Evergrey set the standard in the early 2000s for what progressive power metal would look like for decades to come. Rather than focusing on shredding and neoclassical elements Evergrey went right for the feels with incredibly catchy music, crushing riffs (most of the time), and a certain emotion that only Thomas Englund can achieve with his voice.
12) Monday Morning Apocalypse (2006)
Is it a surprise to anyone that this one was the last album I wrote about and the one about which I have the least to say. The production sucks, it really sucks. I just don’t like how the guitars sound. The songwriting is remarkably bland, I really like Evergrey, but this album isn’t for me, sadly it’s only album of their discography that I actively dislike. I’m sure there are people out there that enjoy this album, but man is this a hard one to get through for me.
Best Songs: Monday Morning Apocalypse, Unspeakable, I Should
11) Torn (2008)
From 2006 to 2011 Evergrey entered into what I’m calling their era of mediocrity. I actively dislike Monday Morning Apocalypse, but it’s the only Evergrey album I don’t like. Even with this being one from the bottom it’s actually a fairly consistent album. The production is much improved from MMA and even though there isn’t a 5/5 song to be found on it, none of the songs are really bad. It’s got a really crunchy sound to it which kind of makes up for the mediocre hooks. Like this album actually riffs really hard and that alone makes this album worthwhile. I’d even argue this album sounds better than Glorious Collision.
Best Songs: Broken Wings, Fear, Fail, These Scars
10) Glorious Collision (2011)
Okay the production on this album sounds really weird. Like the music is pretty good and it’s definitely the best thing they had released since 2004, but there’s something about this one that feels off. There almost seems to be less energy and passion in the music and in some places the band seems almost out of sync. I ended up giving this one the nod over Torn though because the hooks on this album are much better and generally it just sounds more like Evergrey.
Best Songs: Leave it Behind Us, You, Frozen
9) The Atlantic (2019)
People are going to be mad about this one, but outside of about 4 real standout tracks this one just doesn’t hold up when compared to their best works. The sound and production are great and the album starts with a bang; A Silent Arc and Weightless are both excellent songs, but then in my opinion the rest of the album never really takes off. I like End of Silence, Departure and This Ocean enough, but the album stays mired in mid tempo slog and I just prefer a little more energy and aggression from this band.
8) The Dark Discovery (1998)
Maybe it’s just me, but I think a lot of people have a tendency to overlook a band’s debut album, especially when the band’s early work is so different from the material that got you into the band. A friend of mine had this album ranked as his #1 and I was shocked; I also knew I had to really check it out. Even though the production is definitely subpar this is still a great album. I actually really like the sound of the guitars and I just really like the energy from this album, for some reason it makes me think of Fates Warning in the 90s, gone gothic.
Best songs: The Dark Discovery, December 26th, Closed Eyes, and To Hope is to Fear
7) Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy (1999)
Honestly I’m amazed this one ended up this low. It’s a testement to the strength of Evergrey’s discography that this ended up here. This album takes all of the strengths of Dark Discovery and improves upon them. The production sounds better, the atmosphere is more pronounced and gives the album that gothic feel their early material really embraces. One of my all time favorite Evergrey songs is Nosferatu and I think it perfectly encapsulates what this album is doing. The choir adds a lot of depth to their sound and helps out the choruses especially. Ultimately though there’s definitely some forgettable material on this and once I got over the initial “this sounds great” I realized I couldn’t rank this album any higher than this.
Best Songs: Solitude Within, Nosferatu,
6) The Storm Within (2016)
I love this album, I remember back in 2016 this album featured prominently on my year end list. In 2021 I think I’ve cooled on this one a little, songs like Someday and Astray seem generic for the band and two ballads is one too many in my opinion. Still overall this is a very memorable album with lots of highlights. Passing By has to be one of my favorite Evergrey songs. I remember the first time I heard this album it was a rainy, but warm July day, I was lifeguarding, but we closed the pool for a bit and I had a solid hour to finally listen to the new Evergrey album and read, it was glorious. My point being that I’ll always have a bit of nostalgia for this album, even though it’s got some moderately sized flaws.
