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BACK
 EVERGREY
– Strength through Growth
By Adrian ‘The Energizer’ Bromley
NET-only
Sometimes things happen to bands that are beyond their control.
Labels fold, bands breakup or albums don’t sell. Evergrey vocalist/guitarist
Tom S. Englund is aware of all that could happen.
As you’ll soon read, he has gotten past an obstacle with his
band to create a magnificent new album titled In Search Of Truth
(on Inside Out Music America), an album that has achieved critical
acclaim since its release in September.
"The way this record came together is a bit different than
how the last album (2000’s Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy) came
together," starts Englund. "The last record we had about
a year and a half to write and record. That wasn’t the case
here. Our old guitar player left last October and we needed to find
a new one fast. We were in an unusual position and needed to fix
the situation so that we could carry on quick. We were booked in
the studio in January and needed to write an album. We found our
new guitarist Henrik Danhage rather quick, so we quickly wrote the
new album in about a month and a half.
"With this new disc, we never really had time to sit down and
stop for a while and listen to the material before we needed to
record it. We have always been very accurate with what we wanted
to do and what we were taking in the studio. This felt very weird
not being as prepared as usual. This is probably the first time
that I will hear my album as a fan of the music. We didn’t
know how it would all end up."
And what was the band -- rounded out by drummer Patrick Carlsson,
new keyboardist Chris Rehn and bassist Michael Håkansson --
reaction to the final product?
"We didn’t know what to think," quips the singer.
"It was so uncertain for us really. We didn’t know if
we had made a good record or a bad record. After we got a few record
reviews in from the European press, we knew we had done something
right."
Seeing that the band has evolved musically and as a band (drummer
Patrick Carlsson and Englund are the only two original members left
since their inception) over the years, was their something the band
wanted to try to do with In Search Of Truth that they hadn’t
done before? Or was the band rushed? Englund answers: "We didn’t
really do anything different than what we normally try to do in
the studio. The main thing for us as a band is that we don’t
want our music to suffer in the studio. We want to achieve a lot
of great things but not overdue it. A lot of bands do that and we
know how far we can take material before we need to go onto something
else. I think that is one of our great attributes as a band: that
we focus on making sure we don’t let the music suffer once
it comes into a final production.
"While I admit I like to create and make music with Evergrey,
I really hate the studio work," acknowledges Englund about
time in the studio. "I like it for a couple of weeks at a time,
but after that it starts to become real stressful as you put more
hours into the studio time."
In Search Of Truth is no doubt one of the best records of the year.
I, among a lot of other music critics, are raving about the powerful
delivery of the band with this concept record. Unlike the work on
Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy or their debut (1998’s The Dark
Discovery), the band has grown ten-fold with their music on the
new album, delivering epic-like passages bound by wicked harmonies,
stellar keyboard work and monstrous guitar riffs/solos. How does
Englund feel about all of this attention for In Search Of Truth?
"It is really getting quite ridiculous," laughs Englund.
"Each album that we have put out has received a good response,
this one just seems to be on a much grander scale. It feels stupid
to say that we are getting used to the attention, but we are. We
don’t know how to make a bad album yet for Evergrey, and I
don’t mean to sound like an asshole when I say that. We are
very humble about what we have done. What I mean is that we have
never put out something that we are not happy with, or people have
hated. We don’t know that experience yet and we hope we never
have to."
And where did the whole concept of alien abduction come from for
In Search Of Truth?
"I read a book called ‘Abducted’ by Whitley Strieber
and that really influenced me. The book came out in the late 80s
and sold really well over here. I took his story and kind of added
a personal side to it, the character’s fears and emotions and
the darker side of being alone."
He continues, "It is very hard to do a concept record and keep
the story interesting for both yourself and the fans as well. I
really didn’t have to prepare much for the theme of this record
as I collect a lot of documentaries about alien abductions and I
have several shelves of books on this subject too. I had a lot of
this in my head already."
Are you an X-Files fan?
"I used to be. I think the show lost track from the way the
show started off and has gone off down to other areas and changed
the show quite a bit. I still watch it, but not so much as I did
when it first started on TV."
Like many bands out their trying to make a dent in the metal scene,
Evergrey has worked hard at reaching their current state of success.
Did Englund ever think when the band started that they would be
in the spotlight as they are now?
"Absolutely," he says enthusiastically. "We have
worked hard for many years and I knew when this band started we
would be a success. I know this sounds cocky, but I am a determined
person and it was just a matter of time before I reached it with
Evergrey.
"I think a lot of people like what we do because we have always
played our music with a lot of sincerity. You can just hear it in
what we do. Regardless of each record being different from one another,
the thread of sincerity is there," he says. "We always
make sure that we are really happy with what we create. We make
an effort to let our emotions come out in what we do. People just
seem to connect to the fact that we make an effort to make Evergrey
be powerful, emotion and sounding good."
He ends, "We don’t just put on this image and go out there
and play music to be successful or win over fans. Evergrey is who
we are as people and we just like he fact that we can be ourselves
and have people get excited with our music. We still get excited
when we play our music. It hasn’t faded yet."
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