With more than 30 years, the Scandinavian progressive metal band Evergrey will release its 14th album in June 2024.
“Theories of Emptiness” will be released via Napalm Records and features interesting collaborations such as Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) and Salina Englund. The perfect blend between raw sounds with melodious riffs that truly shape Evergrey’s music.
We had the opportunity to speak with Jonas Ekdhal about the upcoming album and learn what they drew their inspiration for the new record, why the combination between the emptiness in the lyrics and the astral elements and the skillful artistry behind the musical development of not only the band, but also of Adam Getgood.
M.I. - Evergrey always had a dark and emotional imagery associated with the melodic elements. Can we expect the same of Theories of Emptiness (2024)?
We can say it’s a bit different this time. It’s not as dramatic nor decaying as the previous one. We kind of scaled down the imagery, because we wanted to do something completely different, regarding the artwork of the cover, lyrics and other stuff.
We felt that we needed to switch a lot of things for this new album, and the artwork and imagery were one part of that whole thing. Basically, we started doing the opposite of what we have done in the past with the dramatic imagery and colors.
M.I. - What distinguishes the upcoming album from A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament) (2022)?
There are a lot of differences. For starters, we have our own rehearsal studio and we recorded basically everything there, with the exception of Tom’s vocals and guitar solos, which were recorded in his own studio.
This was a great experience, which allowed us to get inspiration, creativity and liberating feelings, knowing that we will write and record the album on the exact same spot as long as we want and whenever we want. We weren’t concerned about running out of studio time or money. We were just focused on writing this record.
The other part of the change was that we worked together with Adam Getgood who mixed the album. He was a person who we were at the same tone, concerning the album. He arrived at Gothenburg from Bristol to tune the drums, prepare the mics and we got a good drum sound recording. He also did the same for the bass guitar, electric guitars around two days. Having him there to tweak was amazing. Adam did an amazing job mixing, and he’s been doing this since early times when he released Getgood Drums. He shared his interest in mixing the album and I couldn’t believe it, it was like a dream come true. He told us he wanted to be a part of the whole recording process, what comes to setting up and preparing the gear. I never thought I would be experiencing that moment, and it was a huge deal for me to see him there working with us.
These were basically the main changes, and also our bass player Johan Niemann was the main person who wrote the majority of the songs. He’s been a part of all songs, except one. He’s incredibly talented and it’s amazing to see what he delivers in terms of ideas. At the beginning, the first batch of ideas were approximately fifty, and we couldn’t believe how much we had to pick up the best pieces of songs, sound production and more.
M.I. - It feels like a more personal and intimate album. Even the songs showcase the individual and emotional side of mankind.
Ever since Tom is writing down all the lyrics, it reflects exactly what’s going on in his life at the moment.
I feel the lyrics are getting deeper, kind of a poetic way, but somehow a bit brighter and more positive than before. It’s amazing to have that contrast between light and dark stuff. This is something that I feel it fits the music, and the band as well at the moment. He (Tom) is constantly evolving at songwriting for the better at every album.
M.I. - The previous record hit the first charts in the USA, Sweden, Finland and Germany. Hopefully, will the new one follow its predecessor?
Let’s see! It’s not up to us. All I can say is that we delivered the best album we possibly could have written. We put all of our energy, creativity and energy into this album, which of course is what we do for every album.
M.I. - Definitely the band always keeps improving and always seek ways to introduce an extra flavor and concept of uniqueness to each album. Can we expect a balance between aggressive raw tones with more melodious riffs?
The main difference is for every album you make, you learn something from the previous one and take it into the new one. You can make it different, better, and you can evolve as well. As human beings and musicians this is what we believe. We like to learn new things, to listen and try out new things too, in order not to get stagnant.
M.I. - Who conceived the artwork and why the choice of astral elements?
I think it’s our fitting imagery. The whole thing about the universe and the stars is its own uniqueness. If you look up to the sky and see the stars, you get different interpretations. I believe it’s very fitting, especially because it’s inside one person’s head, as you can see on the artwork cover. On the cover there’s an emptiness, but there are also these astral images that reflects every song.
M.I. - The video “Falling from The Sun” depicts fireworks set up in the sky and the solar energy emanating from the greatest star. Was the video filmed in Sweden?
Correct. We drove about 2h30 from Gothenburg all the way up north, almost in the middle of nowhere, in a small town and set up all our equipment.
This was a super cool experience. We never had many fireworks as we had on that day. It was insane, they were the biggest fireworks shot up about 40 meters in the sky. At the end of the video, the final ones went 200 meters. It was epic, they even went out of the video picture.
M.I. - In “Cold Dreams”, you decided to invite Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), as well as Englund’s daughter Salina. Why this specific collaboration?
Tom thought the album needed a female presence in that song. Salina was the most natural name to come up, and she’s been on previous albums before. She’s a great singer with a super and unique voice. So, this was a no brainer for us.
As for Jonas Renkse, we talked about in bringing him as a guest artist, and we discussed which approach we would like to take if we had someone with raw and aggressive voice. Then, we landed on him, because we’re huge Katatonia fans and we love his work. He’s also in Bloodbath and he could growl as well, and he used that type of voice for many years. We thought it would be cool if he could do both, and he was up for it. Both him and Tom are really good friends, and I guess Tom convinced him to come. They both sing like kindred spirits, except for the growl part.
M.I. - You’ll be performing in Latin America and in a few metal festivals such as Bloodstock Open Air 2024. Is Portugal on your radar for the next year?
I don’t know. Since I’m out of touring field, I actually don’t know. I know that Evergrey has a lot of tours and shows for this year. Perhaps Portugal will be included in our touring calendar. It’s been a long time since we’ve been in Portugal.
M.I. - What have you been listening to lately to recommend to our readers and your fans?
I have recently been listening to the rabbit hole of Sleep Token. I’ve been listening to them for the past three months. I think the whole concept behind it, as well as the music and composition are good. Check them out, they will get you!
Listen to Evergrey, on Spotify
For Portuguese version, click here
Questions by André Neves
