Evergrey - Solitude Dominance Tragedy

The sophomore album from these Swedish dudes was hyped as one of the best new progpower releases. Well, to make it short, it's good but not great. The best thing about this album is a totally fresh sound, combining very upfront sounding keys and orchestrations and a muscular guitar sound. Excellent production by Andy Laroque (King Diamond) helps a lot. The orchestrations also sound different from the type used by bands like Angra and Rhapsody making for a very original dark/Gothic mood. Guitars are played well but not virtuosic and rarely grab with a soaring solo. Both rhythms and leads are sometimes a bit too winding for the own good, instead of something simple but catchy. More often though, they are just not very memorable. The rhythm guitars sound very nice with very tasty crunchiness. Where this album eventually falters is the vocal department. The singer/guitarist has a gruff emotional voice that works pretty well. However, it sounds better on the more aggressive uptempo material and deficient on the slower tunes. And there are quite a few slow and midtempo tunes here.

The first few songs are the best. "Solitude within" has a great heavy crunch back bone and the most interesting lead on the album. "Nosferatu" has a great female-sung chorus. A few following songs have spoken-word parts that sound out-of-place. "The Shocking Truth" tells a story of alien abduction in a not so-original way. "Words mean nothing" is a keys and vocal only song that is not bad, but again reminds of the vocal limitations. Too many other songs are performed well but lack an interesting melody. A decent disc that could have easily been great with more memorable songs and a great vocalist. The latter is not likely to happen because the singer happens to be the band's leader. But the style is very interesting and original and if the band would come up with more great songs tailored to the singer's voice, that would be a top-notch album. The band participated in the Tribute to Yngwie Malmsteen-Guitar Odyssey, contributing a ripping version of "Rising Force" that the band posted on their official site. (Hint: now, that was a well-written and catchy tune).

Rating - 7.9
By Steven
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