Artist: Evergrey
Label: Gothenburg Noiseworks
Release Date: 1998
Rating: 5 Skulls
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Title: The Dark Discovery Artist: Evergrey Label: Gothenburg Noiseworks Release Date: 1998
Rating: 5 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Solomon:
The Dark Discovery is not an obvious contemporary metal classic, as you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who is aware of its existence to begin with. As a band, Evergrey have recently become quite visible in the metal scene and built a reputation as a top-notch, prog/power metal act. This native Swedish act have carved out their own niche, taking the best elements of metal and fusing them together into a sound that is at once both familiar and distinguishable from the pack. Main man Tom Englund has turned away from both the typical "throat of death" and high-pitched wail of power/80's metal and pursued a smoother, mid-ranged vocal style exclusively throughout the band's catalog. The band's music touches upon progressive, power and gothic elements, employing keyboards and female vocals along the way with great taste and effectiveness. This could almost be called "romantic" metal. The guitar lines certainly remind one of the melodic death meanderings that are commonplace now, but they are not typical In Flames or COB rip-offs, probably coming closer to an updated-traditional (for lack of a better term) vibe comparable to Nevermore or Morgana LaFay. Albums such as In Search of Truth and this year's Recreation Day have benefited from better production values, bigger labels and better press, but this 1998 release is where it all started and could be argued to be the best of the bunch.Song-wise, albums tend to have their high and low points, a few winners mixed in with a few "so-so" tracks and maybe some real stinkers. I have favorites on this one as well, but the song craft on The Dark Discovery is consistently solid from opener "Blackened Dawn" to the finale "To Hope Is To Fear." This collection almost reminds me of Metallica's early output, in that there's one chunky, powerful, rhythmic, wup-ass part after another. Combine this sort of masterful playing with Englund's viable pipes and a generally dreary, melancholic attitude throughout and you've got a superb metal album of the highest order. On the one hand, you could accuse the band of being rather repetitious in style, but everything here is of such high quality there's really no reason to argue against it. The hard, edgy, start-and-stop head-beating of "December 26th," "Shadowed" and "When The River Calls" are points of maximum metal greatness. "For Every Tear That Falls" is a decent ballad, although I prefer the more "naked" emotion of Englund's voice and acoustic guitar accompaniment in "As Light Is Our Darkness." From what I hear, Evergrey don't draw much live material from this album, which is a terrible shame (hint!!).
Would I go so far as to call The Dark Discovery one of the best metal albums of the 90's? Yes, I would, and anyone who fancies anything in the prog or power direction should wait no longer and make this a permanent part of their collection.
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