The Block Leave It Behind Us

In the not to distant past Evergrey has released some amazing albums, most notably “In Search of Truth” in 2001, but with this album they’ve seemed to leave it behind them and by doing so this album is a little weak. Granted, I still really like this album, but I definitely think that it could be better. The songs are quite simple for most of the time, and the couple of songs that are very good get drowned out by the rest. Also “Glorious Collision” seems to be a little repetitive for its hour long time span.

Of everything on the album, my favorite thing would probably have to be Tom Englund’s, which sounds a lot like Fish, from Marillion. Being the huge Marillion fan that I am, this adds a lot to the album, especially on songs such as ‘The Phantom Letters’ and ‘Free’. His voice blends in very well with Evergrey’s sound, and is a lone highlight on most of the songs. If I were to just listen to the first couple of songs this album would hold no interest to me at all, but, thankfully, the last six songs are really good, and salvage the album. Starting with ‘The Phantom Letters’, “Glorious Collision” takes off on a new, and better path that would interest a listener much more than the first half.

The keyboards on this album, played by Rikard Zander, are very good and highlight the melodies very good with their lighter sound. That’s the one cool thing about Evergrey that has stayed the same; they know how to infuse different genres into their music. In the past they have released both progressive and power metal albums, and, in my opinion, “Glorious Collision” is a good mixture between the two. With more progressive sounding songs such as the ballad ‘...And The Distance’ and ‘Free’, they show their diverse talent, while they also show they can get the job done with nice, heavy power metal songs like ‘Frozen’ and ‘I'm Drowning Alone’.

The production is very polished, and almost too perfect, but I find my self liking it. Englund’s voice sounds great with it, and the guitars sound pretty good, too.

While hardcore Evergrey fans will probably be disappointed with this new release, there’s not too much to complain about. It has great musicianship, wonderful choruses, and great melodies. I found myself liking this album a lot, but as I said before, if you’re just getting into Evergrey this might not be the place to start. I got this at around the same time I got “In Search of Truth”, my first introduction to Evergrey, and it was amazing at the difference. For their good, yet lacking release Evergrey gets 3 stars.

AtomicCrimsonRush 13 songs in one hour of solid blasting melodic power metal from Evergrey.

Evergrey have become a melodic power metal band that have the key features of strong melodies, awesome riffing and incredible passionate vocals from Englund. They remind me of Symphony X or Theocracy at times, and are focussed on creating memorable melodies and riffs with some scorching lead breaks played with razor sharp precision and speed.

There are some fantastic tracks on this new album, a dark somber atmosphere throughout but very strong melodies. It begins with a brain blaster on heavy distorted galloping guitars. Leave It Behind cranked into my cranium and I couldn’t get it out of my head, it just haunts you after it is over. The signature sound is well known to Evergrey fans, and I was astounded at the ferocity of the distortion and the way vocals plead through low tones and exceptional high register singing; “it’s your silence that makes you so hollow, all things that we don’t know are danger and we should leave it behind us, everything changes, we wait for the darkness”. The techno keyboards add another dimension to the sound.

You is one of the best tracks due to that melodic power metal and a blistering lead break and choppy rhythmic distorted blasts. It is the longest song at 6:24 and the best for me, with a beautiful minimalist piano section. Worth listening to any day, any mood.

Wrong has wonderful verses sung with passion and powerful organ passages, with a crunching chorus with a strong melody. It is a power ballad with a commercial sound but works for me.

Frozen has a hammering riff that is rather intricate with an odd time signature. Overall the track is a raucous thrasher with some moments of slow chord changes and everpresent are those powerful vocals. The chorus is majestic and epic, and then the instrumental break is an effective twin lead guitar harmony. The time sig changes are inspirational, and there is even a break away with some spacey keys before one more powerdriving chorus.

Restoring The Loss begins softly with phased keyboards and then a galloping chunk of metal blasts drive it forward. To Fit the Mould absolutely floored me for its unusual structure and the wonderful melodic metal, the power riffs are stunning and these are some of the most uplifting vocals from Englund. An absolute highlight of the album and unforgettable epic chorus.

The Phantom Letters has to be mentioned for the dynamic vocals “and the ashes fall from heaven”, and the incredible fret melting lead work.. It Comes From Within is a killer track, and begins with an ethereal haunting female vocal and then launches into break neck speed riffs and lead guitar fills. The darkened atmosphere is consistent with heavier vocals; “It’s taking me over, making me weak, I belong to the shadows, to the ones…”. The lead guitar is explosive on this track, it woke me up after a few mediocre moments and this nailed me to the wall with blistering lead work and crunchtastic distortion. The eerie female ghosts lift it to a progressive edge.

Free begins with sombre organ and heartfelt well executed vocals. The softer sound is welcome after the blitzkrieg of previous tracks. The bass pounds like a heartbeat and it builds to a clean guitar and beautiful ambience. Another very good track among the best on the album.

