"A Steady Decline" was a song that upon first listen i nearly despised. I found it to be a horrible way to jump into their album. It seemed to contain a guitar part, that was very out of place and out of key. But after listening through it a few times it really grew on me and the breakdowns that repeated themself a few times were really impressive. They perfectly matched the double bass to the chugging of the guitars to create a really intense feel to the song, which seemed to make the song all the more uplifting after a few listens. Blasting into the third track, "Isolation Theory" continues to deliver the intensity brought out from the previous track. Although it wasn't my very favorite track, it was all but uninteresting. It was a great way to hold the intensity up and keep listeners on their toes wondering what would come next.

   Upon completion of "Isolation Theory" we are brought into my personal favorite song on After the Burial's A Future Self. "The Forfeit" was immensely catchy and almost overly thought out. The song begins with a breakdown that is extremely original and in my opinion would recieve a 10 out of 10 for complete and utter geniousness, I personally (off the top of my head) cannot think of a single other band that has a similiar part. After that is another one of After the Burial's noteably catchy two-step parts, I think that this part shows how well After the Burial blends their seperate parts together to deliver a technical song that flows in out of riffs eloquently. The song continues into a breakdown that coincides with the one from the beginning and then after briefly being brought into the previous two step part. After the Burial then fades into a melodic solo backed by a powerful rhythm guitar that seems to loop itself in my head over and over again. It has a softer sound to it and really was a surprise to me when i came across this at the 2:15 mark in the song.

   The following song "Fingers Like Daggers" happened to be the very first song i had ever heard by this band, although this time it seemed as if it were a modified rendition of it, with another instance of the spanish guitar parts previously mentioned. This song was a lot more emotional than the other songs on the album, it had a lower tempo, more rhythm and even included singing something the rest of the tracks did not include. At the conclusion of this song we are drawn back into the upbeat almost 80's metal like guitar riffs that are used quite often in this disc. After being thrown through a breakdown overlapping sweeps come in, in the background of the band's title track about a minute before it's end.

   With 3 tracks left on this album After the Burial comes out strong, Although not one of the more noteable songs on the album "Warm Thoughts of Warfare" is still quite a good song, it shows us a different side of the band at the beginning but then falls back into the trend of the album shortly after. With the song "Engulfed" the most standup part to me is at the 2:10 mark in the song. At that point we experience a fast paced almost speed metal like solo for nearly a minute straight this is one of the most outstanding solos displayed on the cd. The ninth song and the album's final addition to this compilation of songs "Redeeming the Wretched" pulls the band through with a strong and intense end to the album. Right off the bat the song goes into an Iron Maiden like riff, complete with the background harmonization of the second guitarist. It then progresses into another rhythmic guitar part and then into what seems like a never ending breakdown that serves as a powerful way to finish out the album.