Evergrey

Evergrey is a progressive metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was founded in 1996 and released its debut album The Dark Discovery in 1998. Evergrey's lyrics have always been of the darker sort. While The Dark Discovery dealt with a variety of ideas, later albums have been concept albums, dealing with issues like self-reformation (Recreation Day), paranoia, alien abduction (In Search of Truth), child abuse, 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 Here Bleeding"), mourners after a funeral ("I'm Sorry," a cover of Dilba Demirbag's hit) and dying priests looking back on their "unforgivable" sins (molestation) ("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. All releases so far: * The Dark Discovery (1998) * Solitude • Dominance • Tragedy (1999) * In Search of Truth (2001) * I'm Sorry (rare single, 2003) * Recreation Day (2003) * The Inner Circle (2004) * A Night To Remember (live CD/DVD, 2005) * Monday Morning Apocalypse (both single and album, 2006) * Torn (2008) For decades, Sweden has continued to produce the top names in heavy metal, regardless of sub-genre. Although debuting back in '98, this Gothenburg outfit is only now receiving the international acclaim due them. Molding the various pedigrees of their countrymen into one distinctive sound: supreme musicianship prized by perfectionists, yet intense enough to win the blackened hearts of those more primordial, EVERGREY offer fans something truly different. In these days of paint-by-numbers releases, where everyone mimics the elite purveyors of a particular style, EVERGREY's music is something unique. Reviewers, and fans alike, typically use other bands as a reference point when discussing music. On July 25th, 2006, Michael Håkansson has decided to part ways with Evergrey. The new bass player will be the band's long-time friend Fredrik Larsson (Hammerfall). Michael left on good terms with the band stating that he wanted to do his own thing musically. In June of 2007, Fredrik Larsson decided to leave Evergrey to rejoin Hammerfall. The new bass player is Jari Kainulainen (ex-Stratovarius). The band has decided that it is the time for some changes. As they wrote at their official webpage: "Thomas and Rikard have together with Henrik and Jonas made the mutual decision that it was best for all that they leave Evergrey. They wanted to and the rest wanted them to. The last tours, recordings and just hanging with each other has not been as fun and giving as earlier AND before it would go too far, resulting in a collision in between friends, which could ruin everything we have built up during the years, they decided to call it quits" Actually, Tom Englund (voice,guitar) & Rikard Zander (keyboards) stay in the band as a core members. New members: Marcus Jidell (Royal Hunt) on Guitars Johan Niemann (ex-Therion, Mind’s Eye) on Bass Hannes Van Dahl on Drums