Customer Reviews

Fantasma

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Will somebody tell me who Everon sound like? I know, it's my job as the reviewer but as much as I love these guys, I'm in Deja vu! I know they sound like somebody but I can't place them.

These guys are simply incredible and considering they've made six albums going back to 1993 and two months ago was the first time I've heard them, I seem to have dropped the ball. How could I be so Obtuse?

Anyway, enough ruminating, let's get serious, because serious is what Everon's music is. Remember that name, Everon, Everon, Everon, Everon, Everon, EVERON, got it. Dumb name, but would you rather have a clever name/dumb music or dumb name/clever music?

Everon

Have you got the picture yet, Everon is astounding. I'm beginning to think that they do not remind me of one band but maybe dozens of great bands, performing similar music but oh so much more grandeur. Maybe they're an improved Journey, Asia, Boston, Night Ranger, Little River Band. Could they out bombast Rush, Saga, Queensryche, Styx, Savatage. Are they a dream composite of all the great bands of the past? I don't know.

What I do know is that I haven't been this exited about a band since the marvelous year of 2001, when I made one great discovery after another, with Green Carnation, Evergrey, Within Temptation and Therion.

German band Everon plays a brand of neo-progressive rock music sometimes referred to as Art Rock and Somewhat influenced by later Marillion and Rush. The group was formed in 1989 by Ralf Janssen (guitar), Christian Moos (drums), and Schymy (bass), who played together for a few years. Everon potential was fulfilled when the band added song writer and lead singer Oliver Phillips, a musical genius in my opinion. Before I continue, I must say something about Oliver Phillips. This is the consummate musician. Phillips is a masterful singer and exceptional songwriter. His singing, though not the greatest in the world, is very very close and I can't picture a vocalist who fits the music better. You'll know, of what I speak, if you hear it. And th songwriting is superb. Phillips apparently has never heard of filler. Twelve songs all four stars or more.

Highlight Songs

"Men Of Rust"
"There was a time when we were/As close as hearts can be
/Your pain and fear, your dreams and hopes/All that you shared with me/I was just a child back then/As I grew up I had to see/Not all those wishes that we have/Become reality"

"Men Of Rust" starts with pleasant piano intro gradually building to a big sound that blasts into your ears with heavy guitars and keyboards. After a couple minutes the orchestra is joined by Phillip's wonderful vocals. There are numerous tempo changes, which help to hold your interest, though that hardly seems necessary.

"Perfect Remedy"
"People like us are never where they want to be
People like us suffer from their incapacity
People like us never trust the world they see
People like us are lacking self-security"

"Perfect Remedy" is pretty much a blend of a ballad with a glorious heaviness, an incredible fusion of children like music and heavy metal. This is a magnificent song that starts out wonderously childish with Phillips singing to light keyboards, a harp and bells before being joined in by heavy bass work and drums with the sound so thick you couldn't get a needle through it but ending back on a light note.

"A Day By the Sea" is another great power ballad blend. I never knew a liked power ballads so much. Must be the New Years Cheer. Naw, it's wonderful music. Starts out slow then the curtain raises to a huge lush sound, then slower, then faster, then slower, then faster, etc. My co-Favorite song.

The Fantasma Suite

"Right Now" No fillers right? right! this is a short powerful instrumental, an excellent touch!

"The real Escape" Again a slow start, slowly picking up speed with their grandiose sound and after an excellent piano solo segueing into:

"Whatever It Takes" Why stop now? A continuation of all the wonderfully homogenous music that preceded it.

"Battle of Words" Sorry to keep throwing the adjectives at you but this is an amazing instrumental with a huge catchy sound that reminds me of a movie score for something The Big Country

"Ghosts"

"If we give up before we ever fought
If we only do what we are told
And think we know it all, but never really learnt
If we turn the page before the page has turned

If we close doors, we never opened up
If we don't really start a thing before we stop
And never speak the truth although we do not lie
If we're full of plans but never dare to try...

