THE DARK DISCOVERY

"The Dark Discovery" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish heavy/power metal act Evergrey and. The album was released through GNW Records in 1998. Evergrey was formed in 1995 in Gothenburg and on this album consists of Tom Englund (vocals, guitar), Dan Bronell (guitar), Daniel Nojd (bass), Will Chandra (keyboards), and Patrick Carlsson (drums). "The Dark Discovery" was recorded at Los Angered Studios, Gothenburg, which is the studio that is owned and operated by King Diamond guitarist Andy La Rocque. The album was produced by Andy La Rocque and Evergrey.

...and let me start by saying that to my ears the sound production unfortunately is below standard. It lacks power, clarity, and a professional touch, which is a bit surprising since Andy La Rocque is involved, but it´s nevertheless the truth. Stylistically Evergrey play a melodic US power metal influenced heavy metal style, so they master both the harder edged semi-thrashy riffing and the more melodic heavy/power metal moments. Englund has a very distinct sounding hoarse voice, which always makes Evergrey´s music easy to identify. Despite the relatively hoarse quality of his voice, Englund actually isn´t a very raw sounding singer, and most vocals on the album are melodic in style.

The quality of the material is decent, but combined with the relatively weak sounding production, most tracks don´t come off sounding that great. There´s definitely potential here and the musicianship is generally on a high level too, but there´s no denying "The Dark Discovery" is a bit rough around the edges both when it comes to the songwriting and the sound production. A 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)