Evergrey - Torn
Produced by Tom S. Englund & Jonas Ekdahl
Evergrey have slowly become one of the most enduring progressive metal bands in the genre without ever really hitting the heights of the global heights of their more well known colleagues.
They get to headline, or play highly on, the smaller festivals which pride themselves on getting the right bands, rather than the trendy bands. They get to play European main-land tours headlining clubs, but the UK (another band who suffered with the cancellation of ProgPower UK III, which they were to headline), USA and Japan are harder to secure. In Tom S. Englund they’ve got one of the genre’s best and most recognised vocalists, and their albums sell well enough to fans of the style to ensure continuing record deals.
And perhaps all this is why Torn sounds like more of the same. It’s got the freshness of recent output like Monday Morning Apocalypse and Recreation Day, and the darkness of older albums like In Search of Truth, but ultimately sounds like just another Evergrey album. As Englund stated prior to the album’s release, the songs have “exactly the sound that our fans expect from us… we have returned to our typical trademarks”. He’s not wrong.
Every track is strong. Massive riffs, another great Englund vocal performance and plenty of hooks, but they don’t sound like they’re stretching themselves or their sound in the slightest. Initially Evergrey fans will probably be ecstatic with this album but over time it’s unlikely to stand out amongst more adventurous, defining albums in the catalogue. It is however the latest in a run of albums since the step up to SPV from prog-specialist sub-label InsideOut to be hotly anticipated by fans and as such should generate a new tour, where these songs will fit seamlessly amongst older songs in the set.
Again, just like recent releases from the likes of Motörhead, Volbeat and Iced Earth, it depends what buyers want from the album. Tried and tested Evergrey stuff here with little to no experimentation. Make of it what you will.
“ just another Evergrey album ”
Tracklist: Broken Wings / Soaked / Fear / When Kingdoms Fall / In Confidence / Fail / None / Torn / Nothing Is Erased / Still Walk Alone / These Scars
Special Edition Bonus Track: Caught In A Lie
Written by Andy Lye More: Albums, Progressive, Evergrey
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