The band was … Read Full Bio ↴Evergrey is a melodic metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden.
The band was founded in 1996 and released its debut album The Dark Discovery in 1998.
Evergrey's lyrics have always been of the darker sort. While The Dark Discovery dealt with a variety of ideas, later albums have been concept albums, dealing with issues like self-reformation (Recreation Day), paranoia, alien abduction (In Search of Truth), child abuse, and religion (The Inner Circle).
Recreation Day is an album that covers many issues, ranging from death and mourning to general fear and sorrow, all of which contribute to a greater concept of re-creation of oneself. These ideas are explored from many different points of view, such as someone contemplating suicide ("As I Lie Here Bleeding"), mourners after a funeral ("I'm Sorry," a cover of Dilba Demirbag's hit) and dying priests looking back on their "unforgivable" sins (molestation) ("Unforgivable"). "Unforgivable" also acted as a catalyst for the next album, (The Inner Circle), which dealt with the same two issues described in the song: religion and child abuse.
All releases so far:
* The Dark Discovery (1998)
* Solitude • Dominance • Tragedy (1999)
* In Search of Truth (2001)
* I'm Sorry (rare single, 2003)
* Recreation Day (2003)
* The Inner Circle (2004)
* A Night To Remember (live CD/DVD, 2005)
* Monday Morning Apocalypse (both single and album, 2006)
* Torn (2008)
* Glorious Collision (2011)
* Hymns for the Broken (2014)
* The Storm Within (2016)
For decades, Sweden has continued to produce the top names in heavy metal, regardless of sub-genre. Although debuting back in '98, this Gothenburg outfit is only now receiving the international acclaim due them. Molding the various pedigrees of their countrymen into one distinctive sound: supreme musicianship prized by perfectionists, yet intense enough to win the blackened hearts of those more primordial, EVERGREY offer fans something truly different.
In these days of paint-by-numbers releases, where everyone mimics the elite purveyors of a particular style, EVERGREY's music is something unique. Reviewers, and fans alike, typically use other bands as a reference point when discussing music.
On July 25th, 2006, Michael Håkansson has decided to part ways with Evergrey. The new bass player will be the band's long-time friend Fredrik Larsson (Hammerfall). Michael left on good terms with the band stating that he wanted to do his own thing musically.
In June of 2007, Fredrik Larsson decided to leave Evergrey to rejoin Hammerfall.
The new bass player is Jari Kainulainen (ex-Stratovarius).
The band has decided that it is the time for some changes. As they wrote at their official webpage:
"Thomas and Rikard have together with Henrik and Jonas made the mutual decision that it was best for all that they leave Evergrey. They wanted to and the rest wanted them to. The last tours, recordings and just hanging with each other has not been as fun and giving as earlier AND before it would go too far, resulting in a collision in between friends, which could ruin everything we have built up during the years, they decided to call it quits"
Actually, Tom Englund (voice,guitar) & Rikard Zander (keyboards) stay in the band as a core members.
New members:
Marcus Jidell (Royal Hunt) on Guitars
Johan Niemann (ex-Therion, Mind’s Eye) on Bass
Hannes Van Dahl on Drums
Occasionally a musician has to take a step back into the past to develop artistically. Tom Englund, guitarist and vocalist with Swedish rock group Evergrey, took this risk and reorganised his artistic environment. “The most recent Evergrey line-up had reached a point where we no longer had fun as a group,” he confesses, adding: “So we went our separate ways to save our friendship. There were no angry words, and we’re still friends privately.”
Naturally, the decision to break up wasn’t easy for these long-standing friends, especially for Englund and his remaining keyboardist, Rikard Zander, for whom a continuation ofEvergrey was never called into question. Yet they both had to face a new challenge: “In the beginning, we weren’t sure whether we’d be able to write a new album without the wealth of experience that the previous line-up brought in. But after Rikard and I had composed a full three numbers during the first week, we felt that was a real coup.”
Listeners will feel this positive energy throughout Glorious Collision, the band’s eighth studio album, which is due for release on 28 February 2011 (Germany: 25 February 2011; USA/Canada: 22 February 2011) on Steamhammer/SPV. A dynamic goody bag featuring the most diverse material ever released on an Evergrey album. “This may sound like a contradiction in view of our personnel situation, but Rikard and I have allowed more influences on Glorious Collision than ever before. Some elements on Glorious Collisionare classic rock, based on a metal format, sometimes the tracks are quiet and haunting, sometimes wild, demanding and gripping.”
