SOLITUDE - DOMINANCE - TRAGEDY

Evergrey is a band where reviews are often mixed. From so many metalheads, I will hear how they are one of the best Prog Metal bands, and from Prog fans I hear they aren't prog. Is one side right, are both sides wrong, or are both sides right?

Evergrey's Solitude.Dominance.Tragedy was a breakthrough release early in the band's discography. The listener can expect a dark atmosphere with prominent guitar melodies, atmospheric keyboards, and the pure shread solo. This sounds like a great formula for a metal album. Some parts of the album are quite impressive, while others seem to be bland trying to further push the dark atmosphere.

The vocals are of a dirtier metal style. Tom Englund's voice still seems to be in development and more monotonous than later albums. It's not very clear, and it's not richly harmonized, but for a standard of a solid metal voice, it gets the job done.

The guitars are definately the musical highlight of the album. Englund and Bronell trade melodies back and forth and compliment each other's solos exceptionally well. The riffing is heavy with a few tracks showcasing some clean playing in support of keyboard melodies. The tonality is a bit weak for a metal album.

The keyboards are not virtuosic, but they contribute to the dark atmosphere of the album, and take a more prominent role in softer songs.

The bass is good by metal standards. The listener will find much more than simple root note chords and accents here. Daniel Nojd does a great job of finding ways to fill space inbetween the guitars and drums. It's not technical bass playing, but it does require some musical skill and creativity.

The drums are somewhat disappointing. There's a lot of double bass and not a lot of fills. The drums groove to keep the time, but never seem to be important to the album. The double bass repeatition shows a lack of creativity on part of the drummer.

There is no particular song that really brings feeling or distinctiveness to the album. It's a solid metal effort, but it lacks it's progressive sophistication. The album has some fine progressive elements of atmosphere and melody, but lacks other important elements like structure and technical precision. The guitars can quite easily entertain the average listener, but the rest of the band fails to show much skill.

The production is not very good. The guitars as I noted earlier are somewhat weak. The tone lacks the depth needed for a metal album. The drums despite their lack of interest have strong tone. The bass is somewhat prominent in the mix, but seems to be missing a little low-end. The keyboard synths are extremely conventional and uncreative for a metal band, but don't sound bad or weak. The vocals lack clarity, but that may enhance the metal edge they have. It's not bad production, but it isn't particularly good.

It's a solid progressive effort from a metal band, but certainly lacks key qualities. It seems both fans are wrong about this album. It's not exactly progressive, but it's not to far from being so. It's worth two stars, but not more than three, average album at best.

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