Evergrey
Monday Morning Apocalypse

THE REVIEW

The idea of prog-metal as a now stale and lackluster genre has filled our musical clichés. It is indeed undeniable that, when talking about prog-metal, the names that spring to mind are always the usual two super-groups (the New York theatrical performers and the symphonic ones from New Jersey).

And yet the list of bands that make progressive metal their core is not short at all. The beauty lies especially in discovering how this list extends beyond the U.S. borders: Europe is an excellent cradle for nurturing promising talents and valid bands, sometimes rich in ideas, giving this genre a broad scope and new breath of life.

Evergrey are not exactly a novelty: the Swedish group has several albums under their belt and broke through thanks to the contract signed with the InsideOut label (a kind of niche prog talent-scout) and thanks to a great record like “The Inner Circle.” The new album from this Swedish band has an impactful title right away, “Monday Morning Apocalypse.” Explaining the style and musical proposition of this Swedish combo is quite simple: theirs is a progressive metal well infused with dark nuances (simil-dark) and imbued with a romantic vein. Overall, naturally, stands the warm and enveloping voice, with soul-blues traits, of Tom S. Englund. That said, in the new album, you will find a strong dose of “immediacy”: the structures of the more elaborate and complex prog are abandoned in favor of a more standard song form. Therefore, in a sound that is surely well-produced and powerful enough, the songs remain suspended between Evergrey’s classic trademark and a sound that is easy to understand and memorize.

This slightly penalizes the final result: if the previous album (“The Inner Circle”) was close to being a masterpiece, possessing totally new and exciting prog-metal structures, this work, while still very good, steps down a level to open up to an even tastier slice of the audience. The melodic progression of the opener “Monday Morning Apocalypse” is proof of that: standard metal fairly well-tested and properly assimilated in a definitely good track. The dark intro of “Unspeakable” incredibly traces the Evergrey sound: dark and intimate melodies supported by excellent rhythmic work. And “Lost” echoes this atmosphere, which only highlights the high value of the group. It moves on to the fast “Obedience” and “The Curtain Fall,” good tracks but ones that do not leave a real mark on the listener's mind. “In remembrance” returns to darken the band’s sound, in a slow and percussive march, as does “At loss for words,” equipped with interludes rich in dark melodies. “Till dagmar” is a small piano introduction to the subsequent “Still in the water,” one of the best tracks on the album, with its claustrophobic atmospheres. It is echoed by “The Dark I Walk You Through,” even more oppressive and decadent.

“I should” is not up to standard at all. The poetic melancholy of “Closure” closes the album, a completely piano track, with lyrics as beautiful and reflective as ever. After listening, my impressions are confirmed: anyone expecting a sure confirmation, therefore a decisive masterpiece, will certainly be disappointed. This album is precisely designed to widen the fan base, and a glaring demonstration of this is the choice of producers (Sanken Sandquist and Stefan Glaumann, who have already produced Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Rammstein). A detail that does not alter the quality level (at least, not entirely), nor the strong personality of the group, but gives the album that “transitional” aspect, almost as if it were a suspended album.

It doesn’t disappoint, but it still leaves one waiting for their definitive qualitative consecration.