Evergrey

[MindRuler]

The Dark Discovery (1998)

Evergrey´s 1998 debut album isn´t a masterpiece but it allready contains elements and ideas that will be perfectionized in their next couple of albums. The mix of heavy metal with prog metal and some gothic metal makes them also quite original. I can't think of any other band with a similar sound. Maybe Nevermore? Although that only goes for the music.
Tom S Englunds emotional vocals are perfect for this type of dark metal. The production is abit muddy, something that will improve alot with the next album. I´d recommend to listen with headphones!


Blackened Dawn
Heavy riffs and some cool drum fills, sparse keyboards and Tom allready asking if the sun will be rising... what a way to open an album!
Then the song gets on midtempo with an ominous sounding choir on the background, nice drums and in comes the chorus. Not a catchy one but very effective. After a quicker second verse we get a short but addictive guitar riff.
After the chorus we get a slower instrumental part with the emphasis on spooky dark long keyboard notes accompanied by the addictive guitar riff.
A short bridge is followed by the chorus and then a sudden ending which flows nicely into to the second song.

December 26th
Heavy riffs, creepy keyboard sounds and Tom singing as if he was possessed by demons (perhaps the ones coming out of the chest on the album cover?) Not your typical boxing day song.
Different spoken vocal layers make this even more eerie.
Fantastic bridge with great chuggy guitar riff followed by chorus and then the second verse.
Heavier drumming in this one and instead of going into bridge and chorus again we get a melodic guitar solo.
Then the chorus, drums and a shredding guitar solo this time. Very nice! Midtempo instrumental part, and great bass fill around 3:03 followed by synths and tasty guitar riff. This is my favourite part of the song! Instrumental part continues and finally we´re back to the chorus on repeat and again a sudden ending which flows into the title track.

 

[Mosh]

I enjoyed this enough to continue following a discography discussion but not so much that I would race to go back to this album. I liked the riffing a lot but not really sold on the vocalist. Pretty competent performances and production for a debut album.

 

[Vaenyr]

First of all, thanks @MindRuler for starting this retrospective! Evergrey is one of my favorite bands and despite loving most of their material there are certainly songs, and even entire albums, that I don't revisit as much as I used to, so it's going to be fun to go back. I think I'll try and give numerical scores as well, to clarify my reviews for each song (and album), but my views aren't as rigid as my Maiden opinions, so expect some wonkiness and vagueness in the scoring.

Blackened Dawn
Evergrey has changed a lot throughout their career, but there are plenty of staples and tropes of their trademark sound already heard in this very first song. Dark atmospheres, heavy incorporation of keyboard layers, somewhat unorthodox verse structures (you'll never read Evergrey lyrics and mistake them for poetry based on iambic meter or stuff like that), personal lyrics based on emotional struggles. And of course Tom's powerful vocals. If I recall correctly they used to have a different vocalist who left the band soon before the recording of the first album, so Tom's then girlfriend (later wife and now ex-wife) Carina (we'll see that name quite often!) gave him some lessons and brought him up to speed. Really impressive results.
There's a certain rawness to the album that I really appreciate. The instrumental section right before the bridge is neat in how it takes the opening riff and transforms it into something different. The live version of this particular section is awesome, hearing thousands of voices screaming "hey!" with every snare hit. The transition to the bridge works well, but the one from the bridge to the chorus is a bit clumsy.
All in all, not at all how the band sounds nowadays, but a great introduction to their early years. I'll go with an 8/10.

December 26th
Always enjoyed the half-spoken vocals in the verse, especially the second time around with the vocal harmonies. No something I'd want regularly, but here it works really well. I really like the variety in vocal approaches on this song in general. In addition to the spoken stuff we have Tom's normal range, as well as some of his higher range in the pre-chorus. He packs an aggression that will not be present in the modern albums anymore. Guess the hunger of a young band is very different to the experience of an established act.
The lead guitar isn't doing anything flashy in the first lead section but there are some lovely melodies. The proper solo features some sweep picking, the guitarists aren't shy in showing off when necessary. Love the riff right after the solo and the little bass fills are really fun.
The first chorus of the song being cut short is a bit jarring, but it makes the other choruses being longer more effective, so that's awesome.
This song shines in the guitar work and the amount of riffs really pushes its score. It'll get a 7/10.

