And ruin sets in
Where's the tears?
Where's the mourning?
Where's the confessing?
Love of Christ,
Agony of God's heart
We have sinned...
Evergrey is a Progressive Power Metal band from Sweden, established in 1995. Characterized by their dark lyrical themes, compressed (by prog standards) compositions, chugging riffs, and the instantly recognizable voice of frontman Tom S. Englund, Evergrey have gained themselves a loyal following since their emergence, although they are nowhere near as successful as some of their contemporaries.
Their first album The Dark Discovery was released to good reviews, but it was criticized by some for its poor sound quality. Thankfully, their sophomore release Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy fixed this problem, and every album since has had clear production. Their true breakthrough proved to be their third album In Search of Truth, a Concept Album about alien abductions, loosely based on Whitley Strieber's novel Communion.
Current members:
- Tom Englund - vocals, guitars (1995-present)
- Henrik Danhage - guitars (2000-2010, 2014-present)
- Rikard Zander - keyboards, backing vocals (2002–present)
- Jonas Ekdahl - drums (2003-2010, 2014-present)
- Johan Niemann - bass, backing vocals (2010–present)
Former members:
- Daniel Nojd - bass, vocals (1995-1999)
- Patrick Carlsson- drums (1995-2003)
- Dan Bronell - guitars (1995-2000)
- Will Chandra - keyboards (1995-1998)
- Michael Håkansson - bass (1999-2006)
- Sven Karlsson - keyboards (1999-2001)
- Christian Rehn - keyboards (2001-2002)
- Fredrik Larsson - bass (2006-2007)
- Jari Kainulainen - bass (2007-2010)
- Hannes Van Dahl - drums (2010-2013)
- Marcus Jidell - guitars (2010-2013)
Discography:
- The Dark Discover (1998)
- Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy (1999)
- In Search of Truth (2001)
- Recreation Day (2003)
- The Inner Circle (2004)
- Monday Morning Apocalypse (2006)
- Torn (2008)
- Glorious Collision (2011)
- Hymns for the Broken (2014)
- The Storm Within (2016)
- The Atlantic (2019)
- Escape of the Phoenix (2021)
- A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament) (2022)
- Theories of Emptiness (2024)
The band and their music provide examples of:
- Alien Abduction: The central theme for In Search of Truth. It based on Communion, a book by novelist Whitley Strieber who describes his experiences as a victim of alien abduction. Englund stated that the album is more centered on the alien abduction victim's anxiety.
- The Cameo: Floor Jansen of Nightwish, a friend of the band since marrying former drummer Hannes Van Dahl, sings on "In Orbit" and "Disconnect" on The Storm Within, including appearing in the video for the former.
- Despair Event Horizon: "Closure", in which the singer has come to believe that life has nothing more to offer, that he is not enough, that he has been in denial, and is ashamed of his life.
- Despair Speech: "When The World Goes Down".
- Gratuitous Latin: "A New Dawn" uses "Civitas diablo" in the lyrics. If the Latin is meant to mean "City of the Devil", then the correct Latin should be "Civitas diaboli".
- Grief Song: "Missing You".
- Heavy Mithril: All their albums, at least up until Glorious Collision.
- I Am the Band: Tom Englund is the founder and the sole constant member of the band.
- Lead Singer Plays Lead Guitar: Frontman Tom S. Englund plays lead guitar, sings lead, and is the principal songwriter on top of it.
- Meaningful Background Event: See the two men talking to each other in the background, within the first minute of their music video for "I'm Sorry"
? They are drummers Patrick Carlsson and Jonas Ekdahl. Their interaction shows that Ekdahl has replaced Carlsson as the drummer for Evergrey. - Metal Scream: Rarely, if ever, used. One is used in "Fragments" and "Ambassador".
- Rearrange the Song: "Trilogy of the Damned" consists of "As Light is Our Darkness", "Words Mean Nothing", and "The Shocking Truth" all stitched together as one song, and all played on the piano.
- Revolving Door Band: The band went through fifteen additional band members since 1995.
- Soprano and Gravel: Tom Englund is self-taught, and his singing voice is a slightly rough tenor. His now-ex-wife Carina Englund provided backing vocals on most of their albums through The Storm Within, the latter of which also features two duets with Floor Jansen.
