FEATURE ARTICLE ON EVERGREY

\r\nI believe music is the way we have in expressing our innermost emotions- fear, solitude, passion, turbulence – all those things which when we try to express them words run too thin. Having always in mind that the true artists are the ones who can express our silence I initiated in assembling a feature article on Evergrey.
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\r\nYou see the lyrics Tom writes and the melodies he binds them with are what express me more than anything else. Surely there are other bands which I absolutely adore but Evergrey and Tom’s voice is like a piece of my soul unveiling itself.
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\r\nGiven the chance by their astonishing new release TORN I thought it’s high time we cast our minds back into remembering exactly who Evergrey, where they came from, how they evolved and how they can grab you by the neck and drive you down into a dark, sentimental, passionate, indescribably atmospheric world where melodies and words entwine only to make you loose yourself in them and find him again.
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\r\nSo this is Evergrey ….\r\n

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\r\nBrief Biography
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\r\nIt all started in the late 80’s when Tom S. Englund and Dan Bronell played the classical guitar together then moved on to death metal. End of 1993/1994 Tom and Dan formed Evergrey (the name of the group was found in a difficult context). The band recorded their first demo with Andy Laroque at Los Angered Recording in 1995, and recorded their second demo in early 1996.
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\r\nAt the end of 1996 Evergrey makes contact with a label to record their debut album (The Dark Discovery). But things started to fall apart and 3 months before the recording, the leadsinger left the band and Tom became singer, which he wasn’t at that time. So Tom’s wife Carina gave him some vocal-lessons, and it all turned out fro the best. In 1998 Evergrey signed a record deal with (Gothenburg Noiseworks) and the album (The Dark Discovery) was thereafter released.
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\r\n(Recreation Day) is an album that covers many issues, ranging from death and mourning to general fear and sorrow, all of which contribute to a greater concept of re-creation of oneself. These ideas are explored from many different points of view, such as someone contemplating suicide ("As I Lie Bleeding"), mourners after a funeral ("I’m Sorry," a cover of Dilba Demirbag’s hit), and dying people’s looking back on their "unforgivable" sins ("Unforgivable Sin"). "Unforgivable Sin" also acted as a catalyst for the next album, (The Inner Circle), which dealt with the same two issues described in the song: religion and child abuse.
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\r\nOn April 4, 2006, Evergrey released their sixth studio album, (Monday Morning Apocalypse). The album was produced and mixed by Sanken Sandquist and Stefan Glauman, former producers of Rammstein, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, among others. Tom S. Englund said, regarding the collaboration: "We feel honoured to work with such amazing producers. We are sure that they will succeed in making us sound better than ever before". The album debuted at #6 in Sweden.
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\r\nDuring summer 2006, Evergrey played at many festivals throughout Europe: among others, Sweden Rock Festival, Download Festival, Arvika Festival, Masters of Rock, Storsjöyran and Sziget Festival. From May 5 to May 30, the band toured the United States with In Flames, Nevermore and Throwdown. On September 15 they headlined Prog Power VII in Atlanta, Georgia.
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\r\nOn July 25, 2006, Michael Håkansson leaves Evergrey and is replaced by the band’s longtime friend Fredrik Larsson (Hammerfall) only as a temporary bass player.
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\r\nOn October 24, 2006, Evergrey started a new European tour. They were supported by fellow Swedish death metal band Avatar, and they visited Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden.
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\r\nEvergrey have recently returned to their rehearsal studios to prepare their next studio album. The new album is currently being recorded and is expected to be released before Christmas 2008. The bass guitar was being recorded by Tom and Henrik in the absence of a bassist, but as of August 6, 2007, Jari Kainulainen (Stratovarius) permanently filled the role.
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\r\nLineup
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\r\n•Tom S. Englund - vocals/guitar
\r\n•Henrik Danhage - guitar/backing vocals
\r\n•Rikard Zander - keyboard/backing vocals
\r\n•Jonas Ekdahl - drums
\r\n•Jari Kainulainen - bass
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\r\nGuest musicians
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\r\n•Carina Kjellberg-Englund - female vocals (1996-Present)
\r\n•The Gothenburg Symphonic Orchestra - string quartet (2004-2005)
\r\n•Mercury Choir (of the Swedish Catholic Church) - choir (2003)
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\r\nFormer members
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\r\n•Will Chandra (1996-1998) - keyboard
\r\n•Daniel Nöjd (1996-1999) - bass/vocals
\r\n•Dan Bronell (1996-2000) - guitar
\r\n•Patrick Carlsson (1996-2003) - drums
\r\n•Sven Karlsson (1999-2001) - keyboard
\r\n•Christian Rehn (2001-2002) - keyboard
\r\n•Michael Håkansson (1999-2006) - bass
\r\n•Fredrik Larsson - (2007) bass
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\r\nDiscography
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\r\n•The Dark Discovery (1998)
\r\n•Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy (1999)
\r\n•In Search of Truth (2001)
\r\n•Recreation Day (2003)
\r\n•The Inner Circle (2004)
\r\n•A Night to Remember (Gothenburg Concert CD&DVD) (2005)
\r\n•Monday Morning Apocalypse (2006)
\r\n•Torn (2008)
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\r\nLyrical themes
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\r\nEvergrey’s lyrics have always been of the darker sort. The same can be said of the band’s imagery. While The Dark Discovery dealt with a variety of ideas, later albums have been concept albums, dealing with issues like self-reformation (Recreation Day), paranoia, alien abduction (In Search of Truth), child abuse, cults and religion (The Inner Circle).
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\r\nRecreation Day is an album that covers many issues, ranging from death and mourning to general fear and sorrow, all of which contribute to a greater concept of re-creation of oneself. These ideas are explored from many different points of view, such as someone contemplating suicide ("As I Lie Bleeding"), mourners after a funeral ("I’m Sorry," a cover of Dilba Demirbag’s hit), and dying people’s looking back on their "unforgivable" sins ("Unforgivable"). "Unforgivable" also acted as a catalyst for the next album, (The Inner Circle), which dealt with the same two issues described in the song: religion and child abuse.
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\r\nEvergrey’s music combines melody and sheer power with a capable instinct for writing catchy hooks. The band shines brightest when guitarist Henrik Danhage is firing off heavy riffs and fast licks from his guitar, while drummer Jonas Ekdahl and bassist Jari Kainulainen lay down the main groove, keyboardist Rikard Zander fills out the bands sound with atmosphere and Tom Englund steers the songs with his powerful vocals. The term metal is sometimes too specific a categorisation for Evergrey. Various aspects of this genre can be found in the bands material but with much more to create a homogeneous unified whole and it is this factor that has brought the band to the attention of fans and critics around the world. Monday Morning Apocalypse adds further strength to the undisputed power of the band. The production is state of the art and dynamic even down to the smallest detail.\r\n

