Evergrey – A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)

I am traveling for this review to Sweden, specifically Gothenburg to meet one of the finest bands in this scene – Evergrey. It will be a perfect opportunity to learn more about the album A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament) before Evergrey sets foot on Irish shore.

As Evergrey is known for its complexity, poetry and diversity I sat down first with Rikard Zander the keyboardist to get a better understanding of how the album came to be. I learned quite a lot about Evergrey, videos, the concept & artwork. All these topics I will discuss in this review and in the end there will be a summary.

Evergrey

After chatting with Rikard and listening to the album myself I realized that Evergrey is a band which creates music from the heart. They just subconsciously get an idea and work this out together. They are not afraid of being different and threading in uncharted waters. Every time they challenge themselves to go beyond their previous work and create something they have not done before. A good example are Midwinter Calls and Save Us songs. 

Midwinter Calls is quite a daring song. It is much more explained in the interview, but in summary the band recorded the choir during a gig, the audience were just singing the words they were told, and afterwards it was mixed and mastered. 

Save Us is a great example as well, because for the first time they asked the fans to submit their voices for the song. Both songs worked out greatly, although the band had no plan B if the recording would not work in the end. These two examples prove that the band looks for new ways of creating music and not being afraid to take risks and just go with their gut feeling.

”WITH EVERGREY EVERY SONG IS A COMPLETE SURPRISE AS IT IS A BAND WHO NEVER REPEATS ITSELF”
Collaboration and co-creation

Another great characteristic of Evergrey is their co-creation and collaboration. Each band member can bring their own ideas to the table. A good song which explains this is “Call out of The Dark”. At the beginning Rikard had a keyboard melody idea and he presented it to Jonas (drummer) in order to work out the idea further. Rikard thought the grooves would be a great addition and as a consequence, they started collaborating and sparring some ideas. Afterwards, the whole idea was represented and each member gave their feedback and their own ideas to this song.

Due to the above elements it is very hard to say what Evergrey exactly plays as every time you will be surprised with a different musical side. What’s more, A Heartless Portret offers so much diversity that I am lost with what exact influences can be heard. Despite the diverse range of musical directions each song flawlessly fits together with the other songs which is quite impressive as A Heartless Portrait is a full album containing in total 10 songs.

I believe all the elements above: collaboration, co-creation, musical diversity and courage to experiment and thread uncharted waters are the secret receipt of what makes Evergrey so great. A Heartless Portrait has a lot of surprises and twists making each song really worthwhile to explore as each song offers a side of Evergrey that has not been explored yet. Furthermore, each song differs greatly from the other one in the album, yet it flawlessly connects in some way with the other songs.

”EACH MEMBER OF EVERGREY CREATES ONE PUZZLE PIECE ”

Videos

Evergrey A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament) is accompanied by four videos: Blindfolded, Midwinter Calls, Save us and Call out in the Dark.

Blindfolded

Blindfolded is a video which was spontaneously created. Tom, the founder of Evergrey, had an idea for a photoshoot due to the song Blindfolded. However, after working out this idea a snowball effect was set into motion. The band decided to follow this idea and make a three piece centered story about “Blindfolded”. In each song the “Blindfolded” concept is being continued.

This means the Blindfolded video kicks off the concept. Personally, I love the video as it perfectly illustrates the soul of the song. According to me it is about being blindfolded by the media and setting yourself free. For this reason, I loved the intro and outro which could be taken straight from a movie as there was some acting and dialogue involved. This technique is something I have not seen before and the first time the band has been involved in acting. For this reason, this song perfectly displays what Evergrey is all about, challenging themselves and threading in uncharted waters.

What’s more, this technique perfectly sends the message across and strengthens the song at the same time. Moreover, it ends brilliantly with the following quote: “Make sure you know who you are before someone tells you” making the video unforgettable.

Save Us

Another song, which showcased the soul of Evergrey is “Save Us”, which is also the first video of the album. This song highlights the “Blindfolded” concept by including the photoshoot idea in video format. Apart from this, the song also visualizes in a great stylish way the “Save Us” song title. This is my favorite video of the album, because it greatly tells the story and gives you a good taste and introduction of the album.

Midwinter Calls

The next one “Midwinter Calls” left me just jawdropped. There is much story, visual effects and acting in this video! Next to it, the Blindfolded idea is returning here, strengthening the whole concept.

Call out in the Dark

Call out in the Dark is a visualizer song. This means basically a simple video that did not go through a lot of development. Also, it does not continue the three themed pieces of story. I found this video quite an interesting choice for a band who is known for complexity to make a simpler one. Nonetheless, Evergrey is known for its poetry and the way this song came to be it makes perfectly sense to go for this kind of music video. As discussed above, it all started with a melody line. Seeing vinyl playing and shifting volume columns are an excellent representation of this.

”WITH ASTONISHING VISUALS, ACTING AND STORY BLINDFOLDED IS BROUGHT ALIVE IN THE VIDEO”

The concept & Artwork

As discussed above the whole album originated from the Blindfolded song. A song that naturally came to be. I believe it is a great and actual concept. Nowadays, the media blindfolds us with the amount and distribution of information. Apart from this, it is a perfect concept for visualisation which Evergrey definitely has succeeded as discussed above. It is a complex and challenging concept too which perfectly connects to Evergrey roots.

For those who are first listeners as myself it is an intriguing one that lures you into the album. Seeing the artwork for the first time I started wondering the following: “Why is everyone blindfolded?” & “How does it fit into metal genre?” Listening to A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament) and discussing the album with Rikard I can definitely now connect the dots. The concept is just a perfect piece of the puzzle.

The front of the artwork shows the concept in a different perspective which I really like due to its complexity and it immediately grabs your attention. It has so many details and sophications as well.

”THE CONCEPT & ARTWORK ARE TIGHTLY CONNECTED TO EVERGREY’S ROOTS”

Summary

A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament) is not an easy album to get into as it requires a diverse listening set of ears. However, when you do go into it you will be treated with a quite diverse album who brings vividly the songs alive with the videography.

This is the reason, I would recommend to start first with the videos and holding the album itself to get a taste of the album itself. And then afterwards just tune it and give this album a try, because this album definitely explores great and innovative ideas. A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament) will definitely surprise you in some way.

”A HEARTLESS PORTRAIT (THE ORPHEAN TESTAMENT) IS AN ALBUM THAT DOESN’T REPEAT ITSELF, INSTEAD THE BAND THREADS WITH EACH SONG IN UNCHARTED WATERS“
MAIr