RECREATION DAY

Yes this was the album that got me started in being a huge fan of Evergrey. Recreation Day in my opinion is probably their best metal album i mean it isn't as proggressive as In Search of Truth but there are bits and pieces of proggression in each song. But i've heard that this album was a concept album about self-reliance and well i'm not too sure about it but i'll be sure to look deeper within it. But anyway what we have here is a grand sound of heavy riffs, great metal drums, amazing vocals and harmonies, and an amazing choir to back up the band big time as that is probably one of my favorite things about Evergrey is the use of choir that they bring to each album. Basically the overall genre to me in this albums is that they are mainly a dark melodic metal band with some progressive elements. I mean i've heard these guys be named as power metal which to me honestly they are not like that at all i mean sure they do have some tendencies with power metal with the orchestra and choir but power metal is freakin happy and these guys don't sound happy most of the time. But anyway you have great rockers in here like The Great Deceiver, End of you Days, Recreation Day, Blinded, Fragments, and lots more. Denrik and Tom i think are a tremendous duo of guitarist and they not only can shred but can really put some emotion in there songs i mean listen to how gorgeous the solo in Visions is its just amazing sutff man. Then you have you have the rhythm section starting with Patrick who unfortunately leaves Evergrey after this album which is a shame cause he really is a great metal drummer one of the best i've heard. one of my favorites things he's done in this album is the awesome fills that he uses in I'm Sorry and End of you Days. Micheal does a pretty decent job on Bass for Evergrey but he isn't one of my favorites honestly he is probably the weakest member of the band. Then you have the new keyboardist replacing Sven which is Rikard Zander who does do a great job as much as Sven does but he doesn't quite do as much as Sven does but that's okay Rikard is able to make some beautiful background effects as well as making some nice piano moments. I think he really shines with the synth solo in End of You Days and also the nice double bass and piano duet in Your Darkest Hour which is really a nice touch its something i've never heard before. So yea i mean its not quite as great as In Search of Truth but it is a great album to any Evergrey fans definitely one of their best. A nice four stars will do for me.