Album Review: Evergrey - The Atlantic

As I sit down to listen to the new Evergrey album, the sky is grey and the landscape is white. Snow is falling, the wind is blowing, and the world just seems a little bit more miserable than most days. That makes it the perfect time for me to be listening to Evergrey, one of the most somber metal bands to ever exist. With their dark guitar tones, and Tom Englund's mournful voice, they have left a wake of melancholy through the history of modern metal. I will admit that my relationship with the man, and his band, is not a great partnership. I have found most of Evergrey's music to be too far down that rabbit hole, with the only record of theirs I truly enjoy being "Torn", one of those that the 'real fans' scoff at. Couple that with Tom's entry into the fold of Redemption for an album that didn't capture me the way the previous records did, and I hedge my bets every time I see their name pop up.

The first single, "A Silent Arc", opens the album with a suitably frosty tone. There's a hint of the windswept tundra to start things off, followed by a riff and verse that would be old-school death metal if not for Tom's vocals. It's heavy, a bit unexpected, and a pleasant surprise. What I'm not as fond of is how after getting off to such a ripping start, the song begins to trade in slow doom, followed by a chorus that finds Tom crooning long notes that don't add up to much of a melody. That section of the song is rather boring, if I'm being honest, and doesn't fit in at all with its surroundings.

The next track, "Weightless", follows the same basic formula, but does it better. The guitar work is still surprisingly heavy, it has some dexterous playing to it, and Tom croons his way through the song. The difference is that the chorus of this one doesn't slow to a crawl to feel cinematic. There is a more forceful melody, letting Tom's voice carry the song, and not serve as the song by itself. It's a hybrid of what Evergrey has been doing, and the "Torn" era, which is a potent combination.

My main complaint with the last two albums was that they sounded lifeless, not mournful. There is a difference, and that has been righted this time out. The album is still dark, and the sounds anything but happy, but there is still a sense of life and energy running through these songs that lets them capture the beauty of the dark, and not get swept up in the cold cast by the shadows.

I'm not fond of the section in "A Secret Atlantis" that spends a lengthy bit of time with spoken word elements buried where you can't even make much of them out in the mix, but that is a far more minor gripe than I have been having with Evergrey in a long time. And it is largely the only gripe I have. After we get past the opening song, Evergrey is delivering their best material in quite a long time. Whereas I often feel they rely on charisma more than songwriting, they tip the balance in the right direction on this record. It's by no means Evergrey gone pop, or Evergrey turned happy, but it's the first record since they have returned from their break where I haven't found myself dragging.

I can't see why any Evergrey fan wouldn't be happy with "The Atlantic". As far as this style of prog metal goes, Evergrey has long been one of the biggest names, and this is one of their better albums in years. That should be enough of a selling point.