Monday Morning Apocalypse

(Originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com on April 8th, 2006)

I found Swedish dark melodic metallers Evergrey when I bought the previous album 'The Inner Circle', but forgot that fantastic album quite fast for some reason. Then in 2005 came 'A Night to Remember' DVD and that blew my mind for a second time. So, the wait for this album was long. Then suddenly, first samples appeared on the net. Guitars sounded bad and I blamed it on mp3s, but the samples didn't leave any real memory mark to my brain.

However, the samples didn't make me think twice about buying 'Monday Morning Apocalypse': I got it the day it was released. You can imagine my disappointment, when the bad guitar sound proved to be no fault of mp3 encoding, but the actual guitar sound of the album. For my ears, the fantastic playing of guitarists Tom S. Englund (also vocals) and Henrik Danhage, sound pretty much awful at times now, especially at harmonic parts ('The Curtain Fall' is a perfect example of this), thanks to the guitar tone, which actually is quite raw, but definitely not metal, and is also very muddy. The move was foreseeable, but the direction is totally wrong! Evergrey have utilized some very heavy and vibrating guitar tones before, but this is just too far gone. The only thing that makes it a tad more acceptable is to crank up the volume, a lot. I don't like how the guitars sound, period.

But now, about the music. Evergrey went for more straightforward output on 'The Inner Circle'. The trend continues on this album. The songs are simpler, and certainly very catchy for most of the time. I think Evergrey have simplified their music a bit too far. Well, maybe not as much as Metallica did for their "Black album", or as far as In Flames have wandered from 'The Jester Race' era. If you've gotten bored for proggier Evergrey, this might be the answer to your prayers. For this album, the band have adopted usual verse-bridge-chorus song structure more than ever before. These songs should work hellishly well live, especially first half of the album. First five songs are more aggressive and punchy, maybe the band's hardest stuff, and the rest of the album drifts to darker feelings. Guitar solos, by the way, are anything but simple, as they are reported to be "by far the most technical" by the band themselves. The keyboard work of Rikard Zander has been pushed into back. It also sounds much more usual than on previous albums. Trendy bleeps and wails are just so bloody generic, that I dropped my jaw on the floor. Mr. Zander gets a bigger spot on instrumenal 'Till Dagmar', and on the bonus 'Closure'. Drummer Jonas Ekdahl has shown he can bang 'em skins, but now also he has straightened his playing. Mr. Englung's soulful vocals are, thankfully, in full effect! Or for the most of the time, as there's some effected vocal parts here and there. In my ears, Tom is truly emotionally extensive vocalist and a sentimentalist. His voice is full of character, "Irish", as a friend of mine once commented.

For this album, the band recruited a producer, who has worked with other than metal bands. It sounds on guitars for sure. Otherwise, the sound is crystal clear. Michael Håkansson's caterwauling bass adds loads of heaviness. The songs have more stuff (vocals, effects, guitar squeals etc.) in them, than they show on first few listens, so be sure to give this some time. The cover art is very bad, the matter that's not usual at all for Evergrey. Tattoos must be shown... The lyrics include a lot of human feelings, but some of the topics aren't clear. At least this isn't a theme album.

I got to admit, that 'Monday Morning Apocalypse' has its merits, because sometimes it sounds fucking good and energetic, but on the other hand, sometimes it sounds plain boring at times during its 45 minutes (the bonus track included). A weird occurrence for sure, which is slowly turning to positive side. Be sure to listen to this at a loud volume, but also with headphones. Both'll give you a different deeper point of view. At first listens, I felt this had no songs that would enter my personal top 20 Evergrey song list, but now there's a few possible contenders: The title song, 'I Should' and most notably, 'Obedience'. 'Monday Morning Apocalypse' seems to be a grower. Good. Despite a few flaws, the band doesn't seem to be able to make mistakes. Evergrey still sound Evergrey and that's the best thing; they sound unique.

This is a prime example of a double standard. Had another band released this album it would have been more enjoyable, but for an Evergrey album it is a weak attempt. This is the first Evergrey album I would rate below 9/10 - there are about four or five songs present on their latest effort deemed worthy of such an awe-inspiring band, meaning that over half of the album is disappointing.

The below-par production is at times a lot thinner than normal - possibly due to the slight lack of atmospheric keyboards which usually dominate their songs, adding the certain density and atmosphere us fans adore. Had this weaker material released by any other band, I would find myself liking it a lot more - hence the double standard. It is not a typical Evergrey album - the songs are shorter and more linear, and only one song breaks the five minute barrier - quite unlike their normal albums.

This all sounds very negative at the moment, but let me tell you there are a few songs which are of traditional Evergrey standard - “Lost”, “Obedience” and the brilliant title track to name three. Grooves galore, these tracks are slightly less progressive than normal, though there are a lot of really good sections particularly the choruses in the title track and “Lost”. The wailing, ripping solo on “Obedience” is easily the best on the album. Unfortunately, these are all placed within the first four tracks - and nothing much happens between that and “Still in the Water” - the other highlight found towards the end of the album. This is an absolute Evergrey classic - something which this album is otherwise almost completely devoid of - female vocals, great solo, pounding drums, cool vocal effects and a solid all-round performance make this a 10/10 track.

There is also a lot less ballads - though this would usually appeal to everyday metal fans, (Dream Theater’s “Train of Thought” springs to mind), Evergrey fans know that their ballads are as good as, often better than the heavier tracks. There is usually something either very moving, or very haunting about them, especially with Tom Englund’s soulful voice soaring throughout, and this lack of ballads makes the first listen an uncomfortable one - it seems to be a bit too mainstream for the band, we usually expect a brilliant ballad after about three tracks but there is (noticeably) a much longer wait. “In Remembrance” has very interesting effects going on, but does not live up to our expectations. Thankfully, Englund’s voice has not deteriorated in the slightest on this album - it is still as magnificent as ever, which is an obvious plus.

