In Search of Truth is probably at the pinnacle of the continuing saga of melodic, late 80s style, Euro-metal evolution. And simply, it's got good songs for old metal fans like me. But first I want to fill you in on what I have been doing in my recent absence from the internet­­ - been going to graphic design school and studying type. More specifically the nuances of typography and design that helps text look better, flow better, letting the reader of books, magazines and the like experience the beauty of the author's writing sans frivolous and stylistic distractions. Rhythm, balance, kerning, leading, white space and other such do's and dont's needed to let it all breath. Flow. Retain interest. Retain the romance of the intermediate response.

So as you know, I look for analogies in life and see the same here in Evergrey. Their first album is just rolling thunder. Their second is a mysterious fog. Captivating yes - but still a fog. Evergrey's latest, In Search of the Truth, while it has its faults (and I'll get to them in a moment), speaks CLARITY. My way of describing "clarity" is this: Whole notes into half notes, into quarter and then eights-The playing is steady. The passages let my ears hear Evergrey's singular biography flow through even though there is that overshadowing "Evergrey reverb" throughout. Yet nothing's out of tune. Nothing condensed and stiffling. I'm not stopped, all knocked out of my trance of unraveling this music in my head. Heaviness is measured out keenly like a technical Individual Thought Patterns. Melody flows like the suave, Italian progressive metal of the latest Madsword. Wow, who's improved their guitar playing? It just comes out of nowhere like a custom Eddie Van Halen. In Solitude Dominance Tragedy I know the guys could shred but who hears them? And the new keyboardist adds his Dream Theater stylings to make this have a full Vanden Plas sound. In my mind Evergrey has taken the place of Conception as the top in its category. Also the vocalist: Tom Englund's blues melody rolls off his throat and into our ears like mamma calling out dinner. Its what you call "familiarity." Soothing. Graham Bonnet, David Coverdale, that fat Meat Loaf dude, even Huey Lewis and the News.

A few things keep this from being exemplary. On Tom's soothing vocal melody: there's some good catch here and there. I like them alot. But overall, its undiversified. After awhile I wonder if I'm on the same song at the beginning of the album when I'm really at the end. Tom sings well in his range but with no extremes. And the special effects voice early and late in the album add that extra oompf that could be a little more interesting yet they are too far apart in the album. Needs a little more spread out. The album is top heavy with the last few songs anti-climatic. They just end. Or seem like they're gonna end but don't and then they die. Whatever. This gets the score of 3.0 because of the above and because I'm anti- "been there done that." Yet its better than average because it's got solid stuff and memorable stuff..

Score 3/5

/author/ Alzn