Customer Reviews

Inner Circle

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I'll have to say, this one was not what I expected. Is that a bad thing? Heck no! This is something that I thought that I would never say about an Evergrey album, give it a couple of spins before you pass judgment. For Evergrey, this is an EXTREMELY complex and progressive album. It reminds me a lot more of ISOT than Recreation Day, but is still a step in a slightly different direction. As far as lyrics, it is a concept album about people using their religion to justify doing horrible things. I think that these are some of the most thought out lyrics that Evergrey has ever done. Through the music and the lyrics, you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach like you are there experiencing the terrible things that are happening. Musically, this is not only their most complex work, but also their most haunting (the work of a live string section helps a lot). It is very ominous and even scary sounding at times. I also feel that this is their most intense work. It does include two beautiful ballads, but the rest is very heavy.

As always, Tom's singing is top notch, perhaps even more emotional than any of his other work. And I know you all love to hear Carina sing right? Well she is part of nearly every song, and the results are stunning. So what is bad about it? Simple, it ends!! I truely feel that this is their best work. My advice: stop reading reviews, pick this up, and prepare for the trip of a lifetime.

I CAN'T BELIEVE A FEW REVIEWERS DIDN'T LIKE INNER CIRCLE.

There are two kinds of people in this world. Evergrey Fans and those who have never heard them. If you are of the former group, don't worry The Inner Circle is another five star album in the string of five star albums. For the latter group, read on.

Sweden's Masters of Morose Metal are back again. The Inner Circle's is hot off the press and be assured, it's at least as good if not better than their best, which of course is better than anything else around. Evergrey's fifth album is another concept album. This time we hear the story of a impressionable member of an esoteric cult called The Inner Circle

Although I think this is a fantastic album, I don't really think the music is that much different from previous albums. It's still the same Evergrey sound even though the current lineup is entirely new, excepting the brilliant singer/guitarist/songwriter Tom Englund but I do think Evergrey has matured in it's approach to the music. The arrangements are now more complex and items that were only hinted at in previous releases are featured in The Inner Circle. Orchestration, background vocals and choirs, items that teased us in previous releases, are now integrally featured for a bigger more impressive sound.

I suppose comparisons to Queensryche and their fabulous 1988 album Operation Mincrime are inevitable. After all it is the standard to which all concept albums are measured and it too was about a cult.

So how does it compare? It's close, very close but I'm not going to judge. You be the judge!

The common Evergrey characteristics are still predominant on their fifth studio release The Inner Circle: dark vibe, emotional vocal delivery, deeply moving subject theme and mesmerizing artistic aesthetics.

This is a concept album. To quote Tom on it, this is what TIC aims to deal with on a conceptual level: "Throughout the album we will follow a fragile person with low self-esteem who leaves his family for a cult, and who makes drastic changes in his life in order to fully live out 'the inner circles' way of life." Apparently Tom Englund once again focuses on the themes of religion and religious zealots who are so keen on influencing individuals' personal beliefs and shaping them up in the way they believe is so perfect. We had a similar insight on this on the band's In Search of Truth CD where the individual was trying to fight the society in order to get some credibility. Here we're facing a similar approach but different concept. There are plenty of spoken intermissions injected both inbetween and during the tracks where we hear this weak individual who is all devoid of his own beliefs trying to manipulate other human beings. It's sort of like the intro of ISOT's "The Masterplan". It is exactly this misconception that Tom Englund so rightfully objects to and makes it the focus of his artistic messages which he so (painfully) conveys.

To put it frankly, The Inner Circle might have more replay value for me in the future compared to their previous album Recreation Day; however I am undecided at this moment whether it will reach the depth and perfection of their older work such as Solidute Dominance Tragedy or In Seach of Truth, the latter of which was their pinnacle of success in my opinion. That said, Recreation Day was a more complex album writing-wise. On The Inner Circle the most noteworthy change is the new drummer Jonas Ekdahl who replaced Patrick Carlsson who was the only other Evergrey member save Tom Englund who had been in the band since the very beginning. Patrick was much more of a technical drummer and almost invariably made his presence heavily felt while Jonas is more laid-back and likes to keep up with the tempo of the song. This line-up change has given The Inner Circle a thorough new vibe and has its appealing factor to fans from both ends of the (progressive) spectrum. I personally like Pat's approach better but Jonas is still doing a nice job cause honestly the compositions on the new album don't really call for more complex drumming.