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\r\nDiscography
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\r\n1998 - The Dark Discovery GNW RECORDS
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\r\nWith the release of Evergrey’s debut album in 1998, a promising enrichment of the Swedish prog metal scene was established. Enthusiasm rapidly made itself felt beyond the borders – Evergrey had no problems establishing themselves with their successive albums.
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\r\n1999 - Solitude Dominance Tragedy GNW RECORDS
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\r\nThe second album by the Swedish band. Here, they follow the path of their debut album: So there are again first class compositions with full power on “Solitude Dominance Tragedy“. And Tom Englund’s unique, dark voice adds one more thing.
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\r\n2001 - In Search Of Truth INSIDE OUT
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\r\nThird studio release from 2001  by Swedish progressive metal act.       Returning with a new line up under the helm of mastermind Tom Englund, comes "In Seacrh Of Truth". An extraordinarily well crafted concept album centring on the theme of alien abduction. Sweden’s mighty dark lords of metal create their most melodic album to date with this sinister tale of otherworldly connection. Featuring the classic, "The Masterplan".\r\n

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\r\n2003 - "Recreation Day" INSIDE OUT
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\r\n“Recreation day” marked the return of Sweden’s kings of dark, gothic progressive metal. "Recreation Day" is another ambitious masterpiece from Sweden’s Evergrey. The band comfortably walks the line between dark gothic metal and intelligently arranged progressive metal with complex instrumental passages. The outcome is a dynamic mix that will appeal to a wide cross section of metal fans.
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\r\n2004 - Re issue of The dark discovery special edition , Solitude Dominance Tragedy
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\r\n2004 - "The Inner Circle"
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\r\nThe fourth record by the Swedish group - and at the same time their international breakthrough. On this concept album Tom Englund and his guys get even with religious fanatism and child abuse, and they do this with music and song lyrics. Strong stuff - the anger of the lyricist is reflected in the music: heavy riffs rain down on the listener, however again and again this replaced by conciliatory string sounds and female background vocals. On their fourth album the Swedish succeeded to achieve their international breakthrough in 2004. \r\n

