Occasionally a musician has to take a step back into the past to develop artistically. Tom Englund, guitarist and vocalist with Swedish rock group Evergrey, took this risk and reorganised his artistic environment. "The most recent Evergrey line-up had reached a point where we no longer had fun as a group," he confesses, adding: "So we went our separate ways to save our friendship. There were no angry words, and we're still friends privately."
Naturally, the decision to break up wasn't...
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Occasionally a musician has to take a step back into the past to develop artistically. Tom Englund, guitarist and vocalist with Swedish rock group Evergrey, took this risk and reorganised his artistic environment. "The most recent Evergrey line-up had reached a point where we no longer had fun as a group," he confesses, adding: "So we went our separate ways to save our friendship. There were no angry words, and we're still friends privately."
Naturally, the decision to break up wasn't easy for these long-standing friends, especially for Englund and his remaining keyboardist, Rikard Zander, for whom a continuation of Evergrey was never called into question. Yet they both had to face a new challenge: "In the beginning, we weren't sure whether we'd be able to write a new album without the wealth of experience that the previous line-up brought in. But after Rikard and I had composed a full three numbers during the first week, we felt that was a real coup."
Listeners will feel this positive energy throughout Glorious Collision, the band's eighth studio album, which is due for release on 28 February 2011 (Germany: 25 February 2011; USA/Canada: 22 February 2011) on Steamhammer/SPV. A dynamic goody bag featuring the most diverse material ever released on an Evergrey album. "This may sound like a contradiction in view of our personnel situation, but Rikard and I have allowed more influences on Glorious Collision than ever before. Some elements on Glorious Collision are classic rock, based on a metal format, sometimes the tracks are quiet and haunting, sometimes wild, demanding and gripping."
This diversity is also expressed in the instrumentation of this extremely dynamic studio production which presents the new band members Marcus Jidell (guitar), Hannes Van Dahl (drums) and Johan Niemann (bass). "It's great to hear what a breath of fresh air Marcus, Johan and Hannes have brought into the band," Englund enthuses. "Although the entire material, except for two songs to which Marcus contributed on the compositional side, had already been decided when we started recording, they all left their own, very personal mark on this album." The great experience of Jidell and Niemann, who have worked with acts such as Royal Hunt and Therion, among others, and have now contributed lots of positive energy together with the 20-year-old drummer, Van Dahl, can be felt throughout the album.
In line with the album title, you could really speak of a wonderful collision of different stylistic means, experiences and styles. The ambiguous album title refers mainly to the haunting lyrics penned by Englund. "It's about that personal struggle in life," he says, "about traumas and the inner chaos which we all feel inside ourselves. We go through a life in which situations, points of view and perspectives change all the time, we permanently encounter major collisions which we have to face." Is there a message on Glorious Collision, a kind of moral or even important lesson to be learned? "No, we don't pretend that we have something to teach other people. What we are saying is: sometimes the situation is totally different to what it appears at first sight. That's why it may be better not to judge too quickly but to allow things to sink in and make up your mind after you've weighed them up carefully."
The band's tour plans are currently also being carefully weighed up and prepared. Naturally, Evergrey are eager to return to the stage, particularly as their songs tend to develop their true intensity and vitality in their live shows. Englund: "Evergrey are and have always been a live act who earn their audience the hard way. Of course, this also applies to Glorious Collision." A European tour has been scheduled directly after the release of the album at the end of February 2011, followed by a tour of the USA and as many festival appearances as possible. Even more US shows have been planned for autumn 2011, all of them concerts likely to see glorious collisions with enthusiastic fans.
TRACKS
Leave It Behind Us * You * Wrong * Frozen * Restoring The Loss * To Fit The Mold * Out Of Reach * The Phantom Letters * The Disease ... * It Comes From Within * Free * I´m Drowning Alone * ... And The Distance * ... And The Distance (Carina Bonustrack)
DISCOGRAPHY
THE DARK DISCOVERY (1998)
SOLITUDE DOMINANCE TRAGEDY (2000)
IN SEARCH OF TRUTH (2001)
RECREATION DAY (2003)
THE INNER CIRCLE (2004)
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (DVD & CD, 2005)
MONDAY MORNING APOCALYPSE (2006)
TORN (2008)
New: GLORIOUS COLLISION (2011)
Domestic