I’m Drowning Alone is back to the gut wrenching distorted crunches of pure Evergrey. The riff is fantastic driving and powerful, with a higher vocal register from Englund. You have to love that melody in the chorus; “Release from darkness, release me from all that chains me here, I’m drowned in your silence, I hate to ask but I wouldn’t if I didn’t mean it, I’m much stronger on my own, but so much weaker, I need you to help me.” There is a keyboard pad underneath the power metal and a weird section that chills me sounding like children singing.

And The Distance has one of the best vocal performances, passionate and full of the pain of loss and regret. The guitar swells are divine over a melancholy piano. When it builds to the metal section the atmosphere lifts; “you’re keeping your distance, you’re pushing me away, you never let me say the words I want to say, our circumstances change, because you never let me say the words I want”. There is a time change and a ferocious instrumental, with Carina’s female vocals that sound so pleasant with vocals. The harmonies as good as you may hear on an Ayreon album.

Overall this Evergrey album is full of melodic powerful songs, some absolutely inspired moments. I enjoyed the journey and look forward to hearing more from this dynamic prog metal band.

adg211288 Glorious Collision is the eight studio album from Sweden’s Evergrey. It was released in 2011 and features an almost entirely different line-up to the group’s previous effort, 2008’s Torn, with only lead singer/guitarist Tom Englund and keyboardist Rikard Zander remaining in the line-up. To provide a bit of background here, you only need to do a bit of searching on the Internet to discover that much of Evergrey’s more recent efforts, in particular Monday Morning Apocalypse (2006), haven’t been met with so much praise as their band’s early works such as Solitude Dominance Tragedy (1999) or In Search of Truth (2001). Personally I’m only in partial agreement with these views, I do think the band were on a downturn which reached its lowest with Monday Morning Apocalypse, however for me, Glorious Collision isn’t the album that’s going to bring them back up, because for me, they already got back on their feet in really great style with Torn, even if at the end of the day it was essentially typical Evergrey. I guess that when it comes down to it though I’m still looking for what many others likely are with Glorious Collision, and that would be the sound of an Evergrey that has been revitalised by this new line-up.

To cut a long story short I think that Evergrey has actually managed that. Right from the off Glorious Collisions indentifies itself as having that Evergrey sound, but it had an entire different feel to it than on previous efforts. While you could still call Evergrey’s writing style somewhat formulated (more so than you’d typically find in a band with prog tendencies), the guitar riffs of Englund and new guitarist Marcus Jidell sound a lot more intense and aggressive than ever before, and there are even a few moments in the album where things take on an Industrial flair. There are generally more parts to the album that strike me as unexpected on Glorious Collision as well. So for the most I would definitely consider Evergrey revitalised as a band, since the album manages to still feel like an Evergrey album and not a remake of glories gone by (that pun was entirely unintended, just for the record).

The album gives us its first highlight straight away with Leave It Behind Us. After a misleadingly quite intro that more intense guitar sound hits you. Englund’s vocals are, as always, really good, and the keyboards add a nice melodic flair to the song. The guitar solo sounds really frantic here. While not everything on the album comes as close to the greatness of this song, it is far from the album’s only gem. Restoring The Loss and To Fit The Mold are another two back to back highlights, and The Phantom Letters delivers one of the more progressive inclined pieces on the album topped off with some really emotive vocals from Englund. It Comes From Within is another really great song.

Other songs are still good. You, in particular, comes very close to being one of my highlights but it’s just lacking a certain spark to get it up there. I think it’s the chorus that’s at fault, because unlike many of the other chorus sections on Glorious Collision I don’t find this one so memorable. Other songs are just really solid material such as Wrong and Frozen.

There are no moments that can be considered a downturn on Glorious Collision. All in all it’s a very solid effort by Evergrey and as I stated earlier, it really does succeed in sounding very much like a revitalised band. Personally I don’t actually enjoy this album quite as much as I did Torn (which for me is a much overlooked and underappreciated album), but Glorious Collision definitely is a step in the right direction for Evergrey. It may not stand up to a masterwork such as their In Search of Truth album but for me does at least hint that there is much life in Evergrey yet. It’s another really great album from Englund and co. That I think will sit well with most established fans.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven)

Time Signature Frozen...

Genre: melodic modern metal

Evergrey are obviously very skilled musicians, and, this being their 8th album, they obviously are also very experienced.

"Glorious Collision" contains well performed music and the level of musicianship is top notch. This being said, the tracks on the album do not strike me as being catchy or memorable, and it is difficult to tell them apart. I think that a main factor is that virtually all songs follow the same two formulas (which in turn draw on the typical power ballad formula).

There are a couple of stand out tracks - namely, "It Comes From Within" which is mostly uptempo with semi-brutal guitars and a semi-catchy chorus, and "Restoring the Loss" which contains some interesting and groovy riffage. The band also make good use of guitar harmonies throughout the album, and there are also some interesting riffs, vocal line and other detail here and there.

"Glorious Collision" is, as mentioned, not a bad album, but I think it is going to take a lot (and I mean A LOT) of spins for the listener to be able to notice and appreciate all the detail and, though that, perhaps gain a different perspective on the album.

