There are changes afoot at Evergrey.
The release of their fifteenth album on Napalm Records, Architects Of A New Weave, provides an opportunity for Tom S. Englund (guitar/vocals, Redemption, Silent Skies), Rikard Zander (keyboards, ex-Death Destruction), and Johan Niemann (bass, Burying Angels, ex-Mind’s Eye, ex-Therion) to officially announce the arrival of Simen Sandnes (drums, Temic, Shining), while introducing Stephen Platt (guitar, Collibus, Scar Symmetry, live for Devin Townsend).
Henrik Danhage (guitar, Death Destruction) did, however, composed before leaving the band, but didn’t record.
The album opens with a voice on Welcome To The Pattern, introducing the concept in a mysterious tone before the jagged rhythm of The Shadow Self takes over, soon joined by Tom’s vocals accompanying the riffs, riding out these intense accelerations. It’s hard not to feel the melancholy even during the most aggressive passages, just as on the title track Architects of the New Weave, which still features energetic and catchy touches, creating an intoxicating contrast, particularly in the choruses. The sound grows even heavier with The World Is on Fire, displaying a darkness even more oppressive than usual, expressed primarily through the instrumental despite a few glimmers of hope, but also in the singer’s voice, which at times sounds almost feverish. Heaven recaptures the energy of power metal and those intoxicating melodic touches that once again counterbalance the obvious underlying sadness, then Heavy Metal influences weave their way into the solo before propelling us into The Script, a more imposing and, once again, darker composition. The slow pace of certain passages allows the musicians to exploit the naturally haunting tones, then Leaving the Emptiness returns to more upbeat touches, making the track one of the most unifying and likely to join future setlists, as it did during the band’s South American tour even before it was released. Longing begins in a slightly more solemn and stripped-down manner, featuring only keyboards, vocals, and drums, but the track gradually builds in intensity in waves before finally leading into A Burning Flame, a track that also straddles the line between melancholy and warm touches, where the band welcomes the vocals of Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity, The Halo Effect, Grand Cadaver, Cemetery Skyline…). The duo effortlessly captivates us as the instrumental weaves through its various influences, then the riffs regain their momentum on Call Off Your Lions, using a few speed-ups and heavier sections to impose a catchy rhythm on us, leading into Chains Of Shame after a moment of respite, followed by an unexpected burst of energy infused with infectious energy. The liveliness eventually gives way to slower, hazy tones on The Prophecy, a track that is also more minimalist at times, emphasizing Tom’s vocals, which literally carry the song to its majestic climax before finally fading out.
Evergrey has always resonated with me through their albums, and although the band has been in its stride for some time now, Architects Of A New Weave managed to surprise me. The band continues its ascent, slowly but surely entering the realm of legend.
95/100
A few questions to Evergrey’s bass player Johan Niemann about the release of the band’s new album, Architects of a New Weave.
Hello Johann, and first of all, thank you for taking the time to talk with me. How do you feel?
Johan Niemann (bass): Pretty good. Busy. There’s a lot of stuff to do and lots of preparations for this summer.
So the first question is, how would you describe Evergrey’s music without using the words “Progressive Metal”, “Power Metal”, or any other subgenre?
Johan: I would say that it’s emotionally driven, somewhat melancholic, with sprinkles of positivity.
That’s a great description! Even if you were not part of the band’s name choice, how do you link the name Evergrey to the music you play and did the meaning evolve with time?
Johan: I can kind of see where they got it from. There has been, at least in the past but also now. Still, the lyrical content isn’t really… How should I put it, it isn’t really focusing on the most positive things, a lot of songs are about internal struggles that everyone has. Any normal person have struggles with insecurities or fears or, you know, feelings of hopelessness and all that fun stuff. Just turn on the news and you lose hope pretty quickly, and that’s something that I think Tom writes very, very well about. He has a really good way with words, to kind of formulate them into something that a lot of people can relate to.
I definitely agree. Evergrey will soon release its 15th album named Architects of a New Weave. How do you feel about it?
Johann: I think it’s great, we’re very, very happy with it, and it’s difficult to see what kind of record it’s supposed or what it will be when you’re writing it because you’re just writing and trying to make yourself and the other guys happy and we just try to write the best songs that we can at that particular point in time. And it’s not until the album is mixed and we get the final mixes, in this case from Adam « Nolly » Getgood. And it’s at that point where we can kind of go “oh okay, it’s this kind of record, all right”. When we get the final mixes, it’s almost like it’s a new record, even though we’ve worked on it for months and months, but I finally get to hear the final stuff.
So how would you sum Architects of a New Weave with only 3 words?
Johan: Heavy. New, and… soft.
Architects of a New Weave happens only 2 years after the previous album, and is the first one to have new drummer, Simen Sandnes to play on it. How does it feel composing with someone new and maybe you noticed some changes in the composition process?
