Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Everygrey - Monday Morning Apocalypse - 2006 - Inside Out Music

Track Listing 1.Monday Morning Apocalypse 2.Unspeakable 3.Lost 4.Obedience 5.The Curtain Fall 6.In Remembrance 7.At Loss For Words 8.Til Dagmar 9.Still In The Water 10.The Dark I Walk You Through 11.I should 12.Closure

If “Monday Morning Apocalypse” the latest offering from Sweden’s Evergrey, is a prediction of things to come from this quintet, then “komma med den på och komma med den på snabbt” (bring it on and bring it quickly). For the uninitiated, Everygrey, Sweden’s progressive metal ambassadors, have generally steeped themselves in the darker side, lyrically and musically and while the title of this latest release may be contradictory, “Monday Morning Apocalypse”, is less dark but no less impactful; it is a perfect molten meld of progressive metal and radio friendly metal. The result could be a walk through the mainstream for the band that has no less integrity. If you need a comparison-imagine the first time you heard Master of Puppets.

The band has tapped into a deeper approach to composition, layered in kicking hooks and the result is a cd that feels like a hit in the making. Formed in 1996, Everygrey has gone through the requisite member changes and resulting impacts on their music, but “Monday Morning Apocalypse” executes the current lineup’s ability to all come to the “recording table” with a singular vision. The album was produced and mixed by Sanken Sandquist and Stefan Glauman, former producers of Rammstein, Bon Jovi and Def Leppard among others and perhaps explains the slight departure from the feel that former releases like “The Dark Discovery” gave listeners.

Members Tom S. Englund, Rikard Zander, Henrik Danhage, Fredrik Larsson and Jonas Ekdahl have formed a synchronicity that packs the entire cd with one powerhouse, stadium frenzy inducing tune after another, with the occasional ballad to cleanse the palate. Proof? Debuted at number 6 on the Swedish charts. Further proof? It is difficult to single out any particular weakness in any of the tracks or the cd as a whole. Admittedly, some tracks are more unforgettable than others but overall the cd comes across as a solid and highly seasoned release.

There are a few comparatives…Danhage’s guitar work is reminiscent of Zakke Wylde’s early Ozzy days and Englund’s voice is a “whiskey a go go “ remedy for the weak lyrical offerings too often found in Sweden’s metal imports. Think of him as Sweden’s answer to Meatloaf without the operatic range level…and it’s his voice that is at times raspy and others honeyed that is the defining difference that sets Everygrey apart. Most notable tracks are “Unspeakable”, “Lost” and “The Dark I Walk You Through” but overall “Monday Morning Apocalypse” is a cd that doesn’t require you to ever use your “skip track” button. Currently in the studio again, word has it that the new album is set to be released in May of 2007 and if it builds on the dimensions of this cd, one would hope the days move fast.


--Strutter 02.19.07