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\r\n2005 - "A Night To Remember" LIVE  CD&DVD
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\r\nWith their fifth and so far last studio album “The Inner Circle“everything is going very well for the Swedish precious metal forge. The release in April last year was followed by a US tour with Iced Earth and Children Of Bodom, heavy rotation for three videos on the Headbanger’s Ball on MTV2, many festival gigs in Europe as well as a club tour through their home country of the band around singer and guitar player Tom Englund. Well prepared, the concert in Gothenburg became the absolute highlight: the concert hall of the Storan Theatre dating from the early 19th century as a fantastic scenery, a breath-taking light show, the musicians in their best mood, and the audience – many of them arrived from all over the world – was boiling. Now the recording of this prog metal cavalcade is released as a double album.
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\r\n“The curtain rose, we looked from the stage into this wonderful theatre with its 160 year old architecture, its three rows of balconies and on to an audience which was so wild that we almost missed the end of the intro section and our cue“, recalls Tom Englund. What happened then was a “best of“ repertoire which really was much impressive – 19 songs, a musical cross-section of six years of band history, with loud crackers such as “Blinded“, “Recreation Day“, “As I Lie Here Bleeding“ “Touch Of Blessing“, and “The Masterplan.“
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\r\nEvergrey’s development is admirable for the Swedish have amazingly progressed with each of their works. So when the debut "The Dark Discovery" seemed to sound a bit immature, so already the follow-up “Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy“ caused a remarkable sensation. The third album “In Search Of Truth“ was made as concept work, and it was appealing not just regarding the music but also due to the interesting story. With “The Inner Circle“, a conceptual work about religious fanatism, the Evergrey guys throw overboard some bombastic stuff, and again increase their expressiveness.
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\r\nAnd a few surprises the Gothenburg gig offered, too: So a string section played on the instrumental “When The Walls Go Down“, with “Harmless Wishes“ and “Essence of Conviction“ two tracks from “Inner Circle“ had their live premiere, and on the ballad “For Every Tear That Falls“ from the first album “The Dark Discovery“, Tom Englund sang lead vocals together with his wife Carina Kjellberg.
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\r\n“A Night To Remember“is released in jewel case and embossed slip case, including a booklet with many photographs and extensive liner notes by Tom Englund. A live DVD of the Gothenburg concert in 5.1. surround mix featuring a lot of bonus material is in preparation.
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\r\n2006 - Monday Morning Apocalypse  
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\r\nWith their sixth studio album “Monday Morning Apocalypse”, leading Swedish metal band Evergrey proves to be more direct and more effective than ever before. The new material was produced by Sanken Sandquist and Stefan Glaumann (Rammstein, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi) and sounds incredibly contemporary. “This record shows what we are capable of doing” summarises vocalist Tom S. Englund.
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\r\nThe philosophy of ‘less is more’ certainly does not always apply. Particularly in the art world, where lavish decoration can sometimes actually be the main focus of a piece of work. This is not however the case for Evergrey, where this time the tightening of the songs has become a true asset. “Our new songs are much shorter and so prove to be more effective” says vocalist Tom S. Englund about the band’s new album. He adds, “Especially on stage the ‘Apocalypse’ material may even work better than our other songs, thanks to its more direct thrust”.
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\r\nThis is due to the production team of Sanken Sandquist and Stefan Glaumann who among others have already worked with Rammstein, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard. For the first time in their career Evergrey decided to let someone else take over the production responsibilities and it proved to be an overall positive experience. “It was really relaxing to know that we just had to write the songs and leave everything else to such a competent team” explains Englund. “Sanken produced the album and Stefan did the mix afterwards. During this process our ideas and suggestions were always in demand but apart from that we could lean back and work fairly relaxed”.
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\r\n“Our goal so far has been to improve ourselves with each new record”, says Englund. “This has been our ambition this time as well. Stagnation means stepping back and that would be unacceptable for us”. With ‘Monday Morning Apocalypse’ we can hopefully show more than ever before what this band is able to achieve”.
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\r\nThe apocalypse mentioned in the album’s title luckily only happens in the song lyrics when Englund tells us about the imponderability of every day life. “Always and everywhere there lurk strokes of fate with disaster, accidents, disease and death. This fact is reflected in the album’s title”, he explains. Perhaps his statement about the cover artwork fits in with this message.
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\r\nBut who knows? “It’s possible that the cover predicts how things will go for us after the next tour”, grins Englund, and with a twinkle of the eye suggest the possibility of “a criminal tour through America”.
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\r\n- In 2007 Evergrey begin working on their new album and searching for anew label. The press release in early 2008 wrote “Following intense and very constructive discussions, Steamhammer/SPV have announced their future collaboration with Swedish dark melodic metal act, Evergrey. The deal includes not only the group’s brand-new studio album, *Torn*, which will arrive at the stores at the beginning of September, but also Evergrey’s complete back catalogue. Evergrey mastermind Tom S. Englund is looking forward to a productive cooperation with Steamhammer, explaining: "After long and intense negotiations, we feel that we have arrived at optimum conditions for everybody involved. We are confident that Evergrey will continue to grow artistically under the terms of this contract, that SPV will enjoy our cooperation and – this is definitely the most important aspect – that our fans will thoroughly benefit from the new deal."
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\r\nThe first stage of this ambitious target will see the release of Evergrey’s new studio album, *Torn*, at the beginning of September, featuring eleven compositions, described by Englund as a "modern mix of *In Search Of Truth* and *Recreation Day*". "The tracks are all guitar-oriented and very atmospheric. They have exactly the sound that our fans expect from us." According to Englund, the slightly more experimental direction of Evergrey’s previous release, *Monday Morning Apocalypse*, has given way again to old strengths and virtues. "Two years ago we needed an album with a slightly different approach and an expensive producer, just to find out how that sort of thing works. It was the right album at the time, but now we have returned to our typical trademarks." This is one of the reasons why the tracks on *Torn* were self-produced by Englund together with drummer Jonas Ekdahl. In addition, the band has a new bassist, Fredrik Larsson having been replaced by former Stratovarius musician Jari Kainulainen.
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\r\nSince the band arrived on the scene in 1998, Evergrey have brought out six studio albums and one live cut. All of them made the top 20 in their native Sweden and the last two made the top 10 (no. 6 and 3, respectively). On top of that, their DVD was number 1 for four weeks and nominated for a Grammy in Sweden. The band has toured around the globe several times, together with In Flames, Nevermore, Throwdown, Arch Enemy, Children of Bodom and Iced Earth, among others. Along with *Torn*, their new contract with Steamhammer/SPV includes the band’s complete back catalogue, so top-quality reissues featuring a selection of bonus tracks are likely in future. "There is so much additional material for each album that we could theoretically re-release it on an extra DVD. Whatever we manage to do – premium reissues are certainly a possibility."”\r\n

