Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy time! In the span of only a year Evergrey managed to take almost all the short comings of their debut and improve upon them immensely:
The very first thing you'll notice is the production which is leaps and bounds beyond what we heard on The Dark Discovery. Remember how the keys were mixed far too prominently? They are still a vital part of the overall sound, but they don't drown out the rest of the instruments. Remember how at times you couldn't properly get the guitars to shine? That won't be an issue on this album!
Next, Tom's vocals improved a ton. Anyone who disliked his vocals on the debut should give him another chance. He found a style that he'll carry on for the next few albums (and about the first half of their discography) and he found which keys and ranges fit well for him. We'll hear a lot of his higher range and some much needed aggression. That said, if you don't like how he sounds here then the next albums won't be for you either.
The songwriting is much more mature. The proggy influences take a back seat this time around, but they'll be back on the next album. This one is almost a dark power metal record. We get a lot more variety throughout the individual songs and they seem much more live-friendly or ready. Curious if playing shows influenced how they write music. The vocal lines are better thought out as well and there are plenty of catchy choruses here. The guest vocals are much better incorporated as well.
Let's look at the individual tracks:
Solitude Within
This is the first Evergrey song I've ever heard and as
@MindRuler correctly assumed, it is my all-time favorite! Am I that predictable?
The song starts out strong with some fast drumming and riffing, flanked by synths that add to the atmosphere without detracting from the rest of the song. We get a tempo change and get a pretty cool phrygian dominant riff (think Powerslave or any other "Egyptian" or oriental sounding scale). We change to a chugging riff before Tom get's a moment to really shine and show off his new found confindence as a vocalist. I adore how he sounds here!
The lead guitars drip with effects while the bass is worming its way beneath it all. The chorus introduces some vocal harmonies but is cut short, before returning to the lead guitars. Right after we get Carina helping out, but this time she doesn't hold back like on the debut; she shows how powerful her voice is.
The instrumental section that follows is pretty different to anything we've heard on their very young discography so far. We get a bit of modal interchange and the keys get to take center stage for a bit. The bridge sees Tom push himself vocally again before returning to the chorus and finally ending the song. Like many songs on this album this one works really well live and if people liked the album they should listen to the live album at some point as well, but maybe wait until we get there chronologically. Easiest
10/10 ever.
Nosferatu
Kinda funny how disconnected the intro is from the rest of the song, but it really works! We get a couple of riffs and even a solo before the vocals first enter, all within the first minute. Once Tom starts singing we get to hear a bit of his lower range, which he wields with more confidence as well. Before you think we have some half ballad at hand the song changes gears again. First we keep the slower tempo while the electric guitars and synths drive the energy, but this changes once the pre-chorus starts. First downside I can think of: The backing vocals in this segment (that keep chanting Nosferatu) are far too low, both from a mix pov as well as the pitches themselves, they're barely audible). The proper chorus is super catchy, features Carina in the backing vocals once again and we also get some fun natural to flat sixth movement in the chord progression. Nothing super impressive, but it sounds great and works in introducing some variety.
Quick instrumental interlude, before going to a verse with some rather clunky lyrics, but both Tom's vocals and the guitar riff underneath are just so damn good that I don't really care about the cheesiness. Time to embrace it!
We get another solo and even a slow twin lead section right after. I think I'll go with a
9/10.
The Shocking Truth
As I mentioned in my review for the debut, songs with vocal samples are somewhat of an Evergrey staple. The subject matter of this song will be revisited in detail on the next album. I'm really glad about this album's production, because the atmosphere in this track is immaculate. We have the piano synths laying the foundation, the palm muted clean guitars filling out the space sonically, before we get to what will eventually reveal itself as the chorus with some string synths, clean guitar chords, more samples and some double bass drum grooves. Plus, instead of the usual 4/4 every second measure gets a couple of extra measures, a trick they already used on the debut, but which works well here too.
We get another round of verse and "chorus", before getting a bridge that name drops the song (and might seem familiar if you look at the third album's title
). Then we return to the chorus, this time in its proper statement with actual vocals, for the remainder of the song. I can see how the lyrics and the samples might seem goofy at first, but the composition is strong enough that I don't really care about the silliness of it all.
7/10.
A Scattered Me
Hey look, it's the cello synth again! The intro is arguably unnecessary but once we're done with that we get a fantastic song. We get a bunch of fantastic riffs and it takes more than the first quarter of the song before we hear any sung vocals. I love Tom's voice, but I wouldn't fault anyone for thinking the guitar work is Evergrey's strongest suit, which is why I believe this song might be pretty popular with anyone here listening to the album for the first time.