Ghosts we are, made of flesh and bone
With empty minds and hearts of stone
The seed that was not meant to thrive
Existing but not really alive"

"Ghosts" Hey if it works why change the formula. Yes it's my other co-favorite. Light, heavy, light, heavy..........
and oh such great singing and guitar playing. You know how you know it something is phenomenal? It brings water to your eyes or gives you chills, that's how!

Conclusion

One could surmise, from the utter quality of this album that Phillips and company were deeply inspired by the death of their good friend, Detlef Dohmen in a car wreck and to whom the album is dedicated, but although I have not heard all of their other five albums, I own their next release Flesh and I can assure you it's equally good. Hence I have ordered their whole catalog.

As for who Everon sounds like, I still haven't figured out yet. I have noticed some similarities to the great Emerson Lake and Palmer, both style and singing but not delivery or substance and although some of Everon's refrains do indeed sound classical it is a light classical as opposed to ELP's dark classical.

Similarities also exist, to a lesser extent, with Dream Theater, again with style and timing but not substance.

Hmmm...how to describe Everon? Chris DeBurgh on steriods? Emerson, Lake and Palmer meets Kansas? How about a mix of YES and Shadow Gallery? To heck with it...only one word needed to describe Everon; UNIQUE.

I also find it hard to classify this band, but I think they're best served by being categorized somewhere between progressive hard rock and progressive heavy metal. This band has somehow managed to create a sound that is a pleasant mix of many classic bands while at the same time sounding like none of them. Does that make sense?

I hear many influences on this album, like the bands mentioned above as well as Rush, Queensryche, Spock's Beard, Allan Holdsworth and many more.

The songwriting is top-notch and the production easily earns five stars. I think anyone who enjoys a broad range of progressive rock music would really enjoy this band. They are heavy, but not too heavy. They are soft, but not too soft. They are simply an eclectic mix of musical forms all blended seamlessly together in a rather bombastic display of sound.

I know this review probably hasn't gone a long way toward helping you "envision" this music, but it's just so different that it's almost impossible to describe. I'd suggest doing a search on google.com for this band and stop by their official website. They have a bunch of great song samples so you can taste the band. Because of those song samples, I was convinced to purchase two of Everon's albums and I was not disappointed when they arrived.

I am an Australian resident and as such seemingly a million miles away from the European music scene. It appears that the progressive rock genre is largely unknown in Australia. In fact, I don't know anyone who has heard of Everon, Fates Warning or even Dream Theater. In recent times I have discovered some fantastic progresive rock bands based in Europe. In the last 6 months I have bought my first album from many great bands including Dream Theater, Pain Of Salvation, Fates Warning, The Gathering, Falconer and Tiles. When I came across Fantasma by Everon I liked the look of the artwork and a quick look at the song list led me to a guess that it was probably progressive rock so I bought it. After listening to it once it was immediately evident that this band produce absolutely superb, high quality music. The class of each and every song on this album is breathtaking. If you like bands that can play soft, soulful music as well as hard and heavy rock music then you'll love Fantasma. Many songs on the album oscilliate between beautifully melodic parts and explosively exciting heavy sections. The quality of Oliver Phillips singing is a highlight and the musicianship of all band memebers is equally impressive. I won't single out any particular track because they are all great and unique in their own way. If like me, you appreciate quality heavy music with an ample sprinkling of melodic subtlety with quality singing a prerequisite, then grab a copy of Fantasma by Everon. I'd be astonished if you regret it.

I like all of Everon's albums, but this one is their finest work (North is a close second). People have said the Everon singer is very 'familiar' sounding without being able to pinpoint who he sounds like, and I too could never quite put my finger it until one day I was listening to 'Pirates' by ELP. For the record I think he sounds a lot like Greg Lake of ELP.

These guys are simply incredible and considering they've made six albums going back to 1993 and two months ago was the first time I've heard them, I seem to have dropped the ball. How could I be so Obtuse?