New fans should start with any of the previous albums, my favourite being “Dark Discovery” - this should not be an introduction to the band for anyone. However, fans of the previous album “The Inner Circle” would do well to check this out, and the few (really) good tracks and Englund’s awe-inspiring vocals save this album from oblivion. A higher rating (probably around the mid-70s) would have been awarded had this been an album from a different band.

First off, Tom Englund is a genuis. No one can deny that. He has had superb song writing throughout his entire career. Be it with Evergrey or producing with the likes of Nightrage and Dragonland.

Now comes this. Monday Morning Apocalypse. Upon first listen I was told myself. " This is not fucking Evergrey, where are the astounding keys and amazing guitars from Recreation Day, where is the soaring, almost gospel like vocals?!"

The answer was simple. Tom has progressed Evergreys sound beyond what people expected, byond the norm, beyond what dynamics I though the band had. This cd is packed with emotion, agrression, beauty, you name it, this cd has it. Its nothing like any previous attempt. If I could try and sum it up more, I couldnt. Tom has exceeded my every expectation with this cd. Granted there is the rest of the band behind him. But right now Im speaking purely on song writing, and how much genuis is bestowed on Englunds musical mind.

As for the band. Flawless. Not one sour note. Not one misplaced cymbol. No fuck ups at all. The band as a whole is unbelievable. Evergrey has released 6 cd's. None of which to serious critic acclaim. This, Monday Morning Apocalypse should be, and can be the clincher to a great career. But with this release I feel as if Tom has not even begun to approach the end of his first band.

As for the songs. I like to point out two the make this cd jump from great, to phenominal. In Rememberence, and Unspeakable.

Unspeakable is just the new sound Evergrey is progressing too. Its not completely fading away from thier old style. There is still some Recreation Day on here, but a bit more upbeat, and dare I say more meloncholy than before? So much effort and success shines through on this track. This is one track you will never hit next on.

In Rememberence. Hands down, best track on the album. Not only is it the best vocal performance, but there is a nice mix of melody and chugging riffs. The drums and bass create a absolutly beautiful atmosphere. The piano is so full of emotion. YOu could sware this was in fact not metal its so expressive with so much feelings involved. Its no tear jerker but worthy of every postivie word one can think of

All in all it will take older Evergrey fans to gt used to this album. If you're new to the band liten to this first. Its simply amazing. The only reason it got a 95 was because of an instrumental. Im not a big fan of those.

The CD starts off with the title track, and man, that title track kicks ass. It’s heavy, catchy, and has some great riffs in it. After this song, the solid mid-tempo-type riffs keep coming. There is a mix that tends to evolve between the clean guitars that are present in many verses and the heavy riffs that are present in choruses. Throughout the entire album, the guitars maintain their solid balance of technicality and hookiness that one would come to expect from Evergrey. The keyboards tend to provide simple fills and accentuations rather than dominate the overall sound. This is definitely the most guitar-driven album that the band has put out to date, which is not to say that keys or progressivism don’t play a role in the music, which they do.

Lyrically, the band is as dark as they have ever been. (Big shock there, right?) This album does tend to be more personally-oriented than previous efforts that dealt with outside darkness. Of course, the album comes off like a prog-metal version of Staind. The angst is presented much more tastefully than that.

After the opener, there are two relatively softer tracks that lead into track 4, “Obedience”, which is the heaviest and most keyboard-driven cut of the album to that point. Then, the aggressiveness steps up in the form of “The Curtain Fall”. From there, the heaviness and aggressiveness of the album is mostly maintained. Throughout the course of the album, more of a low-end crunch in the music is present, which differs markedly from previous efforts like Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy and The Inner Circle. Further, after “The Curtain Fall”, the album tends to settle into mid-tempo progressive metal territory, not too dissimilar from Queensryche at times.

I hear many of the guitars tuned down as low as A in some instances. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a new dimension to the music. Englund’s vocals adjust accordingly and are as good as they have ever been.

Overall, the album is a little better than The Inner Circle, their previous work. It’s got a little more conviction to the performances, and the riffs are just as solid. It’s not as good as some of their efforts previous to that, but all in all this album is very solid.

When it comes to Evergrey, I've never really been either with or against them. They're an okay Metal band with some good songs and many forgettable ones. My initial reaction when I put on this CD was "Oh fucking hell, the guitar tone sucks".

The guitars sound extremely weak and boring, a total antithesis compared to the fat sound of "Recreation Day" and "The Inner Circle". The sound in general sounds muddy and messed up, kind of like the production on the last few In Flames albums. This is definitely the work of an incompetent Gothenburg producer.

Musically, the album picks up a bit on the second song. "Unspeakable" is a bit more up tempo, at least hindering me from falling asleep. Because make no mistake, the first track was completely redundant. This is only marginally better. The album keeps going in the same fashion, as "Lost" and "Obedience" are snoozefests. The later one actually gets going somewhat, but the aggressive vocal delivery is awful.

The problem here is that nothing really is happening. The guitar parts are generic at best, and Tom doesn't sing as inspired as he usually does. Yeah, this band is very competent. But where's the passion and sheer vitality? I've been listening to these songs for hours, and still there's nothing that really grabs me by the throat.

All in all, "Monday Morning Apocalypse" is an okay record. It's not exactly bad, but the music is just kind of there. Hardcore Evergrey fans will probably enjoy this. I crave more memorable songs and a decent guitar tone.