Johann: He is a completely different drummer than Jonas (Jonas Ekdahl, ed.) Jonas’s absolute biggest strength to me was, as a total musician, he is more like a producer who happens to play drums, very involved in the songwriting and the arranging and all that stuff, and he just happens to play the drums. And Simen is a drummer first and foremost. He can play keyboards and all that stuff as well, it’s a different thing where maybe in the past, maybe I have written stuff that would be simpler. Maybe not as intricate and maybe on this record, just knowing that he could play anything, that’s a very liberating feeling. Not that any of the songs are extremely complicated, they’re not, but just just knowing that… “this section here, he could really take it somewhere”, and it’s nice to be able to have that tool in your toolbox, for sure.
So maybe you think you improved yourself as a songwriter?
Johann: Yeah, I would say so, and I think he makes me a better bass player as well. I’m definitely very happy.
That’s great. I’m a bass player too, so I feel it!
Johann: Then obviously, anytime a band changes drummers, it’s a big deal. And depending on which band that changes drummers, it’s a bigger or smaller deal, but it’s still like everyone is playing the drums and…. It’s a very big part of any band, I mean, imagine you take Lars Ulrich out of Metallica and you put anyone else… Like Dave Grohl, it’s a completely different band, because nobody sounds like Lars, and he is a very big part of why Metallica sounds like Metallica.
Yeah, drums are like the basis!
Johann: Yeah, a different group.
Evergrey’s sound is of course rooted in Progressive and Power Metal, but as you said with a very melancholic touch, are there any bands you could quote as your influences on what does influence you to create music?
Johann: Influences from back then or from now?
From music you listen, everything!
Johann: We have stuff in common, take a band like Katatonia, for instance. I feel that there’s a lot of similarities between Katatonia and us. We don’t sound the same, obviously, but there’s that melancholy, lots of minor keys. Things are not very upbeat or happy, so yeah, Katatonia. Obviously, Iron Maiden is still a huge influence on us and will always be. The old Queensrÿche records are also hugely influential. Dream Theater, of course, we don’t sound anything like Dream Theater, I think, but their influence on this genre that we are a part of, Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal is undoubtedly huge. So they’re big.
Maybe you have a personal favorite song on the new album?
Johann: That changes every time I listen to it, but there’s one song called The Script, that I really really like, because it just has this really heavy vibe, and I don’t mean heavy as in Heavy Metal, although it is like that too, but it’s just the feeling… Oh my God. That feeling, I like that!
Yeah, it’s like seizing?
Johann: Yeah.
Evergrey always had some contrasted songs between energy and melancholy, these times for me are the song Leaving the Emptiness and Chains of Shame, which reminds me some Portuguese word which is “saudade”. Maybe you know the word?
Johann: No!
It’s like an emotional state of melancholy or nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent someone or something. It’s like some maybe happy melancholy, if I can say!
Johann: Yeah, I would agree with that. Leaving the Emptiness is a very different song for us. It’s almost happy, at least you know that the main riff is in a major key, and we usually don’t do that, And some people have issues with that, I mean they want their favorite band to be a certain way, and I understand that, I get it, but sometimes bands need to try different things, and also here’s the thing! If you just listen to the music, maybe it sounds upbeat, but the lyrics aren’t very happy, they’re about leaving your tough shit, or at least relating to it in a different way. You can’t run away from your demons, you can only have a different relationship to them.
There is one guest on the song A Burning Flame with Mikael Stanne from Dark Tranquility and many other projects. How did the collaboration happen?
Johann: We are huge fans of him, obviously he’s such an amazing singer and he’s a friend of the band, we’re very happy to say so, he’s a great guy. He likes us, when we play Gothenburg, he usually is in the crowd with everyone else, so that’s really cool. But when the Cemetery Skyline record came out. I was stunned to hear what he could do, that he actually could sing like that. And I love that record and we all do. So when it came time to talk about a possible guest vocalist on one of the songs, his name came up pretty quickly, and on that song because we figured it has sort of that vibe, to me anyway, that kind of like… Not Gothic, but it has a certain vibe that I feel that he would really enhance, so which he did, and we’re extremely happy with the way it turned out.
So he accepted pretty quickly too?
Johann: Yeah, he was like, “yeah, yeah, yeah!”. But it was tough to find time for it because he tours with all his bands all the time, he’s never home, but we managed to find a few days where he went to Tom‘s place and they recorded the vocals there.
A few weeks ago, Evergrey officially welcomed new guitar player Stefan Platt. How did you face a lineup change right before the album release?
Johann: Nothing happen overnight. This had been coming for a while. Henrik (Henrik Danhage, ed.) sort of decided he didn’t really want to do this anymore. And this was during the recording, during writing and recording for this album.
So he still recorded the album actually?
