TORN

Torn is the seventh studio album from Swedish heavy metal ( once upon a time slightly progressive metal) act Evergrey. I used to be a fan of Evergrey back when they had only made three albums. The debut wasn´t very exciting but the second album Solitude + Dominance + Tragedy ( 1999) and the third album In Search of Truth ( 2001) are both excellent melodic heavy metal albums with slight progressive tendencies and some brilliant thrashy riffing. I was led towards Evergrey because of my love for Nevermore and my search for music in the that vein, and I have been very happy with both Solitude + Dominance + Tragedy and In Search of Truth even though those albums will never reach the hights of Nevermore. The problem with Evergrey is that all albums after In Search of Truth seems to have lost in attitude ( especially the lack of thrashy riffing is a problem in my ears) and in memorability. Recreation Day ( 2003) was pretty good while I totally lost interest after listening to The Inner Circle ( 2004). But the worst album was Monday Morning Apocalypse ( 2006) which was a complete disaster. No memorable melodies and lame riffing meant that that album was a complete turn off for me. Torn partially gets Evergrey back on the right track IMO.

The music on Torn is unmistakably Evergrey. Heavy metal/ slightly thrashy riffing, melodic background keyboards and raw yet melodic singing. Heavy verses and melodic anthemic choruses. Compared to Monday Morning Apocalypse this album is much more memorable and heavy. The slight progressive tendencies Evergrey had on earlier albums is nowhere to be found though. This is essentially melodic heavy metal. As usual on Evergrey albums there is lots of heavy songs and a few power ballad type songs and it´s hard not to get the feeling that Evergrey´s style is a bit formulaic by now. You shouldn´t expect much progression from Evergrey. This is business as usual, even though Torn is clearly in the better end of Evergrey´s albums.

The musicianship is excellent. Typical melodic Swedish quality. I especially enjoy some of the melodic guitar solos from Henrik Danhage. He is such a gifted guitarist. Tom S. Englund´s vocals is an aquired taste. His hoarse yet melodic singing will turn off some people while others appreciate his distinct vocal style. I think his voice suits some songs better than others. His theatrical approach is a bit too much for me though and I think it gets a bit too pathetic in the end which the banale and quite frankly embarresing lyrics doesn´t help to correct.

The production is grand and powerful. A typical modern metal production. Very professional.

Torn is really not my cup of tea, but on the other hand it´s hard not to appreciate such professional metal, and there are things in the music that I do enjoy like the aforementioned melodic guitar solos. It would be wrong to give Torn 2 stars because of the quality of the music so I´ll give it 3 stars. For fans of the band this must be a welcome return to form. For me as an old fan Torn only holds a slight interest which is first and foremost because of the lack of progressive tendencies which made Solitude + Dominance + Tragedy and In Search of Truth such exciting albums.