Evergrey lineup changes

[JuuKun]

http://evergrey.net/news/time-for-some-changes/

tl;dr:

Henri Danhage (Guitar), Jari Kainulainen (Bass), and Jonas Ekdahl (Drums) are out.

Marcus Jidell (Guitars. ex-Royal Hunt), Johan Niemann (Bass. ex-Therion, Mind's Eye), and Hannes Van Dahl (Drums) are in.

Full album written, half recorded. Release no later than mid-October

[ravenheart]

Somehow I knew this... but I'm not sure how. Well, I definitely knew about Marcus Jidell... Johan Niemann I'm not so sure, but definitely happy with that.

[Maiden33]

I gotta admit I'm excited about this. The last two Evergrey albums were my least favorites, I never dug Jonas as a drummer or a writer, and Jari was new just kinda seemed awkward. Henrik leaving is upsetting because he's been there since the 1999-2000 tour - but getting Marcus Jidell as a replacement makes me overlook that. Great guitarist, really love what he's been doing in Royal Hunt.

It upsets me that now whenever I see Evergrey it will be such a different line-up, but I have a really good feeling these changes will be for the better. I love Tom Englund and I have faith he's doing the right thing.

[ravenheart]

Whereas I love every Evergrey album and don't care at all about any of these changes...

[SomewhereInTime72]

Interesting. The whole MORE THAN HALF THE BAND IS REPLACED thing is a bit of a turnoff... but then again, one of my favorite bands is freaking King Crimson, and I've never really followed Evergrey in too much detail anyway (other than listening and thinking they're awesome). As long as Englund is still there, it'll probably be awesome. Heck, a lot of the time things like this can totally rejuvenate a band's creativity.

[DethMaiden]

Originally Posted by SomewhereInTime72

Interesting. The whole MORE THAN HALF THE BAND IS REPLACED thing is a bit of a turnoff... but then again, one of my favorite bands is freaking King Crimson, and I've never really followed Evergrey in too much detail anyway (other than listening and thinking they're awesome). As long as Englund is still there, it'll probably be awesome. Heck, a lot of the time things like this can totally rejuvenate a band's creativity.

You like Opeth, and nobody is irreplaceable except Mikael. I'm okay with bands that are one guy's brainchild with a bunch of guys standing in on the other instruments.

That being said, WE MISS YOU MARTIN LOPEZ.

And on topic, this is interesting, I'll listen to their next one and we'll see how this goes.

[ChildrenofSodom]

To be honest, as long as a band I like doesn't replace the singer, I don't really notice/mind. (Warning, bad examples coming up) When I listen to older Bruce Maiden and newer Bruce Maiden, I don't really notice Jannick's parts. When I listen to Megadeth, i don't really notice or care who the guitarists are on the particular albums. Same with Dio. But when bands like Maiden, The Autumn Offering, Shadows Fall, etc change their singers, then I feel like it changes the sound too much for me.

[Maiden33]

This is a more detailed explanation of why I am happy about this:

1) As has been mentioned, Tom S. Englund IS Evergrey. He's been the only original member in the band for over 6 years now (and even before that, it was just Patrik Carlsson since 2000) - he writes 80-90% of the music and 100% of the lyrics. It's his band, and as long as he's still at the helm, no incredibly worry-inspiring changes can occur.

2) It seemed like a sure-thing that they'd be canning Rikard Zander, because of how downplayed the keyboards have been on their last two releases. The fact that they went through this many drastic changes and he remains in the band I think says a lot about what their next album will sound like.

3) I've never liked Jonas Ekdahl - both as a drummer (I mean, he was okay, but nothing special), and as a writer. He had a good credit or two on The Inner Circle, but since he'd been more involved and contributing to more songs I wasn't very fond of. I think the dismissal of Henrik and Jonas says that Tom probably wants to take the musical reigns completely back into his hands like on the first few records. which is a good thing, IMO.

4) The players they're bringing to the party are mostly all proven solid players, two of them being affiliated with bands I already like.

5) Tom mentioned that among this new material, there was going to be more diverse stuff and several songs that weren't just in the 3-5 minute bracket, a big downside of their previous two in my opinion.

So in conclusion - Bring it on.

4)

[MPF]

Originally Posted by Maiden33

This is a more detailed explanation of why I am happy about this:

1) As has been mentioned, Tom S. Englund IS Evergrey. He's been the only original member in the band for over 6 years now (and even before that, it was just Patrik Carlsson since 2000) - he writes 80-90% of the music and 100% of the lyrics. It's his band, and as long as he's still at the helm, no incredibly worry-inspiring changes can occur.

2) It seemed like a sure-thing that they'd be canning Rikard Zander, because of how downplayed the keyboards have been on their last two releases. The fact that they went through this many drastic changes and he remains in the band I think says a lot about what their next album will sound like.

3) I've never liked Jonas Ekdahl - both as a drummer (I mean, he was okay, but nothing special), and as a writer. He had a good credit or two on The Inner Circle, but since he'd been more involved and contributing to more songs I wasn't very fond of. I think the dismissal of Henrik and Jonas says that Tom probably wants to take the musical reigns completely back into his hands like on the first few records. which is a good thing, IMO.

4) The players they're bringing to the party are mostly all proven solid players, two of them being affiliated with bands I already like.

5) Tom mentioned that among this new material, there was going to be more diverse stuff and several songs that weren't just in the 3-5 minute bracket, a big downside of their previous two in my opinion.

So in conclusion - Bring it on.

4)

I was going to state my opinion, but you just said everything I would have. I'm in total agreeance and BRING ON A FUCKING NORTH AMERICAN TOUR!!!

[ravenheart]

Originally Posted by DethMaiden

WE MISS YOU MARTIN LOPEZ

I don't. I did expect to miss Peter though, but Fredrik was excellent in London.