Evergrey
The Mod Club
Toronto, Ontario
May 28, 2017
Sweden’s progressive metal act Evergrey performed at the Mod Club in Toronto recently. This powerhouse quintet has been around for 22 years and has 10 studio albums under their belt. I will be the first to admit, I had never heard of them. But as a metal fan, I was interested in seeing their show after viewing a few Youtube videos.
The crowd that evening comprised of 10/1 male / female ratio. I found that surprising considering Evergrey’s sound is very ear pleasing. A good blend of melodic, mixed with progressive thrash guitar riffs and double kick. Looking around the venue, you could see that the guys could easily sing along to the tunes. What was kind of a pleasant surprise was the calmness that was associated with the crowd. Sure they would pump their horned hands and maybe jump a bit, but there were no indications of a moshpit or rough behavior. People were just there to enjoy the music.
Let me take a moment to introduce the guys. Frontman Tom S Englund does not have the typical growler vocals, he sings cleanly and melodically. Englund is a natural frontman who engages with the crowd with ease. After the show, I heard a fan say that at one point it felt like he was specifically singing to her. He also does double duty by playing guitar. Guitarist Henrik Danhage stood at stage left. Playing with an esthetically beat up guitar, Danhage shredded through the songs like a knife gliding through warm butter, with complete ease of execution. The low-end string man was Johan Niemann on bass. I think out of the bunch he was the most energetic and had a good stage presence, not over the top, but certainly looked like he was enjoying the experience. Rounding off the rhythm section was drummer Jonas Ekdahl. He is a steady, on tempo drummer who could unleash the double kick at a moments notice. Rikard Zander plays keys. Lots of metal bands in North America omit keyboard in their heavy sounds, however, typical to European Metal, it gives a melodic flavor to the music.
An interesting factor to their set list was after 11 songs they left the stage. Evergrey’s encore was a whopping five songs plus a guitar solo, not the typical 3 songs that I’m used to hearing. Upon returning to the stage Zander played a relaxing slow tempo melody on keys, then it progressed to a drum solo. Eventually, the rest of the band made their way to the stage to continue the show.
Not being familiar with their material, I found myself on multiple occasions bobbing my head to the thrash riffs. Evergrey left a good impression on my senses and I will certainly follow them closer. If you are not familiar with European melodic thrash metal, check them out. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
Set list:
Leave It Behind Us
The Fire
Passing Through
Distance
A New Dawn
My Allied Ocean
Monday Morning Apocalypse
Black Undertow
In Orbit
Broken Wings
The Grand Collapse
Encore:
Words Mean Nothing
When The Walls Go Down
Recreation Day
Guitar Solo
A Touch Of Blessing
King Of Errors
All Photos by Sue Hebert Sadzak
©2017. DO NOT copy or use without permission.
Evergrey
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