To date, Swedish progressive metallers Evergrey haven’t had much Decibel ‘presence’. Maybe a review here, a review there over the course of our six now-infamous years on this silly planet. Will that change? Only Pontificator-in-Chief Albert Mudrian knows for certain.
But that hasn’t stopped Evergrey from infiltrating the Deciblog, where, like dreams, all things are possible. Just this week, the Wolvhammer dude, Heath Rave, bestowed the virtues of Pantera cock rock classic, Power Metal. Who’d a thunk it?! So, it’s a start we Decibel-ers are branching out past our comfort zones of Left Hand Path, Lost Paradise, and Reign in Blood.
Back to Evergrey. If you haven’t heard of them or have willfully ignored the Gothenburg-based outfit, well, we can give you a few starting points. The group’s 1998 debut album, The Dark Discovery, is really ace. Sort of Last in Line-era Dio rock brawn with Images and Words-era Dream Theater brains. 2003’s Recreation Day also benefits from some brilliant songsmithing. Granted, Evergrey’s very Euro. That should be a huge red flag to you heavy metal naysayers and grind-grumps, but for the rest of us — i.e., appreciators of things frilly and proggy (see Kevin Stewart-Panko’s orchestral metal piece in Decibel #77) — the Gothenburgers can almost do no wrong. Except for that pesky ‘A Touch of Blessing’ video.
As for Evergrey’s new album, Glorious Collision, it’s out in February. And it’s excellent. Here’s the audio to prove it.
‘Wrong’
[audio:https://www.decibelmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/03-Wrong.mp3]
Frontman Tom S. Englund ‘splains the lyrical depth in ‘Wrong’. From the sounds of it, Mr. Englund’s getting old. We can appreciate that.
“The song ‘Wrong’ is about when you try to flee from the horrifying fact you were wrong where you were certain you were right! It’s about all the battles that you won but won wrongly. But most of all it’s about being able to re-value and change a mind that was already set.”
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Evergrey’s Glorious Collision is out February 22th, 2011 on Steamhammer/SPV. Order it here.
