Thought it literally seems like "forever", my copy of Torn finally arrived this last Friday. In a way, waiting for this album was a very different experience from how I felt about Monday Morning Apocalypse. So...perhaps I should put things in context.
I've been listening to Everygrey since the In Search of Truth album (which blew me away the very first time that I listened to it). The Recreation Day release served to cement me into Evergrey's fan base and I picked up the SDT and TDD CDs in short order. It was the Inner Circle album that really colored how I listen to Evergrey. For reasons that I don't understand, that album really had an impact on me...which was strongly reinforced by the A Night to Remember CD and DVD sets. It would probably be accurate to say that, for me, A Night to Remember is my favorite Evergrey release. Was it the live chemistry of the band and the audience? Maybe it was the song selection. Frankly, a very big part of it was Tom's singing. I really liked how his voice sounded live...kind of "deeper" and more "raw" than the studio albums.
To say that Evergrey is phenomenal live is an understatement. I saw them live a couple of years ago with In Flames and Nevermore and they absolutely killed. During that show, they were kind enough to play a couple of tracks from MMA. After all that, I had very high expectations for the MMA release.
While I do enjoy Monday Morning Apocalpyse, it didn't really reach me. Had I not heard all the other albums before, I probably would have been blown away. MMA was a fairly sharp let down from the previous material.
Through the Evergrey web site and the internet, I caught little snippets of Torn; even those tiny glimpses got my blood moving. So I hoped that Torn would be a return to the kind of darkly unique Evergrey music that I've come to love.
So when I finally got my copy of Torn, I could NOT wait to listen to it. Torn met every one of my expectations and much, much more.
Seconds into Broken Wings, I knew that Torn was going to kick my ass. The opening riff to Fear should go down in music history as the most outrageously fire-breathing guitar riff in metal. Total flame thrower
Fear really illustrates the tremendous rhythmic experience that Torn provides the listener. Evergrey has always had MONSTEROUS riffs...but it may be that Torn is even more rhythmically ferocious than any of the other EG releases. These Scars is another example of just how high Evergrey are setting the bar for what qualifies as a "GREAT metal riff". Torn is such a GREAT album that it's a little overwhelming. The songwriting is PERFECT. Different from their previous albums only in the sense that EG is pushing things
further.
Tom Englund is an interesting musician...a guitarist first...that became one of the GREATEST metal vocalists ever. The only thing that I can say is that I'd like to hear the vocals on the next album sound "deeper" and more like ANTR. Relative to Tom and Henrik's guitar playing; the lead guitar is very good...though, I'd have to say that I liked the ISOT era a little better. Drums are throttling...pounding...brilliant; Jonas is a fantastically talented musician. And now for the bass. I've been listening to Jari for a long, long time (I'm a Strato fan from ages ago). He's a definite metal head and I'm very impressed with his playing on this album. I didn't realize that he could groove so well. Still, I'd prefer Mike...but we can't turn the clock back and if I have to have a different bassist, Jari is a killer. Ok...notice that I missed something? Ok, I actually missed a bunch of things...but I'm specifically referring to the keys. Hey Rik! TURN IT UP A BIT. You are a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant musician...and I can't hear you enough. You are in there...but too hard to hear without headphones. Is that rhythmic volcano a little hard to cut through? Sounds like it. Since we know the studio and the producer in this case, a request to Tom: Turn Rikard up more often.
Torn is an unbelievable album. Lyrically, I enjoy this album more than any other EG release. The tone/sound of the rhythm guitars is the best of any release so far (I can't imagine them getting better, but EG is a surprising band). The rhythmic interaction between Tom, Henrik and the team of Jonas and Jari is inspiring. For metal guitarists, Torn should go down in history as a "DESERT ISLAND DISC".
EVERGREY has released a historically brilliant album with Torn. I think that I've used the word "brilliant" often enough in writing this that I need to go find some Guiness. Cheers!
