evergrey

Evergrey is a Metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was founded in 1996 and released its debut album The Dark Discovery in 1998. Their most recent album is Monday Morning Apocalypse, released in 2006.

Lyrical themes

Evergrey's lyrics have always been of the darker sort. The same can be said of the band's imagery. While The Dark Discovery dealt with a variety of ideas, later albums have been concept albums, dealing with issues like self-reformation (Recreation Day), paranoia, alien abduction (In Search of Truth), child abuse, cults and religion (The Inner Circle).

Recreation Day is an album that covers many issues, ranging from death and mourning to general fear and sorrow, all of which contribute to a greater concept of re-creation of oneself. These ideas are explored from many different points of view, such as someone contemplating suicide ("As I Lie Bleeding"), mourners after a funeral ("I'm Sorry," a cover of Dilba Demirbag's hit), and dying people's looking back on their "unforgivable" sins ("Unforgivable Sin"). "Unforgivable Sin" also acted as a catalyst for the next album, (The Inner Circle), which dealt with the same two issues described in the song: religion and child abuse.

Recent events

On April 4, 2006, Evergrey released their sixth studio album, Monday Morning Apocalypse. The album was produced and mixed by Sanken Sandquist and Stefan Glauman, former producers of Rammstein, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, among others. Tom S. Englund said, regarding the collaboration: "We feel honoured to work with such amazing producers. We are sure that they will succeed in making us sound better than ever before". The album debuted at #6 in Sweden.

During summer 2006, Evergrey played at many festivals throughout Europe: among others, Sweden Rock Festival, Download Festival, Arvika Festival, Masters of Rock, Storsjöyran and Sziget Festival. From May 5 to May 30, the band toured the United States with In Flames, Nevermore and Throwdown. On September 15 they headlined Prog Power VII in Atlanta, Georgia.

On October 24, 2006, Evergrey started a new European tour. They were supported by fellow Swedish death metal band Avatar, and they visited Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden.

Evergrey have recently returned to their rehearsal studios to prepare their next studio album. The new album is currently being recorded and is expected to be released before Christmas 2007. The bass guitar was being recorded by Tom and Henrik in the absence of a bassist, but as of August 6, 2007, Jari Kainulainen will permanently fill the role.

Lineup

• Tom S. Englund - vocals/guitar
• Henrik Danhage - guitar/backing vocals
• Rikard Zander - keyboard/backing vocals
• Jonas Ekdahl - drums
• Jari Kainulainen - bass

Guest musicians

• Carina Kjellberg-Englund - female vocals (1996-Present)
• The Gothenburg Symphonic Orchestra - string quartet (2004-2005)
• Mercury Choir - choir (2003)

Former members

• Will Chandra (1996-1998) - keyboard
• Daniel Nöjd (1996-1999) - bass/vocals
• Dan Bronell (1996-2000) - guitar
• Patrick Carlsson (1996-2003) - drums
• Sven Karlsson (1999-2001) - keyboard
• Christian Rehn (2001-2002) - keyboard
• Michael Håkansson (1999-2006) - bass
• Fredrik Larsson - (2007) bass

Discography

• The Dark Discovery (1998)
• Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy (1999)
• In Search of Truth (2001)
• Recreation Day (2003)
• The Inner Circle (2004)
• A Night to Remember (Gothenburg Concert CD&DVD) (2005)
• Monday Morning Apocalypse (2006)