Anyway, enough ruminating, let's get serious, because serious is what Everon's music is. Remember that name, Everon, Everon, Everon, Everon, Everon, EVERON, got it. Dumb name, but would you rather have a clever name/dumb music or dumb name/clever music?

Everon

Have you got the picture yet, Everon is astounding. I'm beginning to think that they do not remind me of one band but maybe dozens of great bands, performing similar music but oh so much more grandeur. Maybe they're an improved Journey, Asia, Boston, Night Ranger, Little River Band. Could they out bombast Rush, Saga, Queensryche, Styx, Savatage. Are they a dream composite of all the great bands of the past? I don't know.

What I do know is that I haven't been this exited about a band since the marvelous year of 2001, when I made one great discovery after another, with Green Carnation, Evergrey, Within Temptation and Therion.

German band Everon plays a brand of neo-progressive rock music sometimes referred to as Art Rock and Somewhat influenced by later Marillion and Rush. The group was formed in 1989 by Ralf Janssen (guitar), Christian Moos (drums), and Schymy (bass), who played together for a few years. Everon potential was fulfilled when the band added song writer and lead singer Oliver Phillips, a musical genius in my opinion. Before I continue, I must say something about Oliver Phillips. This is the consummate musician. Phillips is a masterful singer and exceptional songwriter. His singing, though not the greatest in the world, is very very close and I can't picture a vocalist who fits the music better. You'll know, of what I speak, if you hear it. And th songwriting is superb. Phillips apparently has never heard of filler. Twelve songs all four stars or more.

Highlight Songs

"Men Of Rust"
"There was a time when we were/As close as hearts can be
/Your pain and fear, your dreams and hopes/All that you shared with me/I was just a child back then/As I grew up I had to see/Not all those wishes that we have/Become reality"

"Men Of Rust" starts with pleasant piano intro gradually building to a big sound that blasts into your ears with heavy guitars and keyboards. After a couple minutes the orchestra is joined by Phillip's wonderful vocals. There are numerous tempo changes, which help to hold your interest, though that hardly seems necessary.

"Perfect Remedy"
"People like us are never where they want to be
People like us suffer from their incapacity
People like us never trust the world they see
People like us are lacking self-security"

"Perfect Remedy" is pretty much a blend of a ballad with a glorious heaviness, an incredible fusion of children like music and heavy metal. This is a magnificent song that starts out wonderously childish with Phillips singing to light keyboards, a harp and bells before being joined in by heavy bass work and drums with the sound so thick you couldn't get a needle through it but ending back on a light note.

"A Day By the Sea" is another great power ballad blend. I never knew a liked power ballads so much. Must be the New Years Cheer. Naw, it's wonderful music. Starts out slow then the curtain raises to a huge lush sound, then slower, then faster, then slower, then faster, etc. My co-Favorite song.

The Fantasma Suite

"Right Now" No fillers right? right! this is a short powerful instrumental, an excellent touch!

"The real Escape" Again a slow start, slowly picking up speed with their grandiose sound and after an excellent piano solo segueing into:

"Whatever It Takes" Why stop now? A continuation of all the wonderfully homogenous music that preceded it.

"Battle of Words" Sorry to keep throwing the adjectives at you but this is an amazing instrumental with a huge catchy sound that reminds me of a movie score for something The Big Country

"Ghosts"

"If we give up before we ever fought
If we only do what we are told
And think we know it all, but never really learnt
If we turn the page before the page has turned

If we close doors, we never opened up
If we don't really start a thing before we stop
And never speak the truth although we do not lie
If we're full of plans but never dare to try...

Ghosts we are, made of flesh and bone
With empty minds and hearts of stone
The seed that was not meant to thrive
Existing but not really alive"

"Ghosts" Hey if it works why change the formula. Yes it's my other co-favorite. Light, heavy, light, heavy..........
and oh such great singing and guitar playing. You know how you know it something is phenomenal? It brings water to your eyes or gives you chills, that's how!

