THE INNER CIRCLE

Evergrey play it safe on their 5th album. The Inner Circle brings a polished version of their trademark dark melodic power metal. The overindulgent bombast of the preceding Recreation Day is tuned down a bit, but not enough to recreate the pure agony of their masterpieces Solitude Dominance Tragedy and In Search Of Truth.

The main problem is with the songwriting which is far from consistent. While taking a tremendous start with A Touch of Blessing and Ambassador, the remainder of the album is anonymous and faceless at best, but rather annoying at other times. The Essence of Conviction and Where All Good Sleep are cheap FM-tunes, over-arranged with symphonic keyboards and hallow metal pathos. The closing track When The Walls Go Down gets a bit exciting near the end but it's not enough.

The Inner Circle is a mostly average album with 2 outstanding tracks and 2 very weak ones. Hardly 3 stars.