Evergrey – Glorious Collision (2011)

With a revamped lineup, Tom S. Englund and company return with what is probably the band’s best release in a few years. With “Glorious Collision” the band reaches new heights thanks to the technical brilliance and catchiness of all the songs presented in this release. As we all know over the years, Tom is great at crafting very somber lyrics and bringing them to life with his gifted vocal style.

“Glorious Collisions” feels like a much needed reboot in Evergrey to more forward with more progressive ideas and rediscover their dark and emotional sound. Since the opening track “Leave it behind”, a very mystical aura enshrouds this release and it’s never released until the end of the album, a truly magnificent accomplishment.

During the 60 minutes that “Glorious Collisions” last, we are presented with 13 tracks that will surely please all fans of the band since we have elements from all periods of their 16 year career, all woven together in a very special way. With the new guitarist Marcus Jidell, we get a plethora of catchy riffs paired with intricate solos that boost the band’s sound greatly. Johan Niemann handles the bass guitar and provides a nice backdrop to the band’s Progressive music in a fashion that the bass guitar is always felt, but it’s never on the way of the rest of the instruments.

In the album’s first single “Wrong”, the band showcases a very dark mood and emotionally driven vocals, something that persists through most of the album, making so damn hard to stop listening to it. There are some string arrangements here and there that enhance the overall dramatic sound of the release, an elements that fans will greatly enjoy.

Our favorite song of this release has to be “The Phantom Letters”. This track is brilliantly written and opens with sad acoustic guitars and keyboard hints paired with Tom’s voice, only to constantly buildup and suddenly burst with energy and dynamism. The guitar solo section is amazing and greatly adorns this song, but the overall composition of this track feels quite superior to anything we have heard in quite a while from Evergrey.

The Progressive elements give songs like “The Disease…” and “…and the Distance” a special place in our book of best songs ever by the band. But we feel that the album’s flow is what makes this release so damn great since it slowly build’s up each song and culminates them in great ways.

If you are an Evergrey fan, you will be blown away by how good this release is. Some people might be skeptical because of the line-up changes, but let us tell you that this actually helped the band get on the right track and release another classic Evergrey release.

Release: February 22nd, 2011 (USA), February 28th (Europe)

Country: Sweden