Evergrey- The Inner Circle.
In their latest album, The Inner Circle, Evergrey explores the dark world of the molestation scandals which shook the Roman Catholic church not to long ago. Nowhere is this more prominently displayed than in the seventh song, The Essence of Conviction. But well get there soon enough.
Anyway, on with this review. The opening track, A Touch of Blessing, has a very slow, soft start, with Toms masterful voice speaking a few lines with the drums and keyboards sneaking up behind, and then bursting through, and then slowing down a bit again. The song is pretty repetitive, vocally anyway, after that, but with enough musical variety to carry the listener right into the next song: Ambassador.
Starting out with a solid drum piece, well supplemented by the keyboard, this song steps up the pace a bit, describing (at least, in my opinion) the duties and responsibilities of a priest, especially with the last and first two lines of the chorus: I am/ Light to cast away shadows/The Spirit, Holy Ghost, and even Jesus/God walking earth/Ambassador. The music is compelling, molding with Toms voice perfectly, all the way until the final solo. Which brings us to:
In The Wake Of The Weary. Great song, nothing much to comment on though
great singing, great music, as usual for Evergrey.
Moving into Harmless Wishes, a song which, I think, really sets the mood and tone for the album, especially the middle of the song: Delightful so beautiful/Cant stop what hes been told/Shes three years old. Towards the end, we have a solo by guitarist Henrik Danhage, which is simply beautiful.
Slowing down a bit more, we come to Waking Up Blind. Very slow, very somber, with a steady tempo, the song just seems to radiate hopelessness, touching something very deep and emotional
Speeding back up, More Than Ever speaks of courage, and strength to face various perils, and the keyboard/drum team of Rikard Zander and Jonas Ekdahl sets a fairly simple, yet very rich rhythm, which just seems to enhance the guitar and vocals of Tom Englund.
Reaching The Essence of Conviction, Evergrey stops being quite so vague, and describes the inner turmoil of one of the scandalized (for lack of a better term) priests in the beginning, and moving into the emotion of one of the molested. It just oozes pain, doubt, and a sense of betrayal. One of my favorite songs on the album, its also the longest
Moving onto Where All Good Sleep. It seems to re-state the theme in Waking Up Blind, only not quite as hopeless, perhaps speaking to a bit of light shining in darkness, but keeping that distinctive glum, sad, and otherwise depressed feeling which Evergrey does so well.
Which brings us to the last vocal song on the album: Faith Restored. Starting off slow, it really is about spiritual cleansing, with the very faint guitar in the background, and what sounds like a recording of spoken words in the background (these appear throughout the entire album, especially in the next song.). A slow song, as stated earlier, but very, very good. A good break from the faster stuff.
And now, my other favorite track on the album: When The Walls Come Down. Those recordings are back, sort of narrating the story. With a string quartet from the Gothenburg Symphonic Orchestra, its a very powerful peace. You start listening to the beginning, listening to the voice, and then to the strings, and then: BAM! The drums take over (rather forcibly I might add), and then allow the strings back in. Another note on this song: With those voices, and the strings, this piece definitely moves you emotionally, which, in my opinion, is a rarity, albeit a welcome one, in a metal band.
Overall, this is a kick-ass album, with a decent variety of rhythms and styles thatll hook you, keeping you listening to the album 24/7, for at least a week. If you like Evergrey, or progressive metal in general, and you dont yet have this album, get off your computer, get outside, and get to the nearest metal-selling store, and buy it (or you could order it online, I suppose.)
