The Storm Within

So, here they are again. Only two years after their previous release, the Swedish group that likes it depressive but understands it's still supposed to rock sometimes (which rules out Katatonia) brings us their new selection of sadly hopeful, hopefully sad melodic anthems manufactured for radio play, but this time, something changed, and instead of a dark AOR infused with barebones metal sans the speed, the riffs once again take the lead and the momentum is soon to follow. Yes, The Storm Within finds modern Evergrey starting to wake up from their self-inflicted torpor. With predecessor Hymns For the Broken, also competently mixed (if a tad too compressed) by Jacob Hansen, I sat through it maybe three or four times only to leave with the impression that it was a good effort brought down not so much by the quirks inherent to their niche, but by filler and lack of pace. "Hymns..." is somberer and much more plodding, even though a couple emotive hooks help the listener to escape the midpaced sullenness. "Storm...", on the other hand, has the propulsion I found so lacking in the former while sacrificing some staying power to appease fans of the group's more accessible, ballad-loving side; aside from Henrik Danhage's constantly stellar lead work, tracks like "Someday" and "Astray" barely register at all, while its ballads and the title track feel overstretched beyond welcome.

That being said, this is mostly made of fine midpaced-to-fast rockers paired with some brisker tunes to show those nasty naysayers that these guys can still riff, all of it surrounding and being surrounded by the love-it-or-hate-it voice of Tom Englund, who, as per tradition, sounds in deep distress due to God knows what. Let it never be said that Evergrey are unable to elicit an emotional response from their listeners, for no other band can make me want to hug a 6'5 Swedish fellow, maybe buy him a coffee and tell him "everything's gonna be ok, man". Next time I'm at quaint, rainy Gothenburg, I'll be sure to analyze the contents of their tap water to find out if it's laced with prohibitive quantities of anti-depressants which induced a rebound effect on the entire populace around the mid-to-late 90's, causing some of those folks to start moping uncontrollably for years on end. I may be murdered by In Flames for unveiling the secret of how they stayed afloat after Clayman, but truth should know no boundaries.

But I digress, so let's talk about good ol' Tom, whose tone is enjoyable when he's not crying too much, even though his range has diminished over the years, pushing the man to work around a tighter framework which he doesn't seem to be able to pull many different ideas from. This, in turn, results in melodies that ring similar, among other assorted traps of vocal arrangement. I can't, for instance, shake the feeling that some verse lines for "The Lonely Monarch" seem recorded at a weird tempo, and while listening to his singing in "Passing Through" or "My Allied Ocean", I'm reminded of Hetfield's riffs; emotional and identifiable, surely, but also cyclical to a fault and lacking in surprises and twists. I could expect this lack of finesse coming from a newbie band's second EP, not so much from a seasoned vocalist who's no stranger to pulling off simple and catchy warbling, as in the chorus of "The Masterplan". As it stands, the most attention-grabbing vocals on this album are, for two tracks, courtesy of Nightwish's Floor Jansen, who steals the scene from the first second she's on "In Orbit". I'd extend the same compliment to Carina Englund's soothing pipes if they weren't wasted on a throwaway ballad.

Concerning stringed instruments, The Storm Within gains much from these friendly chaps remembering that there's more to rhythm guitar playing than power chords and "The Englund Riff" (the syncopated, Pantera-inspired, palm-muted one note groove present in nearly every album). "The Lonely Monarch", "Disconnect" and especially "My Allied Ocean" made me doubt if this was really an Evergrey record, given their lively, energetic and largely unstilted riffsets. Alongside a tight drumming performance and tasteful keyboard arrangements, and we have a winning formula they could have replicated more often for a truly memorable experience.

Despite being a far-cry from their prog-power roots, The Storm Within is a step forward, seeing Evergrey reconnect with some of the energy and drive from their earlier outputs and linking it to their modern anthemic musings. Skip the balladry and work your way around the constantly melodramatic lyrics, and you'll find in this a fine accessible melodic metal album for the yearning masses.

[Edit: typos]