Dark Discovery
Title track time! I love how the first minute of the song is structured. We get some keys, an arpeggiated bass riff and Tom's lower-mid register. The drums and guitars enter, his vocals change register and we get some piano backing while the song picks up speed. The chorus has some creative riffing as well as changing drum rhythms at different repetitions, changing the context of the riff.
Verse and chorus repeat, before getting a riff that breaks up the brooding atmosphere of the song (or rather the album, at this point) and then we get to another Evergrey staple: Samples, in particular vocal samples. They really like having spoken word passages here and there; sometimes they work, others not so much. This is one of the better examples imo. The riff right after, with the heavy choir synth backing, is a great change of pace and despite being in 4/4 sounds a bit like it's in odd-time. Not the craziest thing, but still a nice touch. We return to the chorus before ending the song (rather abruptly might I add, something they do a lot on this album). Like the opener 8/10.

As Light Is Our Darkness
The next "staple" of Evergrey albums, if you want to call it that: A shorter interlude, often linked to the next song. We get some acoustic guitars and Tom's vocals on top. Another Evergrey staple: Lyrics with wrong English! ("Even though my tears tells me not to") The funny thing is that this happens regularly on the recent albums as well and it's almost endearing lol
Other than that the song itself is not the most demanding composition, but the chorus has lovely vocal melodies which we'll see on the next song in a different context.
The second verse plays around some more with vocal harmonies and some acoustic guitar licks here and there. Despite being so short the second half of the song is a bit repetitive with the same idea being repeated over and over again. It's not a bad song, but they'll go on an write songs in a similar style that are far superior, so I'll go with a rather low 6/10 (don't wanna start inflating the scores too early and handing out 9s and 10s everywhere).

Beyond Salvation
The second part to the previous song, which explains why it starts so suddenly. After some riffs drenched in keyboards we get a reprise of the previous song's chorus, this time backed by the typical metal instruments.
I like that every now and then the guitars drop out or leave gaps in the riffs to let the bass breathe and get the spot light from time to time. It's a pet peeve of mine when you can't hear the bass in a metal song, which happens with many overproduced modern metal bands.
The little twin lead section after the second chorus is awesome, but that entire section is a bit let down by the album's production. This and the part that follows could've turned out even better with some adjustments.
The acoustic guitars return, while the distorted rhythm guitars play around with some phrygian riffs. The outro of the song keeps repeating the same riff while slowly fading out (another pet peeve of mine). Unfortunately the riff isn't the most interesting. Then we get some rain and storm sounds to transition to the next song. Honestly, the final minute could've been removed and the previous song added to this one and I think I'd be happier overall, but it's still fun to listen to every once in a while. We're back at a 7/10.

My reviews for the rest of the album will follow tomorrow, busy day today.

 

[MindRuler]

Great review @Vaenyr ! I forgot to put my score to each song but after reviewing the whole album I´ll rank them in a Top 10. Don´t think any will remain there after reviewing Solitude Dominance Tragedy though.

 

[Vaenyr]

Great review @Vaenyr ! I forgot to put my score to each song but after reviewing the whole album I´ll rank them in a Top 10. Don´t think any will remain there after reviewing Solitude Dominance Tragedy though.

That's actually pretty smart. I think I'll keep tabs of my top 10 and update the ranking with each album we review. Curious to see how it'll end up looking once we're done!

 

[MindRuler]

Curious to see how it'll end up looking once we're done!

Pretty sure alot of old stuff will remain!

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Coming into this, I have about 50% knowledge or experience with Evergrey. I have listened to the first 4-5 albums some time in the past decade, I'm pretty sure I listened to their most recent album last year, and I've heard Tom Englund sing on Ayreon projects and the most recent Redemption album. So, though my experience is minimal, I do have some knowledge of the group.

