Evergrey – A Decade And A Half

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They’ve managed to avoid it for over 15 years, but Swedish dark progressive metal exponents Evergrey have finally had to succumb to a compilation album courtesy of current label SPV/Steamhammer, drawing from all eight of their studio albums and live album A Night To Remember. While the whole thing does feel like a contractual obligation release, SPV have done a good job of calling on their distribution partnership with InsideOut, Evergrey’s former label, to make this two-disc set as career spanning as possible, including all of the tracks any fan would expect to see (The Masterplan, Broken Wings, A Touch of Blessing, Rulers of The Mind etc.) right up to tracks from latest release Glorious Collision. What it lacks is enough genuine exclusives. There are no rare bonus tracks, b-sides, or new tracks here at all. Instead all the existing Evergrey fan gets are two unreleased live acoustic versions of songs already included in their original form elsewhere on the album (Wrong and Frozen, both from Glorious Collision). While, for an Evergrey beginner, this release gives them everything they need to get started with the band (although investing in A Night To Remember would ensure less duplication if they then decided to get the proper albums), but for the existing fan it’s next to useless.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2011, Compilation Albums, Progressive, Quick.Play Reviews, Evergrey