Based and nonetheless led by the inimitable Tom S. Englund, Evergrey has spent the final three many years or in order one in all Sweden’s premier progressive/energy steel acts. As such, it is solely pure that they’d wish to do one thing particular for his or her 30th anniversary, and what could possibly be higher than an official anniversary album? Comprised of a just about even cut up between reside cuts, demos, and piano/vocal renditions of top-tier tracks, the considerably career-spanning assortment is a satisfying but perplexingly restricted testomony to the group’s excellent historical past.
Though its title arguably guarantees a full illustration of Evergrey‘s studio catalog, From Darkish Discoveries to Heartless Portraits‘ earliest materials comes from the band’s fourth LP, 2003’s Recreation Day. Really, the vast majority of the 15-track set is comprised of various variations of a handful of songs from final yr’s A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament). Clearly, that could possibly be a very good factor or a nasty factor relying on how a lot you get pleasure from that file (in addition to what you count on from such a sequence); however, the dearth of a wider palette is, on the very least, fairly shocking.
Luckily, every little thing that is right here is completed exceptionally properly.
The primary third or so accommodates live performance materials from a wide range of locations (akin to Budapest and Nuremberg). Instantly, it is clear that Evergrey‘s audiences are as enthused about what they’re experiencing because the quintet is about doing each bit justice. A transparent spotlight is “Recreation Day,” not solely as a result of it is among the many band’s best compositions but in addition due to Englund‘s playful banter earlier than they kick it off. Elsewhere, the empoweringly bittersweet “Name Out the Darkish” opens the present; the downright abrasive “My Allied Ocean” highlights the group’s most ferocious aspect; and “King of Errors” balances its steel and symphonic components completely.
Afterward, just a few piano/vocal choices reveal the fivesome’s adaptability amidst evoking Englund‘s work with Vikram Shankar (as Silent Skies). Particularly, this method permits the pure melodic richness and emotional weight of “Name Out the Darkish” to shine, however each different tune (“Save Us,” “Blindfolded,” and “Midwinter Calls”) is spectacular and impactful, too.
The ultimate third of the set homes demos/tough mixes, and unsurprisingly, “Name Out the Darkish” seems but once more in an unfinished state. Diehard devotees will certainly recognize the distinctions, however the truth that 20% of the album is dedicated to the identical music can not help however really feel a bit superfluous. “Blindfolded” and “Midwinter Calls” pop up once more as properly (and so they’re equally attention-grabbing in comparison with their official cuts), and the additions of “Save Us” and an instrumental model of “A Silent Arc” are undoubtedly worthwhile.
For what it’s, From Darkish Discoveries to Heartless Portraits is a superb bundle, because it offers followers intriguing and useful glimpses into completely different levels of a number of traditional Evergrey songs. That stated, as a standard retrospective, it is obviously restricted and redundant as a consequence of its repetitious monitor record and constrained scope. Even when the group/label/and many others. have been wholly clear about what followers can count on, the identify and context of the LP inherently suggests a bigger commemoration. That Evergrey‘s first and solely compilation, A Decade And A Half, got here out in 2011 makes the state of affairs much more disappointing.)
Paradoxically, then, From Darkish Discoveries to Heartless Portraits is directly a wonderful providing and a missed alternative.