The Dark Discovery is a massively mixed bag. It shows a lot of promise and certainly a lot of talent, but a pretty hefty lack of refinement (as is usual with debuts). Most of this can be blamed on the poor production.

Production - 4/10
The whole thing is recorded with the standards of a very nice potato. It's muddy, it's flat, it's mixed very poorly. There is a tinny quality to the cymbals that I find quite grating, the guitars are mixed differently throughout the record, and the keyboard parts are far too forward in the mix.

Vocals - 7/10
Tom Englund has a good voice, I don't think that's up for debate. He has passion, he has a little bit of soul (kind of like a C-grade Russell Allen or B-grade John Bush), but mostly on this record all I hear, on literally every song, is early 90s Phil Anselmo singing Cemetery Gates. And that's not just a timbre thing, it's the melodies themselves. Tom's melodies throughout this album are incredibly repetitive. He does this half-step dip at the end of nearly every emotional phrase or hook that becomes samey by the third song. Tom Englund has always struck me as someone whose vocal ambitions just ever so slightly eclipse his actual ability. He tries really hard, but I think he's a small notch below what he's aiming for. But I guess if being a bit samey and caring too much are his worst qualities, he's doing alright.

Instrumentals - 9/10
I can't fault much in the playing, to be honest. It's really good. The guitars are tight, the leads are solid, the drums are great, the bass...well, I think I heard it once or twice. Keyboards are the worst thing here, but as with most of my complaints, that's mainly a production issue. The keys throughout are very simplistic, which is fine, but they are mixed too loudly. They should be a layer and they are mixed like a lead.

Overall Songwriting - 6/10
There's a ton of promise here. My biggest issue, as mentioned in the vocal section, is the repetitive nature of the songwriting. I swear there are 3-4 songs with the exact same chorus. I know they get better in this department, so I don't want to harp on it, but I do predict that quite a bit of their discography is going to feel samey to me.

MVP of the Album - Every single bridge. The instrumental bridges on this record are a delight and almost always the highlight of every song. Great riffs, cool changes to the flow or tone, just very nice work all around.

I can't rank each individual song yet, I don't think, but for now let's call it a 6.5/10.

 

[MindRuler]

Thank you @MrKnickerbocker for the detailed review! We seem to agree on the production of the album and the highlights being the instrumental bridges.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

I'll try to add a few song-specific thoughts here when I can...

Blackened Dawn
Cool intro, but the whole first verse is a mess. Great chorus, cool second verse and additional guitar riff underneath it. The bridge is fantastic, but the simplistic keyboard kind of kills the power of it. Still, without the chorus this song would be completely forgettable.

December 26th
Another song with a nice intro riff and a very messy verse. Tom's just kind of all over the place with his vocals. I swear this is literally the same chorus as Blackened Dawn, just maybe in a different key. It's still catchy, but already repetitive. Cool guitar harmony and great guitar solo, but they're mixed too low! Nice chunky bridge, of course, and I especially like the second half of it that adds syncopated riffing. Easily raises the quality of the song by a ton. I can't hear anything but him yelling "big black guy" at the end of the song.

Dark Discovery
I agree with @Vaenyr - the whole structure of the sprawling first verse is fantastic. It builds really nicely. I just wish it were less wordy! The chorus is a big step down from the previous two songs (and each line ends in that half-step vocal drop I mentioned earlier). I do enjoy the transition into the chorus, even if it is patchy. The bridge is great (shocker!) and starts a bit Maideny. I don't mind the spoken word sample, but it's definitely mixed too loud. Transition back to the chorus is rough.

As Light Is Our Darkness
This is where the vocal repetition starts to become glaringly noticeable. Nice harmonies, though. Tom's really giving it his all here. I like the vocal grit.

Beyond Salvation
I think the transition from the interlude to this song is...really bad. It just doesn't flow at all. This starts as the weakest track so far, but the start/stop lead guitar section is awesome and I like the way the drums pick up for the chorus (even if said chorus is a nothingburger).