Like every other Evergrey release, Tom Englund's vocals and expressive delivery is the focal point of each song and since it's Englund's singing that sets this band apart from any other out there that's exactly the way it should be. The initial goal was to get Ayreon mastermind Arjen Lucassen to do the production job but Arjen declined as he feels the Evergrey guys need to be themselves, not an Ayreon variant. Therefore Tom Englund handled the duty himself and much to many fans' surprise he pulled it off very well.

The album has a running time of 48 minutes and Carina adds her own vocal harmonies and leads in various parts of the album and needless to say she does an awesome job, especially on "In the Wake of the Weary". Englund and Danhage's guitar work seems more textural here while they were more riff-oriented on albums like Solitude Dominance Tragedy. The new album however still carries the direct approach of The Dark Discovery and SDT and retains the dark vibe of their earlier work. It also utilizes a more subtle keyboard work that was lacking on Recreation Day maintaining a fitting atmosphere. The band has hired a real string symphony orchestra which is widely prevalent on "Harmless Wishes" and "Faith Restored". Overall this album is quite heavy but the hair on your neck will still raise when you hear "Waking Up Blind" or the repeated chorus of "The Essence of Conviction". They're the kind of Evergrey songs that have the trademark Englund stamp all over them.

There are two kinds of people in this world. Evergrey Fans and those who have never heard them. If you are of the former group, don't worry The Inner Circle is another five star album in the string of five star albums. For the latter group, read on.

Sweden's Masters of Morose Metal are back again. The Inner Circle's is hot off the press and be assured, it's at least as good if not better than their best, which of course is better than anything else around. Evergrey's fifth album is another concept album. This time we hear the story of a impressionable member of an esoteric cult called The Inner Circle

Although I think this is a fantastic album, I don't really think the music is that much different from previous albums. It's still the same Evergrey sound even though the current lineup is entirely new, excepting the brilliant singer/guitarist/songwriter Tom Englund but I do think Evergrey has matured in it's approach to the music. The arrangements are now more complex and items that were only hinted at in previous releases are featured in The Inner Circle. Orchestration, background vocals and choirs, items that teased us in previous releases, are now integrally featured for a bigger more impressive sound.

I suppose comparisons to Queensryche and their fabulous 1988 album Operation Mincrime are inevitable. After all it is the standard to which all concept albums are measured and it too was about a cult.

So how does it compare? It's close, very close but I'm not going to judge. You be the judge!

I came to this, my first Evergrey CD, knowing only that they were a Swedish prog metal band, which conjured up a mental image of Opeth in "clean" vocal mode. Evergrey was touted by some fellow progheads whose taste I respect so I thought I would give it a try and I'm glad I did. While I do enjoy some prog metal, I'm usually more of an old-school symphonic prog kind of guy, so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed The Inner Circle.

Evergrey are more proggy than I though they would be when I first heard "Swedish prog metal" attached to their name, but when they want to they can blast out some traditional double-kick speed metal. The singer doesn't growl like death metal or scream like speed metal though, using a dramatic style(and yes, sometimes cheesy-but it just goes with the territory with prog metal.) The vocals are mostly quite effective, and are surprisingly sung in perfectly enunciated English. There are tons of proggy touches, from keyboards that are much more upfront than most prog metal, to sampled voices and female vocals (shades of Dark Side of the Moon)to the clear and well thought out concept concerning religious cults of personality, those that have a leader who elevates himself to Godlike status. There are so many ridiculous and half-baked bad "concept albums" out there, especially in the neo-prog world, that I was pleasantly surprised by the coherence on display here.

Both guitarists play tastefully enough to mostly sidestep gratuitous wankery, but the real secret weapon is the excellent keyboard player, something I noticed from the first track and my appreciation just increased as the CD progressed. I read that other than the bandleader, this is an entirely new lineup of the group, startling given the maturity and tightness of this release. I will definitely be checking out some of their earlier work and I hope that lineup was as good as this one.

