EVERGREY - Recreation Forthcoming! [Hot Flashes - 03.01.17 13:12:01]
Recreation Day, the fourth offering from progressive Swedish metallers, Everygrey, is scheduled for release March 11. Tom S. Englund, the Scandinavian giant who fronts the band, as well as plays guitar, hints at what lies within the ten originals, an obscure cover and one compilation tune. "Me and Henrik Danhage (guitar) produced it. We had help in the mix from Fredrik Nordstrom, who has worked with like every Swedish band. He has a lot of input in the final result, but the basic foundation was us. It's easily the best sounding Evergrey album. We just built a 350 thousand dollar studio, right next to our rehearsal room, in Gothenburg, so we'll definitely produce again. Then, we'll have all the time in the world. It's a lot of work. It's fun, but you have to put the meal on the table."
The originals showcase a little something for everyone, from the opening aggression of 'The Great Deceiver' to an all acoustic 'Madness Caught Another Victim'. Throughout, keyboards play a significant, but not dominate role, most notable, serving as orchestral strings. "There are no real strings," admits Englund, "just good keyboards. It's too expensive to rent people at $50 an hour and you need like twenty of them. It takes a while as well."
Suggesting budget constraints were not a problem, just something the band is keenly aware of, while producing Recreation Day, he continued, "both Henrik and Rikard (Zander, keyboards) are doing background vocals." The female voices on 'Darkest Hour' are courtesy of "my fiancée," deadpans Englund. "It's the same girl as on all our albums. I thought I'd give her a minute." No career aspirations though, as Tom relates, "I've got a child, so we need SOMEONE to be the mature, adult."
The tracklisting includes 'I'm Sorry', a decade's old pop song by countrymen Dilba. Although it plagues the airwaves incessantly, the tune is virtually unknown outside Sweden, part of its allure for Evergrey. "I wanted more people outside Sweden to hear it, because it's just too great to be forgotten and it totally fits our sound. I've always wanted to do it and this time we had to, otherwise I'd have killed myself if someone else did it first!"
Closing the disc is 'Trilogy Of The Damned', until now unavailable outside the Japanese versions of In Search Of Truth, where it appeared as a bonus cut. Now it will see the light of day domestically and in Europe. "We had so many requests to put the song on the web (www.evergrey.net), or re-release it. Now it's there. It's made up of three (previously released) songs, 'As Light Is Our Darkness', 'Words Mean Nothing' and 'The Shocking Truth', but only with piano and vocals."
Watch for a full interview with Evergrey in an upcoming issue of BW&BK.
Recreation Day, the fourth offering from progressive Swedish metallers, Everygrey, is scheduled for release March 11. Tom S. Englund, the Scandinavian giant who fronts the band, as well as plays guitar, hints at what lies within the ten originals, an obscure cover and one compilation tune. "Me and Henrik Danhage (guitar) produced it. We had help in the mix from Fredrik Nordstrom, who has worked with like every Swedish band. He has a lot of input in the final result, but the basic foundation was us. It's easily the best sounding Evergrey album. We just built a 350 thousand dollar studio, right next to our rehearsal room, in Gothenburg, so we'll definitely produce again. Then, we'll have all the time in the world. It's a lot of work. It's fun, but you have to put the meal on the table."
The originals showcase a little something for everyone, from the opening aggression of 'The Great Deceiver' to an all acoustic 'Madness Caught Another Victim'. Throughout, keyboards play a significant, but not dominate role, most notable, serving as orchestral strings. "There are no real strings," admits Englund, "just good keyboards. It's too expensive to rent people at $50 an hour and you need like twenty of them. It takes a while as well."
Suggesting budget constraints were not a problem, just something the band is keenly aware of, while producing Recreation Day, he continued, "both Henrik and Rikard (Zander, keyboards) are doing background vocals." The female voices on 'Darkest Hour' are courtesy of "my fiancée," deadpans Englund. "It's the same girl as on all our albums. I thought I'd give her a minute." No career aspirations though, as Tom relates, "I've got a child, so we need SOMEONE to be the mature, adult."
The tracklisting includes 'I'm Sorry', a decade's old pop song by countrymen Dilba. Although it plagues the airwaves incessantly, the tune is virtually unknown outside Sweden, part of its allure for Evergrey. "I wanted more people outside Sweden to hear it, because it's just too great to be forgotten and it totally fits our sound. I've always wanted to do it and this time we had to, otherwise I'd have killed myself if someone else did it first!"
Closing the disc is 'Trilogy Of The Damned', until now unavailable outside the Japanese versions of In Search Of Truth, where it appeared as a bonus cut. Now it will see the light of day domestically and in Europe. "We had so many requests to put the song on the web (www.evergrey.net), or re-release it. Now it's there. It's made up of three (previously released) songs, 'As Light Is Our Darkness', 'Words Mean Nothing' and 'The Shocking Truth', but only with piano and vocals."
Watch for a full interview with Evergrey in an upcoming issue of BW&BK.
