Evergrey

Evergrey is a progressive power metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was founded in 1996 and released its debut album The Dark Discovery in 1998. Their most recent album is Torn, was released in 2008.

Lyrical themes

Evergrey's lyrics have always been of the darker sort, and the same can be said of the band's imagery. While The Dark Discovery dealt with a variety of ideas, many later albums have been concept albums, dealing with issues like self-reformation (Recreation Day), paranoia, alien abduction (In Search of Truth), child abuse, cults and religion (The Inner Circle).

Recreation Day is an album that covers many issues, ranging from death and mourning to general fear and sorrow, all of which contribute to a greater concept of re-creation of oneself. These ideas are explored from many different points of view, such as someone contemplating suicide ("As I Lie Bleeding"), mourners after a funeral ("I'm Sorry," a cover of Dilba Demirbag's hit), and dying people's looking back on their "unforgivable" sins ("Unforgivable"). "Unforgivable" also acted as a catalyst for the next album, (The Inner Circle), which dealt with the same two issues described in the song: religion and child abuse.

Recent events

On , 2006, Evergrey released their sixth studio album, Monday Morning Apocalypse. The album was produced and mixed by Sanken Sandquist and Stefan Glauman, former producers of Rammstein, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, among others. Tom S. Englund said, regarding the collaboration: "We feel honoured to work with such amazing producers. We are sure that they will succeed in making us sound better than ever before." The album debuted at #6 in Sweden.

During summer 2006, Evergrey played at many festivals throughout Europe: among others, Sweden Rock Festival, Download Festival, Arvika Festival, Masters of Rock, Storsj?yran and Sziget Festival. From to , the band toured the United States with In Flames, Nevermore and Throwdown. On they headlined Prog Power VII in Atlanta, Georgia.

On , 2006, Evergrey started a new European tour. They were supported by fellow Swedish death metal band Avatar, and they visited Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden.

Evergrey released their latest studio album, 'Torn', in September 2008, continuing with their trademark lyrical themes of desperation and despair. The bass guitar was being recorded by Tom and Henrik in the absence of a bassist, but Jari Kainulainen permanently filled the role on August 6, 2007.

On , 2008, Evergrey announced that they had signed a deal with Steamhammer/SPV. This included the release of their new album and the entire back catalogue. It also was announced that the new album, Torn, would be released early in September 2008. As the deal includes the band's entire back catalog, there is the possibility of re-releases of previous Evergrey albums with the inclusion of added bonus material.

In July 2008, Swedish/Danish band Avalanche announced that keyboardist Rikard Zander, along with In Flames bassist Peter Iwers, would make a guest appearance on their upcoming album.

Lineup

Tom S. Englund - (1996-present) vocals, guitar
Henrik Danhage - (2001-present) guitar, backing vocals
Rikard Zander - (2003-present) keyboard, backing vocals
Jonas Ekdahl - (2004-present) drums
Jari Kainulainen - (2008-present) bass

Guest musicians
Carina Kjellberg-Englund - female vocals (1996-Present)
The Gothenburg Symphonic Orchestra - string quartet (2004-2005)
Mercury Choir (of the Swedish Catholic Church) - choir (2003)

Former members
Will Chandra (1996-1998) - keyboard
Daniel N?jd (1996-1999) - bass, vocals
Dan Bronell (1996-2000) - guitar
Patrick Carlsson (1996-2003) - drums
Sven Karlsson (1999-2001) - keyboard
Christian Rehn (2001-2002) - keyboard
Michael H?kansson (1999-2006) - bass
Fredrik Larsson - (2007) bass

Discography

The Dark Discovery (1998)
Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy (1999)
In Search of Truth (2001)
Recreation Day (2003)
The Inner Circle (2004)
A Night to Remember (Gothenburg Concert CD&DVD) (2005)
Monday Morning Apocalypse (2006)
Torn (2008)