Other favorites include: Distance, My Allied Ocean, The Lonely Monarch and of course the title track serves as a brilliant ending to the whole album. It was a very near thing between this and The Inner Circle
5) The Inner Circle (2004)
I’m going to give The Inner Circle my personal award for “most overrated” Evergrey album. It’s not a bad album, obviously I like it quite a bit to put it at #5, but it’s most definitely not their best album. That being said, this album does have one of the best opening four songs of their discography. A Touch of Blessing, Ambassador, In the Wake of the Weary, and Harmless Wishes all absolutely crush; however I personally feel like the album never gets back to that peak. The Essence of Conviction though is a hell of a song, it really reminds me of their earlier sounds, specifically like something off Solitude Dominance Tragedy. I have to say though, I think the ending is weak, actually this is an issue that many Evergrey albums share, but the last couple tracks just do not resonate with me.
In the Wake of the Weary has to be one of the best songs Evergrey has ever penned.
4) Hymns for the Broken (2014)
A few years ago I would have said this was my favorite Evergrey album, obviously I’ve come back to earth a bit on this one. As compared to the albums above this one, it relies a little too much on mid tempo prog to be placed any higher on the list. However this album does two things REALLY well; first the hooks are just amazing, seriously every chorus on this album is incredibly memorable and the ballad is one of the best they’ve ever done. Secondly this is one of the better album endings Evergrey has penned. The Grand Collapse and The Aftermath are first of all I’m pretty sure the longest songs they’ve ever written (not counting Trilogy of the Damned), but together they make for a really climactic ending to the whole album. Evergrey has difficulty with album closers sometimes, but this is fantastic.
Best songs: King of Errors, A New Dawn, Barricades, The Fire, Hymns for the Broken, The Grand Collapse.
3) Recreation Day (2003)
I feel like everyone hyped up Inner Circle way too much for me, when I finally got to this part of their discography I was shocked that I liked Recreation Day so much more than Inner Circle. It’s got that speed I’m looking for, but this album also has a lot more shredding than most Evergrey albums which being a huge power metal fan really intrigued me. Songs like Recreation Day, The Great Deceiver, Visions and Blinded all forcibly grabbed my attention, but the songs that really sold me on this album were Madness Caught Another Victim and Trilogy of the Damned (remastered bonus track I know, but it’s so good). Madness is a perfect little acoustic ballad and I fell in love. What this album does better than most Evergrey albums is the pacing, the tracklist is very well constructed and it flows really nicely.
2) In Search of Truth (2001)
When I was getting into Evergrey way back in 2014, this was the one most people told me to check out, that this was peak Evergrey (aside from Inner Circle fans that is). They were right, everything about this album is emblematic of what Evergrey is all about. Dark and moody, with ripping riffs. It’s got that classic late 90s, early 2000s production that makes it sound really bit, and yet cold and distant. Whether it’s catchy stuff like The Masterplan, and Watcher of the Skies or cool intricate prog like Mark of the Triangle and Dark Waters this album does a little bit of everything that any Evergrey fan could want. If I have one complaint; the ending is a bit of a let down, but I won’t hold it against it, because most Evergrey albums end poorly. This is considered a stone cold classic by most fans and I can’t argue with that assessment.
1) Escape of the Phoenix (2021)
I’m a relative newcomer to the Evergrey fandom, having only followed them since 2014 so there’s a little bit of shall we call it newbie bias. I loved the sound of Hymns for the Broken and the albums that followed it, but I never expected this. For me Evergrey finally delivers on being a grand mix of darkly emotional progressive metal with flairs of power metal. It always seems to me like Evergrey is just a little short on the faster songs, instead relying on mid tempo romps; which is fine, but I’ve always been waiting for Evergrey to really blow me away and this album finally did. Most importantly they finally figured out how to end an album properly! Run is easily the best final song on any of their albums. Escape of the Phoenix is a grand mix of all the styles they’ve spent their career delving into and finally an album that I think delivers from start to finish with nary a bump in between. It’s not a perfect album, but it’s definitely become my favorite Evergrey album.