Conor Fynes 'Glorious Collision' - Evergrey (4/10)

As sad a trend as it is, many bands that stay around as long as Sweden's Evergrey tend to slip as time goes on, falling at some point along the way. A band whose earlier work dominates the Scandinavian power metal scene, Evergrey seems to have taken a fall from glory. Instead of the great comeback record some may have been predicting, 'Glorious Collision' turns out to be a somewhat weak, uninspired collection of anthem rock tracks, that fails to capture the imagination. Unfortunately, the theme of falling may not just apply to the album's artwork.

Anyone familiar with the term 'AOR' will know what to expect here. The music is deeply rooted in the arena rock that lay slave to each set of white, middle-class ears during the 1980s. The music is almost always focused on the vocals and melodic lines, often giving the instruments the semblance of a backing track to Tom Englund's vocal work, whose strong delivery comprises the album's greatest strength. The songwriting is kept basic to point of being called 'barebones', and to make things worse, the album tries to cover this with an overly polished production, which could work beautifully for a more technically vibrant work, but makes a good deal of the music here feel even more lifeless.

Each song follows a nearly identical pattern, with little exception. A instrumental introduction opens up the song, usually promising some sort of interest to the song. Unfortunately, by the time Englund's vocal work comes in, the instruments recoil and let the singing do almost all of the work. Each song is built around a chorus that- more often than not- is the highlight of the song. while there is melodic prowess here with much of the chorus-writing, it can often feel as if one familiar song is replaying over and over again throughout thirteen tracks of tired arena rock. With that in mind, the songs begin being judged not on their inherent quality, but on how different they manage to sound from the rest. While the album's opener 'Leave It Behind Us' works the best to describe the musical output Evergrey has produced with 'Glorious Collision', the highlight would ultimately be the semi-acoustic track 'Free', which opens with a simple keyboard idea, and is driven by some beautiful acoustic work. Unfortunately, this fleeting inspiration is only made the more enjoyable due to it's companions, which have much less to say.

What the album gets right however; it gets right very well. As has been said, Tom Englund is a fantastic vocalist for this type of melodic rock, and although the instruments almost never prove to be more than a backing track for Englund's powerful delivery, his voice carries the better parts of 'Glorious Collision' along rather nicely. 'Glorious Collision' is certainly an album that introduces Evergrey in a new light (with an almost entirely new lineup) but unless the band makes some serious improvements and opts to balance out their sound in favor of greater instrumental work, Evergrey may very well fall completely into relative obscurity.

J-Man Leave It Behind Us

Evergrey has had quite a few ups and downs in their 15 year history. Albums like In Search and Truth and Solitude + Dominance + Tragedy are hailed by fans as progressive power metal masterpieces, but since Recreation Day the band has been moving towards a more commercial-sounding metal act with mixed reception. Monday Morning Apocalypse was Evergrey's downfall; an album panned and beaten to death by fans and critics alike. The band has been on a rebound since then, and 2011's Glorious Collision shows them in a confident state with some killer new material. This can't compare with some of their earlier masterworks, but it's a very competent album that will surely appeal to fans of progressive power metal on the more accessible side. People who loved the complexity of Evergrey's early albums will most likely book this as a disappointment, even though I find myself enjoying this album quite a bit. Glorious Collision isn't the best thing Evergrey has done in their nomadic career, but it's a more than competent album that should satisfy open-minded fans and newcomers alike.

Although this is distinctly Evergrey for a variety of reasons, this is an extremely clean, polished, and accessible version of them. Glorious Collision will grab you at first listen - whether or not that's a good thing is up to the listener. Usually albums this accessible are major issues for me, but there's enough excellent material here to warrant many more replays. Songs like "Leave It Behind Us", "Wrong", "Frozen", or "Free" are all excellent, though selecting any highlights here is like picking randomly out of a hat. Every song here is of excellent quality, filled with memorable melodies and irresistible riffs. It's a bit formulaic (verse-chorus-verse), but incredibly enjoyable nonetheless. Again, people who were drawn to the complexity of their earlier releases may feel left in the cold by Glorious Collision, but what I hear is an excellent melodic power/prog metal album that fans of the genre should get a kick out of. One of the biggest assets to Evergrey's music has always been the excellent musicianship, and, though there have been many lineup changes since their last outing, that still holds true. Of course, the stellar vocals from Tom Englund are at the forefront. The man is simply a spectacular singer, and surely among the best in modern metal.

The production is a bit too polished for most people's tastes, but I find myself liking it anyway. The sound of the crunchy guitar riffs and Englund's excellent vocals are especially excellent.

Conclusion:

Glorious Collision isn't the best thing Evergrey's ever done and its safe approach will unquestionably disappoint a few fans, but I've had a great time listening to the album recently. I think fans of power metal with irresistible choruses and impressive musicianship should love Glorious Collision - I know I sure did. This isn't the best starting place for Evergrey, but it's another great addition to their discography and a warm recommendation from me. 3.5-4 stars are deserved in this case.