Tag Archives: evergrey

Features, Tours and Festivals

Evergrey Unveils Summer 2015 Dates

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Progressive Metal fans will be excited to learn that the mighty melodic Metal power of Evergrey will be returning to our shores for a quick few dates as they set their sights on the Prog Power event in Atlanta, GA. Check out the poster below along with the posted press copy and then I will discuss a little deeper with you. There are a lot of awesome tours being announced as you can see.

Tour - Evergrey - 2015

Press Copy:
Swedish metal act Evergrey will be embarking on a North American headlining tour this summer in support of their latest release, ‘Hymns for the Broken.’ Vocalist Tom Englund said, “North American fans, I hope you are ready for this! It has been a while since we’ve been here and Evergrey is stronger than ever. I hope to see everyone on the road. You won’t want to miss it.” Supporting Evergrey are Australian prog-rock act Voyager, as well as Borealis and Oceans of Slumber. Presented by Revolver and Infinity Concerts, a list of tour dates can be found below.
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Features, PiercingMetal Says

PiercingMetal’s “Best Of” 2008: The Music

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If you have been observing the releases that came upon us during 2008 then you will agree that this was a tremendous year for Metal. We’ve noted in our editorial that it felt like the year of the comeback as much as it delivered new bands that we hope will shine far into the future. The multi-faceted genre that makes up our Metal not only delivered quality music releases but also DVD’s, Books and Concerts that left you sore and with that in mind we are lining out some of the best stuff that we felt was delivered. In this installment I will only be giving the tip of the hat to the best albums for 2008 since I liked a lot of them. Doing it like this lets us all keep a proper focus. Here we go.

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The Best Albums Of 2008:

Eluveitie “Slania” (Nuclear Blast Records): Pagan/Folk Metal of resounding proportions. I loved this one and played it quite a bit.

Meshuggah “Obzen” (Nuclear Blast Records) – Reminding us with every groove and spine crushing riff that they are one of the most powerful Metal bands on the planet. If this is news to you, then get with the program.

Journey “Revelation”(Columbia Records): New singer, new album, new versions of classic material & a DVD concert all in one package? Truly this is a standout release from the Rock legends.

Whitesnake “Good To Be Bad” (SPV Records): It’s as if no time had passed by and this CD came out after the juggernaut self-titled album from the eighties. Great work guys.

Def Leppard “Songs From The Sparkle Lounge” (Universal Music): I haven’t liked a Def Leppard album in years and was set on giving them up entirely until this one came out and showed us that they still had it in them.
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Features, PiercingMetal Says

PiercingMetal’s “Best Of 2006”: The Music

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Another exciting year in Metal music has gone by and as a member of the music press, I’m tasked with not only doing reviews here on the website but also in lining out what releases that I felt were the years very best. Initially, this post was going to feature the whole gamut of the years in terms of the music, the videos and the concerts but when my album list went on and on and on I decided to give it a post of its own to go easier on you. Let’s go.

The Best Albums Of 2006

Mercenary “The Hours That Remain” (Century Media Records): A great follow up to “11 Dreams”, this band shows that they are taking chances in Metal.

Mastodon “Blood Mountain” (Warner Brothers): Jazz Fusion Metal? I dunno, but the new Mastodon sure kicks your ass around the block.

Amorphis “Eclipse” (Nuclear Blast Records): Finnish boys return and do more good. Lots of feels on this one.

Scar Symmetry “Pitch Black Effects” (Nuclear Blast Records): Raging guitar solos, soaring clean vocals, brutal death metal growls-brilliant!

Lamb of God “Sacrament” (Epic Records): Their best yet. Future legends. The first four songs are instant classics and if you don’t find your fist in the air for this release you don’t have one. Go watch American Idol

Iron Maiden “A Matter of Life and Death” (EMI Music): Up the Irons, pure and simple. Some bad press from some people who don’t see the return to form. They are idiots.

I “Between Two Worlds” (Nuclear Blast Records): Great project from members of Immortal, Enslaved, and Gorgoroth.

Enslaved “RUUN” (Candlelight Records): The Black Metal titans get even more progressive and this is an incredible listen from start to finish

Satyricon “Now, Diabolical” (Century Media Records): More Metal needs to be like this. A resounding effort that lays waste to that which tries to come close.

Vanden Plas “Christ O” (InsideOut Music): Stunning operatic progressive metal. Their best yet! Especially the bonus track
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Music, Reviews

“Monday Morning Apocalypse” by Evergrey

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Artist: Evergrey
Title: “Monday Morning Apocalypse”
Label: InsideOut Music
Release Date: 4/6/2006
Genre: Hard Rock/Progressive Rock
Rating: 3/5

I have to be fair to the readers in starting this review by saying that I was new to the music of Evergrey. They were a band that I think I caught once or twice while being focused on other stuff and only when Iced Earth toured with them did I find myself paying attention. From there on, I became an open-minded supporter of this Melodic Hard Rock band that seemed dislike being referred to as Power Metal or Progressive. After absorbing the killer live effort of “A Night To Remember” which for the new listener is a great piece to help fill in your band blank spots I was unsure why they felt this way about those titles. Perhaps coming from their native Sweden and finding so many of those types of bands being churned out was the reasoning. Either way on their latest record “Monday Morning Apocalypse”, we find the band reaching ever further from some of their established sound and exploring new ground. While this is not a commercial album by any sense, it does have an intrinsic commercial vibe in some areas. The first being the length of the tracks on the record, as they are notably shorter than Evergrey has been apt to produce. The other key difference is the processing found on Tom Englund’s voice. He has an almost mechanized filtering on most of the songs here and while this might have been a good idea for a song or two, it did not belong on the entire record. When the albums title track begins the listening for you, there is a chance that you not realize that you are in fact listening to Evergrey. It is a killer opener and it won me over after a few listens since it keeps that heavy vibe I generally enjoy. However, only two tracks more, “Lost” comes on, and this is a track that I fear will send the bands hardcore fans to the door. It’s more like contemporary Rock than anything we are used to hearing from the band and it has a weird sing song chorus as well (“Inside out, Outside in”). This was not one of my favorite tracks but I admit that it has radio potential. Maybe the band is seeking a different audience with some of this material and this new direction is a path that they have opted to follow.
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Features, PiercingMetal Says

PiercingMetal’s “Best Of” 2005: Music – Video – Concerts

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Having only launched PiercingMetal.com in April, this list is not a super long one. However, it does feature some of the releases that we found most favorable along with the shows that we enjoyed the most. Maybe you agree with us on some so please take a look.

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The Best CD’s of 2005:
Mercenary “11 Dreams” (Century Media Records): One of the finest mixes of Metal genre to come out of Century Media records this year

Soilwork “Stabbing The Drama” (Nuclear Blast Records): This CD made a fan out of me, and is likely to do the same for you.

H.I.M. “Dark Light” (Sire Records): First official US Release and mixes elements of their previous work to a fine blend. Try this melodic gothic act out and you will not regret it.

Judas Priest “Angel Of Retribution” (Epic Records): Reunion, simple as that, they show why they are Metal Gods to this very day.

Iron Maiden “Death On the Road” (Columbia Records): The 40th live album from Iron Maiden shows up their last try and is quite enjoyable.

Korpiklaani “Voice of Wilderness” (Napalm Records): Ever hear Folk Metal? You will be a changed person when you do.

Leaves Eyes “Vinland Saga” (Napalm Records): Atmospheric Gothic Metal and this CD take you to another world.

Journey “Generations” (Independent): Anyone who stopped supporting Journey because of Steve Perry leaving is an idiot because Steve Augeri rocks. This is one of the best Rock records of the year.
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