FLESH

What does a band do, when the creative juices have been flowing to such an extent, that they have considerably more material to record from, than the length of an album? The answer is to return to the studio at a later date, and make a record out of the surplus material. While this is a treat for their fans, 'Flesh' should always really be regarded as an album of additional material, rather than a fully formed album in it's own right.

The results are a little like Metallica's 'Re-Load' was to 'Load' in that in general, the material is not as strong, and in Everon's case, has proved for a welcome yet markedly uneven offering. In essence, the album consists of 8 tracks, of which 'And Still It Bleeds' and 'Flesh' are lengthy, complex and certainly the heaviest material ever recorded by Everon, which would sit far more comfortably on Vanden Plas's 'Beyond Daylight' than they ever would have done on 'Bridge'. The remaining 6 tracks are by way of contrast, essentially all ballads of varying depth and quality.

Commencing with the title track, 'Flesh', which is a leviathan by Everon's standards, weighing in at over 14 minutes. It offers such variety, both in tempo and scale, from soft piano melodies though to twisted, contorted, angst ridden vocals and crunching guitars which are like nothing that Everon have written to date. That said, this is an exceptionally fine track, beautifully structured with a powerful climax which would astonish many on this forum, who had seen Everon's name under 'Art Rock'. For me, 'Flesh' is matched in quality by 'And Still It Bleeds'. This is a powerful opening track which many bands would have been proud to have written, and is enhanced by a beautiful cello passage. As such, it would be most welcome if Everon were to pursue this particular experiment on future albums, even if that were to quite clearly take them out of the 'Art Rock' category, because if the remainder of the album had been made up of tracks of similar quality, then 'Flesh' would reach the coveted 5 star status.

At the risk of giving the impression that I am not a ballad fan, the remainder of the album consists of ballads, which are about as far away musically from the title track, as it would be possible to get. The pick of these is the haunting 'Missing From The Chain' with its beautiful violin intro, and perhaps the atmospheric closer, 'Back In Sight'. Two of the remaining tracks, 'Already Dead' and 'The River' are sung as a duet between Philipps and Judith Stuber, who admittedly has a beautiful voice, which could have been put to better use. Sadly however, the material is both bland and unexeptional; unbecoming of a group who have proved they can reach much higher.

This album is the other side of Bridge. They were recorded at the same time, but they are different...

And Still it Bleeds: opens the album in a great way, with a beautiful cello melody. Is a strong piece, with a great nostalgic lyrics. It's in the same style of other Everon's songs like Men of Rust or Ghosts, but with a more gloomy and dark feeling... The bridge of the songs is great, with stunning drums and a very good guitar solo. Awesome tune.

Already Dead: absolutely beautiful song. Here we can hear for the first time a female vocal contribution in an Everon's song, Judith Stüber. She has a beautiful voice, and the duets with Oliver Phillips are just great. This song has the best choir of the album, in my opinion. There's is a special song, different of the kind of songs we can wait from Everon, more poppy, but it's still absolutely great. "If I still had a heart to give, I will surely give it to you..."

Pictures of You: this is my favourite track of the album. Is a song that follows the way of other Everon's tracks like If you Were Still Mine or Harbour, with a little of AOR feeling. Like usual, the bridge all the some is also great. The guitar work of Oliver in this track is made with an incredible good taste, and the lyrics are just heart touching...

Flesh: the longer Everon's song, and one of their best. This is a 14 minutes tour de force, of rythm changes, marvellous solos, orchestral arragement, stunning guitar tunes and riffing, awesome piano and keyboards... In a similar style of the Fantasma suite from "Fantasma", bit without different tracks. Definitely, a song that every prog lover should hear. ¡And it has the best ending I have heard in my whole life!

Missing From The Chain: this is a very beautiful song with the leading of Oliver's voice. We can only hear some orchestral arrangements and a little piano support. And another stunning lyrics by Oliver... It follows the way of the song Travelling Shoes in "Bridge".

The River: the second song with Judith Stüber on vocals. And another awesome track... The piano introduction is very good, and the alternance of the Oliver and Judith's voices is very well made. Oliver make one of his best singing of the album here, and another beautiful lyrics...

Half as Bad: the happier song of the album, with a very positive feeling and funny lyrics. Schimy makes a very good bass work here. "You're not the girl of my dreams, though I may dream of you..."

Back in Sight: a melancholic track, with an slow and decadent rythm, very indicated for closing this album. Oliver's offers us another personal lyrics, and a fine work of guitar layers. In the style of other Everon's tracks like Until the Day Breaks or Not This Time, but maybe not as gothic.

Conclusion: another outstanding Everon's release, after the also great "Fantasma" and their incredible "Bridge". This album is Everon's most orchestral and softer one, but this is something that makes it different and very special inside the Everon's discography. Strongly recommended for everyone.

My rating: ****1/2

In my other review (Bridge) I am stating that I like the more ballad-like songs by Everon better than their rough style. Well, then I will have to be ok with this album because it's in every sense the counterpart of Bridge which is a heavy album with a few softer tracks at the end and this is, well I don''t want to call it an album full of ballads, but it's a much more quiet one with a heavy epic (title track) in the middle which I like very much by the way.

So it's not a black and white matter the statement above but generally it is true for me. And because the epic is great and the shorter, more gentle tracks are almost all very good also, I can only come to one conclusion: this deserves the 4 stars totally for me. Maybe their best album ever !

This was recorded at the same time as "Bridge" and the band was originally going to release them at the same time but then decided to stagger the release dates. This one is much mellower than "Bridge' with a lot of ballad-like tracks. For me this isn't in the same class as "Bridge" on several levels, but the title track alone makes it worth a listen.

"And Still It Bleeds" opens with piano as cello arrives quickly followed by a crushing sound. This will be one of the few times other then on the title track we'll hear this kind of power. It settles in as vocals come in on the scene before 1 1/2 minutes. The chorus is catchy. Themes are repeated. We get a calm with fragile vocals 6 1/2 minutes in. Cello ends it. "Already Dead" opens with percussion, vocals and piano. Guest female vocals arrive. Full sound before 2 minutes with dual vocals.

"Pictures Of You" is the best one so far. Once it gets going the percussion and guitar sounds good. Piano becomes prominant. Touching lyrics as well. "Flesh" is over 14 minutes and it takes 6 minutes before the heaviness arrives but it's worth the wait. The heavy and lighter sections are contrasted very well. Great song. "Missing From The Chain" has an orchestral-like intro as fragile vocals come in with violin. Cool lyrics too in this ballad. "The River" opens with piano as drums and vocals come in. The guest female vocalist is back. Themes are repeated. "Half As Bad" features more piano and vocals. More great lyrics too. "Back In Sight" opens with some atmosphere before the guitar starts to soar. Vocals a minute in. Some heaviness 4 1/2 minutes followed by some excellent guitar.

Good album but after hearing "Fantasma" and "Bridge" it's a little disappointing.