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\r\nSource Evergrey Myspace\r\n

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\r\n2008 - Torn
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\r\nIn a restless world which demands permanent innovation and at the same time the preservation of tried and tested ideals, Evergrey are among the few bands who have succeeded in performing this difficult balancing act in artistic terms. Their intelligent dark melodic metal is marked by high compositional skill, their very own signature and a diversity which never ceases to amaze their audience. The songs by the band from Sweden are never one-dimensional or indeed predictable, but always accessible and based on clear concepts. As confident as we have known Evergrey for more than ten years, as convincing do the band present themselves on their latest album, Torn dynamic, powerful, and always haunting.
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\r\nTheir new album sees Englund & Co. continue a career which has been on the ascent for more than ten years. Since the band arrived on the scene in 1998, Evergrey have brought out six studio albums and one live cut. All of them made the top 20 in their native Sweden and the last two made the top 10 (no. 6 and 3, respectively). On top of that, their DVD was number 1 for four weeks and nominated for a Grammy in Sweden. The band has toured around the globe several times, together with In Flames, Nevermore, Throwdown, Arch Enemy, Children of Bodom and Iced Earth, among others. Evergrey mastermind Tom S. Englund is looking forward to a productive cooperation with Steamhammer, explaining: “After long and intense negotiations, we feel that we have arrived at optimum conditions for everybody involved. We are confident that Evergrey will continue to grow artistically under the terms of this contract, that SPV will enjoy our cooperation and – this is definitely the most important aspect – that our fans will thoroughly benefit from the new deal.”\r\n

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\r\nInrtoduction & Redaction: Elena Mihailidou \r\n

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\r\nLinks: Official Page
\r\n          MySpace\r\n

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