EVERGREY "TORN" -- THOUGHTS?

[Azrael LenGraden]

2008-10-09 Sweden Rock Cruise. between Sweden and Finland
2008-10-10 Sweden Rock Cruise. between Sweden and Finland
2008-10-17 Warsaw Poland - Bemowo Park Amfitheater
2008-10-31 Nordic Rage Festival, Boden. Sweden
2008-11-22 GG, Uddevalla. Sweden
2008-12-05 Västerås - Evergrey Headline
2008-12-16 HOVET Stockholm - Evergrey supporting Whitesnake
2008-12-17 Scandinavium - Evergrey supporting Whitesnake

 

[edgeofthorns]

Sounds like a billing Glenn would do (and have a hard time containing himself at).

No kidding!

~Brian~

 

[SharkBlack]

I am loving Torn! I was so dissapointed with MMA! Good to see them actually putting in the effort again.

 

[PurpleCrayonWriter]

Torn is one of those albums that took me a long time to get into.

My impression of it now is much improved from when I first played it.

But I think I know why.

I recently got into a bunch of bands that really excited the hell out of me, stuff like:

Seventh Wonder
Venturia
Falconer

For some reason, the latest albums from those bands really did it for me. So when I popped Torn into my CD player -- in between the other albums -- it didn't seem to be as exciting. It may just have been that the "newness" of the latest albums from Seventh Wonder and Venturia was dampening my experience listening to Torn.

Whatever.

I like Torn a lot more now. But it took me a few weeks of listening.

I still don't like it as much as, say, Sabaton's The Art of War or Seventh Wonder's Mercy Falls. But it's a solid album. And much, much better than MMA.

Bill

 

[Taliwakker]

Torn is one of those albums that took me a long time to get into.

My impression of it now is much improved from when I first played it.

But I think I know why.

I recently got into a bunch of bands that really excited the hell out of me, stuff like:

Seventh Wonder
Venturia
Falconer

For some reason, the latest albums from those bands really did it for me. So when I popped Torn into my CD player -- in between the other albums -- it didn't seem to be as exciting. It may just have been that the "newness" of the latest albums from Seventh Wonder and Venturia was dampening my experience listening to Torn.

Whatever.

I like Torn a lot more now. But it took me a few weeks of listening.

I still don't like it as much as, say, Sabaton's The Art of War or Seventh Wonder's Mercy Falls. But it's a solid album. And much, much better than MMA.

Bill

Seventh Wonder's 'Mercy Falls' has dampened my listening experience to pretty much everything i have purchased after it this year. Bastards

 

[General Zod]

What's missing?

Ironically, I'd say the problem is, nothing is missing. It has the exact same ingredients, in the same abundance, as previous releases. Consequently, everything on this disc sounds one release less fresh than previous discs. Evergrey's sound is so identifiable (between Tom's unique voice and the trademark palm-muted riffing) that it begins to sound quite samey after a while. However, if there is one thing that is missing, it's the great song. There's a lot of strong material here. A lot of solid jabs and strong body blows. But this disc seems to lack a song that's a clear knock out punch. That said, I think this disc is infinitely better than MMA and it at least represents a return to a style I enjoy.

Zod

 

[PurpleCrayonWriter]

...if there is one thing that is missing, it's the great song.

Zod

Now that you mention it...

Yeah.

All songs are equally good. They're all easily identifiable as Evergrey. But no one song knocked me on my ass. I didn't reach for Repeat any time during this disc. I didn't make my wife sit down when she got from from work by saying, "You need to hear this!" (I did that with Mercy Falls from Seventh Wonder, The Art of War from Sabaton, and even the first Pathosray album.)

It was all, "Meh." Which is to say, good. Perhaps even very good. But not great.

Bill

 

[Sir Exar Kun]

What I am hearing sounds like the skeletons of songs that would fit in perfectly on any of the earlier EverGrey releases, but they lack the flesh and muscle that should round out the songs. The melodies and the guitar work are solid, but the keys and choir-like backup vocals are almost completely lacking. Maybe repeat listens will allow me to enjoy this more, but somehow I feel like this is a framework for an album that was never finished up.