| CD REVIEW Evergrey |
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Band : Evergrey It was with some apprehension that I submitted the new Evergrey album to its first listening test, as news to the fact that the band had parted ways with three of its members (guitarist/ backing singer Henrik Danhage joined in 2000; drummer Jonas Ekdahl, joined in 2003; bassist Jari Kainulainen, joined in 2007) was already spread in May 2010, and the thought that the band's musical direction might've changed slightly somehow seemed justified. Well, I should've known better, because in the last coupe of years it's always been the remaining Tom S. Eklund (lead vocals, guitar, only remaining founding member) and Rikard Zander (keyboards, backing vocals, joined the band in 2002) who've been responsible for the basics of songwriting within Evergrey, even if they relied on the other members' extensive experiences to complete the picture. The split wasn't something unexpected, as both Ekdahl and Danhage had, over the past couple of years, made efforts to avoid the others because of diverging musical ideas, as not to endanger their friendship. Eventually Eklund asked the guys to leave, a decision which they accepted with some elation...because since the tension within the band never broke out into fights, everyone can still be friends, see?! Replacements were swiftly found, by the way. Once the decision about the split had been accepted, Eklund phoned his good pal Pontus Norgren (of Hammerfall, and good pal because they're all from the same town, Gothenburg), whom suggested former Pain guitarist/ backing singer Marcus Jidell. Former Therion bassist Johan Niemann was introduced to the band through another friend of Eklund's, and actually only new drummer Hannes Van Dahl (“...a young guy of only 22...” - citation from a recently published Aardschokinterview) came to the band after an audition. IN September 2010 the new members had their live baptism with the band on a short (16 dates taking the band through Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, England, Italy, France, Holland, and eventually Denmark) European tour. But bad luck lay on the wait, as barely a couple of days in the tour the guys were hit by a huge theft, with 35,000 Euros in instruments and material was stolen, as well as hundreds of merchandise items which still have to be payed for to date! In contrast to my elation of Evergrey still sounding the way we learned to know the band over the course of years, Eklund states that, “...Rikard and I have allowed more influences on Glorious Collision than ever before. Some elements on Glorious Collision are Classic Rock, based on a Metal format, sometimes the tracks are quiet...” (check the almost completely acoustic “Free” - there's still some electric bass to be discerned...and the equally acoustic opening section of “The Phantom Letters”) “...and haunting, sometimes wild, demanding and gripping.”. Hum...may be so, but the end result is still very much Evergrey, characterised by Eklund's signature clean vocals (still a preference for darker lyrical contents as well), the harmony vocal backings (where in use), and the great combination of atmospheric keyboards (frequently enough alternated with real fine piano passages) and heavy guitars, always with nice lead parts! As usual there's some guest performances, Eklund's wife Carina Kjellberg bringing some female backings, album opener “Leave It Behind You” getting contribution from some child choir (sorry, additional info lacking), and some kid contributes vocals to “I'm Drowning Alone” (the child thing something the guys did already before, by the way) Wish I could tell you can check out some songs off the new album at (www.) myspace.com/officialevergrey, but when I checked the page for additional info, there was only songs off the previous albums. Those ignorant to Evergrey will certainly find enough material for a positive introduction to the band though! By the way, the band's complete back catalog (7 studio albums and one live CD/DVD) is available from the same label! 90/100 Tony. |