Johann: No, Henrik is not on the album, it’s Tom and me who play all the guitars. So when it came time to do that, the tour with Katatonia, we needed a touring guitar player first and foremost because we didn’t really know what the deal was with Henrik, if he wanted to come back or if he just wanted a break or whatever. So I found Stephen on Instagram, we both play Solar guitars, and I saw some videos of him, I was like “fucking hell, that guy can play”! And he seemed like a really nice guy, he also plays in Scar Symmetry, and I know Par, the guitar player, so I asked him if they had any plans coming, for that period of time. And he said “no, not really”. I asked him how Stephen is as a person, because that’s the most important thing. Anyone can play, but the important part is when you’re on tour and you’re living this close to each other for 24 hours a day for 7 weeks… But he’s the greatest guy ever, so that’s why I asked him “would you be interested in going on tour with us as a fill in player”, at least for a start, until we know what’s happening. And everything went really well. He’s a super cool guy, great guitar player. And when it became obvious that Henrik wasn’t coming back, then everything was working, so we just asked him if he wanted to join, and which he did. So we’re very happy with that.
Evergrey toured a lot during the past years. How do you get ready for each tour and how do you build the setlist?
Johann: Oh, the setlist is always difficult because for every album you make, you get more songs to choose from. And it’s a nice problem to have! But it’s also increasingly difficult because some fans wanna hear the old stuff. Which I understand. But we have gained a lot of new fans, that have only heard like the last, I don’t know, 4-5 records, maybe, that don’t have that connection with the old stuff. And you know the majority of people seem to want to hear the new stuff and are excited for new music, which is fine with us because we like to play these new songs because they’re new to us and we feel they’re great,and it’s fun to play new stuff! But yeah, it’s difficult. But Rikard (Rikard Zander, ed.), our keyboard player, is very involved with setlists, he’s very good at that, it’s not like he decides, but he comes with really good suggestions and we tweak it a little bit maybe, but it’s cool. We all practice at home and then we get together in the rehearsal room for 1 or 2 or 3 days. And that is usually enough.
The band played a lot in France, whether it’s as a main support for Katatonia the last time, or also headline shows, and Hellfest. Maybe you have some special memories about playing in France?
Johann: Like you said, we’ve been there a lot of times we played the Sonisphere, in what’s called Amneville. When was that, like 2014, maybe something like that? (2011, ed.) It was a long time ago, but that was amazing, such a huge crowd and we played on the first day and then obviously day two was with the Big Four (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, ed.) and that was incredible. That was really cool, and then I mean on the last tour we played this venue in Paris that I don’t remember the name of…
I think it’s the Trabendo!
Johann: Could have been, could have been! Really cool place, really nice, amazing response. Paris is also usually very, very good, but that was different, that was insane. really
I also saw you had a lot of festival shows this summer and some supporting Iron Maiden, some supporting Decapitated too, then also your Australian tour was postponed to October, but what’s coming next for the Evergrey camp after all of this?
Johann: We have this summer and then we’re going to the states with Hammerfall. In August, September, I think somewhere around there, and after that, I don’t know, it’s just a lot of stuff in the air, but yeah, the Australian thing is supposed to happen. We’ll probably start a European tour before the end of the year, but I think we’ll start in Scandinavia. So we’ll do Scandinavia before the end of the year and then next year in February maybe we’ll start with the European tour.
Great! So maybe you heard about the French Metal scene? Are there some bands you know and like?
Johann: Fractal Universe, they supported us on the tour we did. Was it 2 years ago? They’re amazing. I love them. Two of those guys are now in Obscura, I think, also an amazing band. What else? There are so many good bands… Alcest, they’re French right? Those are really cool as well, I like them. I’m having a blank, but yeah, there are good bands.
So we’re reaching the end of the interview. I have two fun questions. The first one, are there any bands you would like to play with? And I let you create your dream poster with Evergrey headlining and 3 other bands, and you can also have unrealistic answers.
Johann: Unrealistic answers. OK. We’re headlining, so I want Metallica to open. Then… No, I want King Crimson to open, then I want Metallica and Iron Maiden, and then us!
Okay, that’s a great lineup!
Johann: Yeah, it is. I think it will work.
Definitely agree! So another funny question, are there any dish you would like to compare Evergrey‘s music with?
Johann: Oh, I’ve never gotten that question before! Maybe not a specific dish, but maybe a buffet where there’s lots of different stuff and maybe there’s something for everyone!
Okay, I agree. So that was my last question. Thank you very much for your time and the last words are yours!
Johann: Oh, thank you. I just wanna thank the French fans for all the support throughout the years and now please listen to the record when it comes out, and we will be in your country very shortly! Obviously we’re opening for Iron Maiden in Paris, so if you’re in Paris and there still are tickets, get your tickets because it’s going to be amazing! And if not, we’ll see you on the European tour! Have a nice day.