Evergrey: Monday Morning Apocalypse

Monday Morning Apocalypse marks the beginning of a new era in the career of Evergrey and will certainly alienate some of the band's older fans with its deliberately commercial production, shorter and simpler song structures, and noticeably missing synth work. Yes, this is a truly new start for Evergrey. Enlisting the services of Sanken Sandquist and Stefan Glaumann (who have previously produced bands like Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Rammstein), Evergrey sounds completely different than before on their new album. The mixing puts a distinct emphasis on the guitars, while vocalist Tom Englund's voice is sometimes excessively processed, at times killing his unique and emotive delivery. It is no secret Evergrey have forever been looking for a real producer to record and mix their albums, but perhaps, what's most important for a band should be retaining their core identity, without losing touch with who they are and what they stand for.

Comprised of mostly three-minute songs that heavily focus on crunchy guitar work, the album kicks off with the title track, which was also the first single of the record. Sadly though, Tom Englund's vocals are so processed through the verses you may find it difficult to believe this is the same guy who previously opened albums with tracks like "Solitude Within" or "The Masterplan". As with previous album starters, "Monday Morning Apocalypse" is fast-paced, energetic and ambitious, but apart from the guitar trade-off, it doesn't really have much of a lasting effect. "Unspeakable" hints at a search for darker writing, but unfortunately feels incomplete and more like a Recreation Day leftover. That said, Jonas Ekdahl is at his drumming best on this piece, building it to a solid rhythmic anchor.

"Lost" is quite possibly the worst Evergrey song to date, with an awful chorus that just doesn't seem to end ("Inside out / Going outside in ..."). This one is followed by "Obedience", the first track where you can distinctly hear Rikard Zander's piano. This song has a great riff, killer vocals, and majestic twin guitar leads that recall the best moments on Recreation Day, but this, too, is followed by an incompetent number, "The Curtain Fall". Both Englund and Danhage fire off some of their sickest speed riffs here, but the production is so lackluster that I doubt even fans of modern metal may dislike it. The guitar tone is absolutely disappointing and, despite the interesting synth sequencing in the background together with what is perhaps Hakansson's best bass playing on the album, it simply keeps "Obedience" from standing out on this disc.

The band must have realised the keys needed to be pushed up significantly in order to hold the interest of their fans circa Solitude Dominance Tragedy and In Search of Truth (both perfectly recorded and mixed by Andy LaRocque), but since their shorter and more commercial tracks would leave no room for any synth experimentation, they've simply thrown in the 1:40-minute piano instrumental "Till Dagmar", a good song but terribly out of place. Much like its counterpart, there is the mandatory piano ballad "Closure" that lets the listener enjoy Englund's magnificent vocals at their best: pure and naked. No overdubs, no processing, no anything. Just piano and Tom Englund's vocals.

With all the negative aspects mentioned, I have to give props to songs like "At a Loss for Words" and "Still in the Water". The former has a cool chorus that is reminiscent of their material on In Search of Truth, and the latter features great backing vocals by Carina, an accessible synth motif, and an exceptional lead solo that takes the duo's talents to a whole new level. The scratchy electronic sampling on the huge-sounding "The Dark I Walk You Through" and the marching drums on "I Should" are also effective, save for the lead tone. I hope by the time Evergrey releases their next album, they will have realised that they are not a pop group, and no matter how impressive their producers' resume may be, they need to hook up with someone who understands prog.

I'd never believe I'd rate Evergrey so low. But despite repeat listens, Monday Morning Apocalypse, from its strange artwork to the overwrought compositions, fails to impact me the way their previous albums have. That said, I've always believed the first three Evergrey albums were tied with a cohesive bond of progressive and melodic metal that is obviously hard to recapture now, even by Evergrey's standards. Without drummer Patrick Carlsson, it is quite unlikely Evergrey will ever release such strong albums in a row again. It was with Recreation Day where the stylistic changes in the group's sound began to happen, and while The Inner Circle was a good album in its own right, with Monday Morning Apocalypse they've opened up a brand new chapter that they surely wish to explore a bit further. Too bad I don't think they've made a wise decision.

Track Listing

1. Monday Morning Apocalypse
2. Unspeakable
3. Lost
4. Obedience
5. The Curtain Fall
6. In Remembrance
7. At a Loss for Words
8. Till Dagmar
9. Still in the Water
10. The Dark I Walk You Through
11. I Should
12. Closure

Added: July 16th 2006
Reviewer: Murat Batmaz
Score:
Related Link: Evergrey website
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Language: english

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