THE ATLANTIC

The band's name is Evergrey and the music is pure Progressive Metal. This band has been around since 1996 and have released their 11th album in January 2019 called "The Atlantic". This album finishes a trilogy of albums that were ocean themed. Their last three albums have been top notch progressive metal with a strong sense of melody, smart lyrics and strong and solid metal which can only be considered metal. I remember hearing this band many years ago, probably around their beginnings and thought it was awful, but obviously, the band has done a lot of growing in the last several years. The founder and lead singer Tom S. Englund has cleaned up his vocals and really made some top quality and mature progressive metal. Also, they have brought their keyboards to the front of the mix, and even though they still play their hard and heavy dark riffs with lots of bass, their melodies are much more melodic, and Tom's clean vocals are excellent and full of emotion.

Right from the beginning, you will be blasted with heavy dark metal, the kind with complex rhythms and blistering riffs. But, if that is too much for you, keep with it because you will be surprised about the depth and melody of this music as it continues. "A Secret Arc" will blow you away, but don't worry because it doesn't end there. This album reeks of quality progressive metal and complexity, along the lines of Opeth, but not sounding like them much at all. There are also nice harmonics, like in the track "A Secret Atlantis" which also has a solo in it that will have you air shredding. Then there is the melancholic guitar solo at the end of "Currents" that will convince you that metal can be beautiful too. Another high point is "Departure" that has a lovely piano and acoustic section that sounds perfectly at home among the louder tracks.

Apparently, the studio the band was working in got broken into and all of the music that was being prepared for this album was stolen. The band had to start almost from square 1, but according to Englund, it turned out to be a good thing because if that didn't happen, this album would have been completely different. Who knows what it would have sounded like, but what you get here is pretty amazing. Anyone who tells you that metal can't be melodic and heavy at the same time will be proven wrong with this album. This album is definitely a front runner for Progressive and Emotional Melodic Metal for this year. Not quite a masterpiece, but it is very close to it.

I'm not sure, but I think the last Evergrey album I heard prior to this one was 'Monday Morning Apocalypse', which came out in 2006, but apart from bassist Johan Niemann the line-up is exactly the same as it was back then. Tom S. Englund provides vocals and guitars, and he is joined by Henrik Danhage (guitars), Rikard Zander (keyboards) and Jonas Ekdahl (drums). Back in 2004, when reviewing 'The Inner Circle' I said, 'They are more to the metal end of the prog metal genre than their contemporaries, and the result is a type of music that is extremely loud and heavy while maintaining the melody and invention of the genre.' In very many ways that is still true today, except there are passages when they show they can hit into ballads when the time is right.

They are a very heavy band, with harmony vocals, loads of commercial hooks and a production which takes off the rough edges without ever losing the majesty of the performance. They have a huge sound, and one can imagine Devin Townsend being involved with production, as they convey images of Muse with Opeth yet still hitting mainstream hooks and sounds. Unlike certain bands from their hometown of Gothenburg, they continue to delight, and show no sign at all of moving away from their determined path. I do regret missing out on the last four studio albums, and if they are nearly as good as this, I see I have some investment to undertake. Twenty years on, Everygrey are still delivering the progtastic metallic goods.