Band:	Evergrey
Album:	Monday Morning Apocalypse
Style:	Power metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	March 27, 2006
A review by:	Jeff

01. Monday Morning Apocalypse
02. Unspeakable
03. Lost
04. Obedience
05. The Curtain Fall
06. In Remembrance
07. At Loss For Words
08. Till Dagmar
09. Still In The Water
10. The Dark I Walk You Through
11. I Should
12. Closure [Limited Edition bonus]

Evergrey, one of my favourite Swedish bands is back, two years only after the release of their precedent excellent album, "The Inner Circle". The last album was really nice, full of emotion but (it's not a reproach) a bit soft too in general. It was more melancholic and peaceful than "Recreation Day" but however really enjoyable. But Evergrey is one of these few bands that knows how to change its direction without any problem and that knows how to surprise its fans. The proof is "Monday Morning Apocalypse", a powerful album this time.. as always Evergrey knows how to do great music?

"Monday Morning Apocalypse" is divided in two parts... Well, not really but there are two differents styles of music in the album. First, like on "The Inner Circle" some of the songs (a minority) are slow and melancholic. "Unspeakable", "The Dark I Walk You Through" or "Still In The Water", with mid-tempo rhythms, are the better proof of my deduction. There is always this really specific dark and beautiful atmosphere but I think that it is a bit darker than on "The Inner Circle". On the other hand, the "second" part of the album is a lot more Heavy and powerful. "Monday Morning Apocalypse" (the song), "Lost" (a song in the spirit of "A Touch Of Blessing") or "The Curtain Fall", for example, are really powerful with a bunch of strong and heavy guitars riffs and also a lot of amazing guitars solos. Oki, it is still Evergrey music son don't expect something really new, they still use their way of writing and at least it's super catchy and damn effective so really it's impossible to be bored by this music. Believe me, those songs will kick your asses during the live performances.

About the lyrics, for the first time we're not in front of a concept album. "Monday Morning Apocalypse" is composed of twelve different little stories that, as always, talk about human beings' problems (depression etc). The writing is still really good but now that I did the interview with Tom, I know that the band wanted to do something a bit different too. The best proof is the cover, really different than on their precedent albums, this time it's a lot cooler, if you see what I mean.

All in all, "Monday Morning Apocalypse" is a great album and all the ones who love Evergrey will be satisfied by their new release. With their really personal music, this band proves that we can still do nowadays, original Metal. "Monday Morning Apocalypse" is a beautiful piece of music, so if you are a fan of the band, don't miss this new album because I'm sure that you'll be addicted.