Conclusion

One could surmise, from the utter quality of this album that Phillips and company were deeply inspired by the death of their good friend, Detlef Dohmen in a car wreck and to whom the album is dedicated, but although I have not heard all of their other five albums, I own their next release Flesh and I can assure you it's equally good. Hence I have ordered their whole catalog.

As for who Everon sounds like, I still haven't figured out yet. I have noticed some similarities to the great Emerson Lake and Palmer, both style and singing but not delivery or substance and although some of Everon's refrains do indeed sound classical it is a light classical as opposed to ELP's dark classical.

Similarities also exist, to a lesser extent, with Dream Theater, again with style and timing but not substance.

Well... that one caught me off guard.
I was expecting one more Prog Metal band, with the never ending duel of guitars and synthetisers and an average vocal to sing a couple of verses now and then... Wrong!

Of course there is a good instrumental, very prog like (with enough metal to make things interesting), but what caught me was the vocals... Oliver Philipps, german accent notwhitstanding, sounds very much like an youg version of Jhon Wetton, or, some times, Greg Lake.

Their music is a fine mix of influences, that sometimes feel like the early 80's Arena bands, sometimes feel like King Crimson, ELP or even Eloy (must be the german accent lol).

I bought Fantasma in a local store for a very low price and i feel sorry for not buying Venus as well, because the factory seal was open.. need to rectify that.

I enjoyed this album so much that i ended up writing my first review :-) Hope that helps.

In the forest of progressive metal, it's hard to clear one's own ground anymore, and Everon usually doesn't. Of course, this isn't even a bad thing--when you just can't stand to play that Dream Theater album anymore, it's a relief to be able to turn to something else largely in the same ballpark, but just not the same musicians. At other times, Everon can suddenly enter into rarely heard territory. (In "Marching Out" from their debut album, Paradoxes, the guitar solo and bridge are must-haves in the world of progressive metal.)

"Men of Rust" is precisely a Dream Theateresque extravaganza. One can hear enough talent and conviction in the playing that the ultra-amped production (and the rather unintentionally ham handed piano toward the end--I can just see the band urging the keyboardist, "Play louder, play louder!") seem unfortunate lapses in judgment and unnecessary. Even so, it's hard to wreck the sheer verve of this song.

Six other songs on the album do not fare so well. Without wanting to seem to dismiss the album altogether, "Perfect Remedy" and five others, all seem to suffer from the substitution of overproduction for inspiration. Griping about "too loud" from progressive metal seems kind of wrong-headed, of course, but the gripe is more directed at the producer trying to force more out of the music than the music requires to make its own statements. The remaining ones all have something to strongly recommend them.

"Fine with Me", for instance, every bit deserves to thunder about like it does. Featuring a more picked out guitar line here, as opposed to the pure power chords of the first two songs, the mega-amping brings an energy to the song that definitely makes it stand out. Shorter though the song is, it also seems to have more "inspiration" behind it.

With "A Day by the Sea", Everon momentarily moves into that space that is distinctively theirs. At root, one of those "big" progressive metal piano ballads, with a simple (and therefore essentially compelling) melody and soulfulness, it is in the cutting loose of the bridge section that the song truly begins to soar. (Don't be fooled by the "monster solo" that leads into it. The real stuff follows the first solo.) It'd've been even more wonderful had they hung out on the bridge longer, even if only to repeat it.

"Battle of Words" starts off unpromisingly, with yet another piano introduction, but instead of going where Everon has already gone all along, an extended introduction comes on, with varied guitar and a musical progression that leads gorgeously into a section that is (rather amazingly) even more lush than anything else on the album (and precisely for that reason is interesting). More noodling and riffage follows, eyebrow deep in lushness but still powerful without being strained, and then ends. What seemed like all introduction was the whole instrumental song, and that's just fine. An album high point.