This diversity is also expressed in the instrumentation of this extremely dynamic studio production which presents the new band members Marcus Jidell (guitar), Hannes Van Dahl (drums) and Johan Niemann (bass). “It’s great to hear what a breath of fresh air Marcus, Johan and Hannes have brought into the band,” Englund enthuses. “Although the entire material, except for two songs to which Marcus wrote and contributed on the compositional side, had already been decided when we started recording, they all left their own, very personal mark on this album.” The great experience of Jidell and Niemann, who have worked with acts such as Royal Hunt and Therion, among others, and have now contributed lots of positive energy together with the 20-year-old drummer, Van Dahl, can be felt throughout the album.
Frozen
Evergrey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All the things we recreate
Fallen - lost - forsaken faith
The unspoken made us frozen
If we took time to contemplate
The years has passed and now it's late
Much too late to compensate
The loss that made me frozen
Reaching out with dying hope to still be seen
Longing to belong
We're frozen we're numb
We're misunderstood when we're hurting
We're frozen we're numb
If you could dive into my waters
Where the light's been chased away
If you could wake inside my hurt
Where all needed sleep is slayed
Then your eyes would see what I see
You can feel what I feel
And we meet on the surface
To catch the same air to breathe
We're frozen we're numb
We're misunderstood when we're hurting
We're frozen we're numb
We have left this alone too long to see
that we are hurting
We're frozen we're numb
We're misunderstood when we're hurting
We're frozen we're numb
We feel overlooked when we're hurting
The song "Frozen" by Evergrey is a melancholic track that explores the theme of emotional numbness and the struggle to connect with others. The opening lines "Everything is built from change / All the things we recreate" suggest that change is an inevitable part of life, and everything in the world is subject to transformation. However, the subsequent lines "Fallen - lost - forsaken faith / The unspoken made us frozen" paints a picture of a society that has lost faith in each other and has become emotionally frozen due to the unspoken issues and underlying tensions.
The chorus of the track repeats the phrases "We're frozen we're numb / We're misunderstood when we're hurting" and highlights the struggle to communicate with others and express the pain one is feeling. The singer is longing for someone to understand them, and a sense of belonging, which makes them feel less frozen and numb. The lyrics "If you could dive into my waters / Where the light's been chased away / If you could wake inside my hurt / Where all needed sleep is slayed" reveals the depth of emotional pain the singer is going through.
The song ultimately displays a theme of hopelessness and desperate longing for connection. It highlights the feeling of isolation and disconnection even when surrounded by people. The somber melody and mournful lyrics add to the overall haunting mood of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Everything is built from change
The world around us is constantly changing and evolving.
All the things we recreate
As humans, we try to replicate what we see and experience in our lives.
Fallen - lost - forsaken faith
People lose their faith and hope when they face difficult times in their lives.
The unspoken made us frozen
When you don't express your emotions and thoughts, it can lead you to feel numb and detached from others.
If we took time to contemplate
If we made an effort to reflect on our lives, we might understand ourselves and others better.
The years has passed and now it's late
Time passes by quickly, and it's essential to reflect and make changes before it's too late.
Much too late to compensate
Sometimes it's too late to fix what has been broken in our lives.
The loss that made me frozen
People become numb and detached from others after experiencing significant loss in their lives.
Reaching out with dying hope to still be seen
People in desperate situations try to seek help from others, hoping to be heard and seen.
Longing to belong
People want to feel accepted and belong to a community.
We're frozen we're numb
People become numb and detached from others, feeling misunderstood and overlooked when they are hurting.
If you could dive into my waters
If someone could understand your emotions and thoughts deeply, they would comprehend your situation better.
Where the light's been chased away
In situations where there is darkness and hopelessness, people can feel trapped and lost.
If you could wake inside my hurt
If someone could experience the pain and suffering, they would better comprehend the extent of difficulty.
Where all needed sleep is slayed
During difficult times, the ability to rest and recover is often diminished or entirely lost.
Then your eyes would see what I see
If someone understood the depth of your emotions, they would see things from your perspective.
You can feel what I feel
People often try to exemplify their emotions to encourage empathy in others.
And we meet on the surface
People can come together and connect, regardless of their differences, to find common ground.
To catch the same air to breathe
People in difficult situations seek help and support from others to move forward and find commonality.
Contributed by Ethan H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.