THE INNER CIRCLE

The Inner Circle concludes (almost) everyone's favorite trilogy of Evergrey classic albums (In Search of Truth, Recreation Day). I've always thought that Englund's confessional, gruff style vocals and concepts about alien abduction and doomsday cults (predominantly American cultural phenomena) gave Evergrey a certain American feel. That's why the integration of power metal and gospel-like sounds was a good idea. In the Wake of the Weary is a great example of this, while A Touch of Blessing is a candidate for a mid-paced anthem of the year. The rest of the songs get less consistent (always a problem with Evergrey). After that band simplified their sound and entered a period of personnel turmoil and tanked with critics and fans, as evidenced by a drop in their ratings here on PA. However, I think that altering the style was a logical step, since Evergrey gave us three good albums and formula started to wear a little thin.