Album Review: Evergrey - Escape Of The Phoenix

Many people thought that Evergrey had a 'return to form' over their last three albums, which were a conceptual trilogy where the band flexed more progressive muscle than during their "Monday Morning Apocalypse" and "Torn" period. For myself, those albums were all decent enough efforts, but I'm one of those people who honestly did prefer when the band was playing more directly, on "Torn" especially. As I hear them, they aren't particularly great at being progressive. In that spirit, I'm encouraged to hear the band say they are once again writing more direct songs on this record, which is the main reason I'm giving it a chance.

Why do I say that about Evergrey? Their style is one of low-tuned, chugging riffs. They do not play intricate passages with complicated musical concepts, nor do they throw a dozen components into a song. When they stretch songs to seven, eight, or even ten minutes, that's a lot of the same kind of guitar playing to listen to all at once. They often don't have enough going on to justify the length of the songs. But here, with most of the songs in the five minute range, the ideas don't run their course and then come back for a second lap when they're already out of breath.

"Where August Mourns" is the best Evergrey song I've heard in over a decade, because it cruises along at a solid pace, has a lovely melody, and possesses exactly no fat or filler. This record isn't "Torn", if you worry about them heading down a road you didn't like. "Torn" was an angrier, dirtier record than this one. "Escape Of The Phoenix" is smoother, 'prettier', and sadder. Tom Englund isn't using his voice to spit fire, he's mired in darker and sadder feelings. That might be an artifact of his Silent Skies project, which was a miserable thing to listen to.

And much like that, the moments where Evergrey is softest and slowest on this record are the least enjoyable. "Stories" stretches over six minutes, and spends much of it mining the same balladic dirge qualities that annoyed me before. The piano parts twinkle, but there's no memorable riff or melody to them. Englund croons, but again there is little melody to what he is singing. The whole band acts as if setting the tone is what's most important, and while that is something notable, there still needs to be a strong song behind that. There isn't on that track, and it pays the price for it.

Like every Evergrey album I've covered, this one is a mixed bag. There are certainly strong songs that deliver something no other band can, but there are also too many moments where the band is going through the motions. Even with a more compact album, they find opportunities to drift off the path. This could have been a strong album if they kept up their focus, but the ebbs are too deep for the record to build or maintain any momentum. Yes, I probably like "Escape Of the Phoenix" more than the last couple of records, but I still can't find myself loving Evergrey. I should, but they keep me at arm's length.

And no, that was not a pandemic joke.