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Rating:
The real breakthrough still hasn't happened for them. Some excellent albums, others less successful, but overall the musical work of Evergrey can certainly be deemed positive. A path that began with their formation in the now distant 1995 and then with the release three years later of the first full-length of their career: titled "The dark discovery," it presents itself as the most "underground" work of the band, influenced by an experience yet to be cultivated and a poor recording, due also to the limitation of a small label like Gothenburg Noiseworks.
Evergrey's music is a power/progressive/gothic with multiple nuances but still oriented towards a dark storyline, which never approaches the lighthearted happiness of Gamma Ray and Freedom Call. Particularly in this first album, there's a strong presence of guitars held up by the duo Bronell/Englund: the latter, already the founder of the group, is also the only member of the band who remains from the release of "The dark discovery," now becoming the indisputable leader. Although his voice isn't what we can hear today (Englund's vocal skills have improved significantly since the beginning), good old Tom already demonstrates his vocal and songwriting talents in this debut, shouldering much of the work on the CD.
Despite the inexperience and a recording that is certainly not thrilling, the first studio album of the five Swedes still manages to hit the target. Earth-shaking yet melodic tracks like "Trust and betrayal" and "When the river calls" alternate with more pragmatic ones in their evolution: standouts are "Closed eyes" and "For every tear that falls" where the band also showcases a more sophisticated taste for melody and dreamy passages, already hinting at the "atmospheric" characteristics that would be further amplified in later works.
I understand the increasingly prevalent prejudice of those approaching this type of music: all the same, lyrics with dragons and princesses and things like that (not that they are wrong, quite the contrary). Having said that, there are elements in the genre that deserve to be explored, especially for the work and the ability to stand out that they have shown over the years; Evergrey is a band that has managed to develop a personal and diversified musical credo and for this, they deserve at least some listening.
Good first try.
1. "Blackened Dawn" (3:52)
2. "December 26th" (5:06)
3. "Dark Discovery" (3:36)
4. "As Light Is Our Darkness" (2:00)
5. "Beyond Salvation" (4:03)
6. "Closed Eyes" (6:40)
7. "Trust And Betrayal" (4:18)
8. "Shadowed" (3:52)
9. "When The River Calls" (4:29)
10. "For Every Tear That Falls" (4:14)
11. "To Hope Is To Fear" (5:40)
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Blackened Dawn (03:52)
Will the sun be rising that I wont know
cause light reaches me not
I know I'm aging and that I can't see
In darkness I am fumbling
With these hands as my eyes
Sensitive fingers lead my way
Through this pit of no light
I cried before my gods
I wept for my sins
Blackened dawn
And what kind of god
Would have me deserve this
Blackened dawn
Clouds gathering darkness
The already black sky
Rain starts falling
Soaks the far ground sour ground
Cries from where
Demons inside of me
As the son of eternal night
Wants to become
The son of light
Like a candle someone blew out
The glow is there but slowly fading
The ashes as my soul lies shattered
I cried before my gods
I wept for my sins
Blackened dawn
And what kind of god
Would have me deserve this
Blackened dawn
In the dark of this blackened dawn
02 December 26th (05:05)
I recall when the bright light descends
Something takes possession over me
I remember when the nightmares began
On that cold night of December 26th
I don't know what it is but I lost all control
Can't you see I'm condemned by the past that
They close in my history I don't want to be like
This no more you can't see what I mean but you
Would if you saw all the sight that I have seen
I cross my heart in hope to see
What I saw was not a part of me
Dig inside yourself and you shall feel
But dig too deep and you become like me
I hate to see one more get lost like I
To those big eyes
December
Evil words are spoken makes me fear
The world that now reigns over me
I was strong but now weak and I fall with my tears
Can't you please make the demons leave me be
I don't know what it is but I lost all control
Can't you see I'm condemned by the past that
They close in my history I don't want to be like
This no more you can't see what I mean but you
Would if you saw all the sight that I have seen
Please don't let your eyes meet mine
I have seen it all before
Cause the eyes mirror the soul
I hate to see one more get lost like I
Those big black eyes
December 26
Those big black eyes
I hate to see one more get lost like I
Those big black eyes
December 26
Those big black eyes
05 Beyond Salvation (04:03)
The wolves carries my name
In their midnight speeches
And that quiet subtle voice
Is summoning me from afar
And a voice much closer
Screams to me with unholy impatience
And the weight of your soul
Will decide it's final resting place
As light is our darkness
we seek the day
But when the shade of the night comes
It chases my strength away
I've seen unknown lands
No map has ever charted
And I lived in the deserts
And the wastelands
And I have spoken with the demons
And the souls of the slaughtered
And the weight of your soul
Will decide it's final resting place
As the light is our darkness...
07 Trust and Betrayal (04:18)
Some time has past
the winter is here
Dark memories haunt me
My vision is not clear
But my focus is crystal
Cause my wounds are bleeding still
You hurt me forever
How could I ever have thought that you would
The only two that I trusted
Why the hell should I forgive
You left me to winter
And god damn this loneliness
My sadness you'll see
This sorrow ends in victory
My trust your betrayal
I stab away my sorrows
It all ends here my sight now clear
A new day begins tomorrow
A brighter season is here
The sun chases away the cold
But it hasn't got the strength to scatter
The clouds inside of me
Have they been building forever
And now to thick to cut through
What did I do to deserve this punishment
And why am I the only one who's forsaken
Made you rest made you sleep eternal
But this empty soul is mine
All my tears
All this sorrow
All ended in defeat
My trust your betrayal
I stab away my sorrows
It all ends here my sight now clear
A new day begins tomorrow
We are gathered here together
To decide over the hearing
Of a most evil and an unpleasant crime
Perpetrated by an evil and unpleasant mind
Someone who would even kill his best friend
For reasons of personal greed and ambition
The defendant is accused of
cold-bloodedly parting
the murder of his best friend
08 Shadowed (03:52)
There is no way to tell his story
Without telling my own
And if his story is really a confession
Then so is mine...
What will it come to
Where will it end where is
The last stop of this journey among shadows
Will I ever find myself
Where am I being sent
The well of my faith is close to dry
who knows...
Have I got the strength to make a step again
Tired of just giving and have nothing gained
Silent screams
My fears are real
Cause I'm scared you see
Of the shadowed me
I'm travelling the footsteps
Of so many more
How come I feel so damn alone
You try to comfort
But you don't really care
Cause this is my cross to bear
Silent screams
My fears are real
Cause I'm scared you see
Of the shadowed me
[Solo: Bronell]
Silent screams
My fears are real
Cause I'm scared you see
Of the shadowed me
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