I’ve always liked Evergrey. But I’ll admit they’ve been kind of hit or miss with me. The Inner Circle was my first exposure to them and what an incredible album that was/is. It has remained my favorite of theirs all these years later. Until now… But first, I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for all things beach/ocean related. So this one seemed right up my alley from the start. But that takes backseat to what they’ve brought to the table with this release.

While I liked the last album, The Storm Within, I didn’t fully love it. This time around, the band has realized something that I didn’t realize I had been hoping for. An excellent amalgamation of old and new Evergrey. Like if they combined Inner Circle/Recreation Day Evergrey with Storm Evergrey. And it works.

With A Silent Arc, we start things off right with a grindy, djenty riff that chugs with appropriate heaviness and then flows into a melodic and catchy chorus. I’ll repeat that phrase in this review as this album is full of them. I kept finding myself wanting to sing along with that chorus. The sense of sadness is still there in the tone of the music, so don’t worry about that! And a funny thing here… when i imported the promo to my player, the tracks got out of order and this one was last. And I must say, it seems to work a lot better there than being the lead in track. Try it this way and let me know what you think.

Weightless cranks back in with the metal (god, the groove on this one) and then dialing it back for the verses. Aaannndddd we have another chorus that’s catchy as hell with the music propelling you along like you’re flying (sailing?) to your destination. I love this track. And it would work great as the opener, which is perfect because, like I said, the opener would work better as the closer. To me anyway.

We hit our first “ballad” with All I Have. Full of emotion. Still heavy. Between the subject and the composition, this song is a bit emotionally draining.

The riffage rips back in again with some heavy chugging in A Secret Atlantis. The pre-chorus here is actually a bit catchier than the chorus. The harmonies on this album are fantastic. There are some samples on this one, but I can’t tell what they are. First ones I have ran into like that so far?

Between Atlantis and Silence, we get a nice little ambient piece ala daft punk with The Tidal. I dig it. And End of Silence is a great track that invokes classic Evergrey. Especially that chorus. Love it.

Currents brings us yet another great sing a along chorus. The jangly, metallic bass line adds that extra something to the low end. Again, classic Evergrey.  And then Departure follows it with a beautiful ballad, while the Beacon gives us a great mid-tempo rocker.

This Ocean ends the album and tears back into the cinematic grind. And yep! Another chorus that will have you singing along.

And here is where I think A Silent Arc works better. You get a moment of silence after This Ocean and then some ominous radar pings like there is an impending battle about to take place. And the song itself ends like it wants to close an album.

Anyway…holy crap, what a ride. The crew still have it in them. If you’ve been on the fence about them or felt you haven’t really gotten into them in a long time, do yourself a favor and check this one out.

Excellent production on this one too, I might add.

Joining Tom once again are:  Henrik Danhage (guitar), Johan Niemann (bass), Jonas Ekdahl (drums) and Rikard Zander (keyboards). The same cast and crew from the The Storm Within.

Rating: Holy Moly Pastroli!

Tracklisting:

01. A Silent Arc

02. Weightless

03. All I Have

04. A Secret Atlantis

05. The Tidal

06. End Of Silence

07. Currents

08. Departure

09. The Beacon

10. This Ocean

What I feel the tracklisting should be:

01. Weightless

02. All I Have

03. A Secret Atlantis

04. The Tidal

05. End Of Silence

06. Currents

07. Departure

08. The Beacon

09. This Ocean

10. A Silent Arc

Label: AFM Records

Release Date: January 25th, 2019

Website: http://www.evergrey.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Evergrey/