During the last decade, Evergrey have had an artistic resurgence. After just about falling aside following 2011’s Wonderful Collision album, the Swedes regrouped, refocused and started possibly essentially the most industrious level in their long occupation.
These days placing the completing touches to their fourth album in simply 5 years, they’re additionally juggling a lot of side- and solo tasks, with singer/guitarist Tom S. Englund on my own having put out two albums (with Redemption and Silent Skies) in 2023. Hammer stuck up with the frontman to determine why coming again to Evergrey all the time feels so particular.
How’s the brand new album shaping up?
“Truly smartly. We determined we would have liked to check out out a brand new blending engineer for this album and had our minds set on Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood [Periphery]. Myself and Jonas [Ekdahl, drums] are nonetheless generating, however we would have liked to get him in from the beginning and assist set the sound. We had simply bought an outdated studio that we had began to refurbish, so he got here out and lived in a bit of cottage in Sweden. We’d cling and feature barbecues at night time and set sounds all over the day.”
Did having your individual studio make a distinction?
““For now we’re simply calling it Evergrey HQ, however it was Bohus Sound Recording. ABBA have labored there and a large number of old-school rock bands. It’s a vintage position in that sense, which added to the vibe and the concept that we would have liked it to sound very natural. There aren’t any samples, not anything is sound changed, and we play the entirety all over. As of late anyone can sound like a system, however we would have liked to do that yet one more oldschool.”
Lovers submitted vocal portions for the observe One Center. How did it end up?
“That concept used to be a collaboration with a Swedish rock mag. At first I didn’t really feel like I may make one thing out of it with out making it in reality corny, however I began desirous about what it used to be that in fact brings us in combination and makes us really feel that belonging. I wrote this factor that during my head seemed like a mixture of W.A.S.P. and Adolescence Long past Wild by means of Skid Row. It had gang vocals and it grew to become out in reality smartly.”
You mentioned in a fan Q&A that the brand new album has a ‘brisker’ really feel. What do you imply by means of that?
“Each band says, ‘Oh it’s the darkest, the heaviest, the good factor we’ve ever made.’ What are we going to mention on our 14th album? Ha ha ha! I feel it’s an album that’s going to convey you in the course of the mild and the darkness. It’s very numerous in that appreciate and possibly a little bit lighter, to be fair. In this album, Johan [Niemann, bass] wrote lots of the elementary foundations for all the songs, which gave us a clean sheet in a way, as a result of we by no means began that method earlier than.
It used to be all the time me and Jonas writing, after which other folks contributing to what we had completed. This time Johan gave us 400 tune concepts to paintings with! We purchased him a pc and a tune programmer remaining 12 months and now that’s all he does. The lazy bastard, he must have completed that twenty years in the past!”
Your lyrics appear to have turn out to be much less depressive over time. Is that this additionally a lighter album in that appreciate?
“I’m in a unique position in my existence. The ones issues that I’d been via that affected my lyrics are all the time going to be there, however they’re a little bit extra far-off now. I’m writing from the viewpoint that I’m telling you, it doesn’t matter what you suppose now, that there’s a method out.”
With all of the contributors’ tasks, do it’s a must to carve out time for Evergrey and run it like an army operation?
“Sure, however I paintings higher that method. We simply celebrated 30 years, and going via demos from 1993 and outdated pictures, it’s mind-boggling to nonetheless be capable to do that. I’m extraordinarily excited each and every time to head in and make a brand new album and I believe like I will be able to do that for some other 30 years.”
Evergrey’s new album Theories Of Vacancy is due June 7 by way of Napalm. Evergrey play Bloodstock in August.
