Monday Morning Apocalypse

For those of you unfamiliar with Evergrey, their music is heavy and dark with a lot of dramatic, progressive elements. The songs are highlighted by the powerful voice of frontman Tom Englund who frequently has a tortured or mournful tone to his singing. Those elements are all still here on this cd, but the album has taken some harsh criticism for what I consider to be a huge step forward. While the songs still possess all of those key features of the Evergrey sound, the songs themselves have been streamlined. There is less emphasis on the keyboards, and all of the songs are five minutes or less. With no long instrumental interludes the riffs and melodies are really able to take center stage. And while some of Evergrey's over-zealous fans have taken this change rather personally, I think this could potentially help the band to reach a broader audience. The music is dynamic and well played and the singing is emotional and powerful. The production is sharp and the songs themselves are fantastic. So if you haven't heard Evergrey yet, this is the perfect cd to start with and if you're already a fan ... get over it. This cd is awesome. --Scott