The little twin lead section after the second chorus is awesome, but that entire section is a bit let down by the album's production. This and the part that follows could've turned out even better with some adjustments. The acoustic guitars return, while the distorted rhythm guitars play around with some phrygian riffs. The outro of the song keeps repeating the same riff while slowly fading out (another pet peeve of mine). Unfortunately the riff isn't the most interesting. Then we get some rain and storm sounds to transition to the next song. Honestly, the final minute could've been removed and the previous song added to this one and I think I'd be happier overall.

I agree with all this. The bridge is awesome, but patchy. A good production could've saved it. The long fadeout with sound effects ruins the whole thing for me.

Closed Eyes
...is this a concept record? We've got three songs in a row strung together now and it certainly feels like one, though reading the ESL lyrics I can't truly tell. Anyway, here we are at the centerpiece of the album and the longest song. It starts off very nicely and moody, though Tom's vocals are mixed way too low. It's not a perfect vocal performance, but his passion is super endearing. When the heaviness kicks in I'm finally hearing why people classify Evergrey as "progessive", as the riffing and random transitions are proggy as hell. I don't think any of it really works for me, but the wackiness is fun.

At the halfway point, we take a melodic guitar break and it sounds Maiden-as-all-get-out! The bass, the arpeggios, the hi-hat work...very nice. The heavy riff that follows is killer and I wish they played with that section a bit longer instead of returning to the sub-par chorus. The lyrics are starting to show their weaknesses here, for sure. Overall, a bit of a mess with some cool sections within. Another long fadeout knocks down my enjoyment, as well.

Trust and Betrayal
This one starts with a pretty thrashy riff before transitioning (far too quickly) into a typical stomping verse. The pre-chorus has a cool riff and an underlying solo that feels like maybe a tad too much? The chorus is once again not very memorable and feels very, very 90s. The spoken word sample bit, again, is drastically too loud. I like the way the mood changes with the octave chord bridge, the solo, and the random appearance of chanting. A lot of cool ingredients are thrown in here, but the song is only half-baked.

Shadowed
Ah, a cello! The sample works best here, contained as a story element without being drowned in noise. Unfortunately, the verse starts way too quickly. There's a really cool riff before the pre-chorus that just disappears - but it's the best thing here! I greatly dislike the double-time pre-chorus. I don't think it works at all. This chorus sounds like the chorus of the first two tracks (same vocal play), though I do love the syncopated power chord walk downs. The bridge contains a bunch of cool riffs, but again: none of it is developed. They do stick on that twisty riff for a little bit, at least. Another song that lacks refinement but has cool parts. It's just wildly hacked together.

When The River Calls
A really nice, riffy intro and a lead bass fill! I like the way this one flows. Keys and vocals are mixed poorly, though. The chorus is simple and catchy (and sounds like three other choruses). This song feels the most natural of anything on the record. Musically, it works as a whole piece and not just a collection of riffs. The bridge, as always, is fucking phenomenal. I love the bass (and wish it were louder). Great solos, great riffs. The brief female vocal and Tom yelling work surprisingly well, it's great to hear them let a soulful section breathe. And that bass is going off back there! I love it. This is easily the best track here and the closest The Dark Discovery gets to a perfect song. It would be a 10/10 if it didn't have another fucking fade out!

For Every Tear That Falls
And now: the piano ballad. I appreciate the ambition, but these guys just aren't ready for a straight ballad yet. Tom's voice is pretty rough in some of the vocal runs, the lyrics are quite silly, and the female vocals aren't incorporated very well. The musical change about halfway through really, really doesn't work. This one's a no go for me, dawg.

To Hope Is To Fear
Riffing, riffing, riffing. A competent start with a nice main riff, but the verses lose me. I don't like the panned, effected shouts and the single note cello patch sounds very cheap. The chorus exists. I actually think the bridge is probably the weakest on the album, especially with the ridiculously loud kids bedtime piano line. I'm also not entirely sure the piano section is playing complimentary notes to the guitars? The delayed clean guitar line is kind of cool, but...I don't know. Ending your debut album with probably its most pedestrian track is certainly a choice.

Overall, when going song by song, I'd probably lower this one to a 5.5-6/10