The clean guitars during the verse play some notes here and there, quickly dipping outside the song's key, to add interest to an already pretty cool section, before continuing with the catchy chorus. After another round of verse and chorus we get a little interlude including a harpsichord synth, before transforming that interlude riff into a proper backing riff for the solo. Nothing spectacular in that sense, but all the individual parts of the song are great and fit well together.
8/10.
She Speaks To The Dead
Heh, it's the Sign Of The Cross intro-sample. Wouldn't surprise me if that was deliberate, Evergrey are Maiden fans (Tom references Live After Death during their own first live album and they have played acoustic covers of Wasted Years live a few times).
The intro mostly serves to set up the atmosphere, the rest of the song goes in a very different direction. Once the
actual musical intro is over we see the guitars adapt what the piano was playing before, which serves both as the backing for a quick solo, and for the verse that is to follow. The chorus has a fascinating structure, with an almost stop-and-go kind of feel, but it's not jarring (at least not to me). We get
another quick solo before the next verse starts.
After the next chorus we get an amazing instrumental section that goes through a ton of ideas. We get tempo changes, differences in dynamics, an energetic 12/8 section, a few solos and some twin leads. Anyone who appreciates great guitar work will find something to like here!
9/10.
When Darkness Falls
Another of my favorites. Lyrically it sounds like a continuation of what we were just listening to, musically we get a very different vibe. I love the phasing effect on Tom's vocals once he starts singing. I adore the chorus! The guitars drive the whole thing with palm muted 16th notes while Tom and a vocal harmony soar over them. We get a prominent bass riff afterwards! Back to mid-tempo stomping for the verse, with some eerie synths that almost sound like a theremin. The band has some fun playing around with the rhythms here, before going back to the chorus.
Instrumental interlude time again! Guitars and synths drive the next section, before we hear another solo and a synth heavy section. Instead of repeating the chorus we get a revisit of the last verse. For the outro we get something similar that we heard on the final track of the debut already, some clean guitars rich in delay playing a few licks while the song slowly fades out. This time it's much more effective though.
10/10.
Words Mean Nothing
Here's the closest thing to a ballad this album has to offer. The harp synth is prominently featured throughout the song, establishing its identity. It drops out for a piano synth for the first verse and chorus, but returns right after. As the song progresses Tom busts out some powerful and emotional vocals. If you like his voice here's a lot to appreciate. The man sings his ass off. The song continues for another minute or so though, letting the keyboard player have some fun with some violin sounds. Nothing too obnoxious or pretentious, nor anything too flashy. I quite like it and think it fits with the song, but I can see how some would like to skip this or think it goes on for too long.
8/10.
Damnation
This song is weird for me. I like it, but I also tend to forget about it quickly. It's the weakest track on the album for me due to that, but it's still not bad. It's certainly the thrashiest song on the album. I love how the bass is worming beneath the guitars in the first verse and it would've sounded even better with a more gritty or gnarly sound; the current one is a bit too smooth for my liking.
The chorus is the best part of the song for me and I like the chord progression chosen. It's even better once Carina joins in and enhances Tom's vocals. I don't much care for the following section but once we return to Carina's backing vocals and a reprise/variation of the chorus things get better.
6/10.
The Corey Curse
And the final track! The title seemed a bit weird before I knew what it was about, but MindRuler thankfully explained that part already. I dore the atmosphere in the intro of the song and how it keeps building up. We get some lead guitars before Tom enters with some harmonized mid register vocals and the closest thing we get to name dropping the album (though I consider the opening track to be the title track).
Second time around the focus is on his higher register again. The song really takes its time before introducting the chorus and we even get a short twin lead section.
The part right after the chorus is fun, where the guitars play a standard 4/4 groove, while the drums thunder away in 12/8 (or rather the bass drum groove is in triplets). Then we get the emotional core of the song, based on the historic event that inspired the song. We see a couple of previous riffs get repeated before the final chorus, an outro riff and then an admittedly pretty annoying and far too long ending, where Tom's final "curse" and a synth stab are repeated for close to a minute for no reason. You can have fun with a delay sound, but that was a bit too much lol. Still an easy
9/10 for me.
My current ranking of Evergrey songs:
1. Solitude Within
2. When Darkness Falls
3. Closed Eyes
4. The Corey Curse
5. She Speaks To The Dead
6. Nosferatu
7. When The River Calls
8. A Scattered Me
9. Words Mean Nothing
10. Dark Discovery
Curious to see how long the remaining songs from the debut will survive.
