MONDAY MORNING APOCALYPSE

After two bombastic power metal albums, Evergrey returned to a more down-stripped melodic metal sound. If didn't charm many fans but I got drawn to it by a couple of positive reviews. In retrospect it is certainly not as good as their first albums but as an introduction to Evergrey it came at the right time for me.

The synths have all but disappeared so we get a solidly rocking metal sound. It almost sounds like a grunge album. Tom S Englund's vocals are produced without the reverb of the preceding albums, the drums are dry and crisp and the guitars full and sharp. The songs have traditional verse-chorus structures and are decidedly more accessible then anything Evergrey put out. I guess songs like Unspeakable and Lost almost sound like glam metal tracks to the fans. With the melodious verses and anthemic choruses it will sure appeal to traditional metal audiences.

I suspect Evergrey now regret this turn to a more commercial sound. They sure did their best to make up for it by returning to their old style on the next album. But this one, mainstream as it may sound, has the better songwriting. For fans of Dio, Kamelot and the likes.