is subtle, but adds to the album significantly, and the clean vocals are mixed well. All the other elements are well-situated in the mix as well.

"Afterglow" has its charms, but it's easy for the songs to just slip past if you're not concentrating. Metaphorically speaking, this is an album that mostly fades from the mind after listening, instead of leaving a glowing spark.