As I said, my prog metal knowledge is quite limited but I would describe this as a cross between Dream Theater at their best, with a liberal dose of Opeth minus the vocals and some 70's symph prog influence. For those who are more into "regular" prog like myself, Evergrey is a great change of pace.

I bought this CD at a store about 6 weeks ago. I knew very little about the band. I had heard the song "Sorry" on MTV head bangers ball and was floored. So I picked this CD up. I have listened to it, from start to finish no less than 25 times. I have turned on a bunch of friends to this and they are hooked like me. I have since went out and bought every release they have available and will be getting the latest Live CD. I have been waiting for this type of band my entire life. I love Prog. music and Metal of all types. But this band has somehow managed to combing METAL, PROG., a little doom etc. and blended them with total perfection. There is trually no other band that sounds like EVERGREY. I love everyone in Prog. / METAL from YES, DREAM THEATRE, OPETH, etc. But these guys have finally found the perfect formula at last. I can't trually describe how perfect this band is. I am 35 and have been a musician, music lover my entire life. THESE GUYS ARE TRUALLY MIND BLOWING... THIS IS JUST INCREDIBLE MUSIC. Not a single bad track. These guys are now my fav. band.

With "Recreation Day" I had no idea what to expect from one song to the next making for a refreshing CD. But on "The Inner Circle" the songs tend to sound similar in style and tempo, most notably with the simple rhythm guitar sections where there is more of an emphasis on the vocals. The lyrics are strong and elevate the disc to a higher level than it really deserves. However, the production is first rate, with powerful, layered vocals and a generally charged atmosphere. What makes the tracks standout are either Rikard Zander's keyboards and piano flourishes or the undeniable power of female vocalist Carina Englund. Simply put, this is a concept album about a man lured into a fanatical cult promising the heavens, but he ultimately sees the hypocrisy behind the perfect facade and is eventually left alone. It is a striking, sometimes moving story, and the CD is all the stronger for it. I knew going in that this album would take harsh criticism from fans and music critics being that it is only a year since their last album. Initially, some of the songs sound like leftovers from "Recreation Day" tied together with a common theme, but after repeated listens I can honestly say "The Inner Circle" is a strong album with great arrangements and solid production value. It's just too bad so many Evergrey fans seem to be jumping ship. I am staying aboard because the sailing is still just fine.

I'll have to say, this one was not what I expected. Is that a bad thing? Heck no! This is something that I thought that I would never say about an Evergrey album, give it a couple of spins before you pass judgment. For Evergrey, this is an EXTREMELY complex and progressive album. It reminds me a lot more of ISOT than Recreation Day, but is still a step in a slightly different direction. As far as lyrics, it is a concept album about people using their religion to justify doing horrible things. I think that these are some of the most thought out lyrics that Evergrey has ever done. Through the music and the lyrics, you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach like you are there experiencing the terrible things that are happening. Musically, this is not only their most complex work, but also their most haunting (the work of a live string section helps a lot). It is very ominous and even scary sounding at times. I also feel that this is their most intense work. It does include two beautiful ballads, but the rest is very heavy.

As always, Tom's singing is top notch, perhaps even more emotional than any of his other work. And I know you all love to hear Carina sing right? Well she is part of nearly every song, and the results are stunning. So what is bad about it? Simple, it ends!! I truely feel that this is their best work. My advice: stop reading reviews, pick this up, and prepare for the trip of a lifetime.

For anyone who has ever heard Evergrey and their musical talent before, this album will not disappoint. Each song is a masterpiece filled with emotion that will rock your very soul. "When the Walls Come Down" is a perfect example of what I'm talking about, and if you are skeptical go read the lyrics online.

For a person new to Evergrey, this is what you will get... Haunting and emotional vocals, Amazing lyrics, Beautiful solos including guitar, drums, and piano (something I love by the way). No longer will you be stuck listening to Linkin Park playing the same chord over and over again!!!

Give it a shot

Great work from Evergrey, again... Metal needs bands like Evergrey to bring a new atmosphere, and this album is really well
done. I personally miss Patrick Carlsson and his master drums but
the album itself is very interesting, and the last song, When The
Walls Go Down, is amazing. I did not understand the two reviews which gave this album 1 star... Stupid comments, nonsense.