"Ghosts (Intro)" seems like a rather incidental piece based on a keyboard sound (with a guitar solo to lend it some weight) that serves an as introduction to the last song, "Ghosts". The guitar tone and pace stand out a bit more here, and it'd be nicer had the vocalist not been swamped in the mix here. The bridge has a very nice minor chord progression with a strong introductory guitar solo, and then a massively orchestrated power chord section and definitely inspired solo that fades out, back to a reprise of the intro. Definitely an album stand out, it was a good choice as a closer even if the "dying breath" conceit at the very end is a bit dicey.

The bonus track, "Absolutely Positive", shows a largely more creative side of Everon than the rest of the album. The guitar work is much showier, and the chorus is catchier (and less "pretentious") than most of the preceding album. As it is, is makes for a very welcome breath of fresh air.

In summary, this album is best listened to while doing something. Listened to too closely, it becomes like a German torte, something that quickly turns your stomach with its richness if you have too much of it. $34.00 is also a lot to pay.

Well this pomp/melodic prog metal band has arrived at its possible roundabout, that is: They can come back to their roots, with a typical sound belonging to the American/canadian pomp (listen to Saga for example)or going beyond, by choosing the new style,which is closer to that one-melodic-of any traditional prog metal...in fact the instrumental intro it's the typical sound of classic prog, with an interesting interplay between the keyboards and the guitars (usually They utilise the synths in order to enrich the sound,not as a solistic bombastic instrument, otherwise maintaining sometimes such a strong interplay, sustained by the powerful guitar), which introduces the enter of the melody, with its typical pomp sound.The melody isn't so much amazing (even if the guitar is a strong support here) and it continues in the same way till the intro of the pretty mini-suite"Fantasma Theme/The real escape (with the presence of great violins)and its prosecution with the fantastic crescendo of "Whatever it takes"!!The last three tracks, dedicated to their former music assistant, unfortunately dead, has a certain mysticism and remains linked to the theme of death, but without gothic tones or those ones typical of an horror soundtrack motion picture!!
My problem with this album, when I try to listen to it from the beginning to the end, is the presence of a certain discontinuity, this CD lacking of real inspiration in some passages and without keeping the concept album coherent till the end...but the quality recording is excellent, sometimes mixed at an excessive volume, but always clear!!

Recommended also to the fans of melodic prog metal (even without peaks of inspiration), but being conscious that their roots are close to the pomp sound of their debut album.

I've just discovered Everon, and what a great discovery they are. Fantasma is the first album of Everons' I have ever heard, and to be honest, I was astounded after hearing it, and immediately played it again, and again. I think I listened to this album 4 or 5 times straight in a row, without listening to anything else in between, all in the space of one day! This doesn't normally happen to me.

What I particulary like about Everon, is the extensive use of piano, along with the orchestration applied to the songs, in conjunction with the sometimes heavy rhythm and lead guitar. The production approach they take also set them aside from similar artists. They have their own sound. They are instantly recognisable. Lyrically, they are superb, and there is plenty of romanticism in the lyrics too, and human emotion by the bucketloads.

Will you the reader, like it as much?. Well, I guess you would have to compare your tastes to mine, and if they match fairly well, then yes, you might like this album. So, here we go, if you like Genesis, Yes, Marillion, Fish, Arena, IQ, Pendragon, Rush, Shadow Gallery, Enchant, Tiles, Queensryche, Pallas, or similar bands, Everon might be just your thing too.

The reviewer below has given you a good idea of the songs on this CD so I wont repeat it. Needless to say, I agree with everything he has said about this album and the band who made it.

To my tastes (and I am a fan of this genre) this album is suitable only for wannabe-guitar-hero psuedo-muso-types stuck in a 60s timewarp.

I'd rather listen to someone play Tetris ALL lunchtime than suffer another track of this. It lacks dynamics AND emotion for my tastes.

Ay Caramba!