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.