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Evergrey: Recreation Day Power Metal, Progressive Metal Insideout Records March 11th, 2003
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Review
Evergrey clearly learned a lesson about their music after their previous album, In Search Of Truth. Recreation Day bids farewell to the more upbeat music and shows a more then welcomed return to the darker sounding music that made them well known in the first place. This album was also issued in a special digibook packaging that included a bonus track, as well as notes in the booklet about the album [please note I'm not sure these notes appear in the standard version]. Recreation Day focuses moreso on the impact that death can have on someone. The album starts off with the heaviest, most solid material the band has recorded yet. "The Great Deceiver" is one of the fastest cuts on the release, while the rest of the album really just relies on sheer heaviness, or piano and vocal talent. Take "As I Lie Here Bleeding" for instance, a powerhouse of a track that makes use of some haunting, funeral-esque keyboards at the start, and all together really makes you want to just start banging your head along with the music with how well constructed it is, and then you have "I'm Sorry", which is a cover of a song originally performed by a band called Dilba, and just a bit cheesy, and you'll want to break out your lighters and sing along to this ballad that once again shows off the talent and vital role that the vocals and ketboards play in the music of the band. But that's not to say that those are the only good tracks on the album. Each track on here really does shine for one reason or another, whether it be the beautifully performed depressive and sometimes hopeful music, or the outstanding crooning ability of Tom Englund on tracks like "Recreation Day" and "I'm Sorry". The only track on here that may give some problems is the track "Vision" which, after about half way through, has a guitar riff that sounds more like it would appear in a hardcore break that just charges along and feels drawn out. And, for those who find "I'm Sorry" to be a bit too cheesy, the track "Madness Caught Another Victim" is a well performed acoustic piece that stands out nicely on the album, and the final two tracks wrapping the album up nicely. Digibook Version This version of the album, as stated comes with some notes in the back of the booklet about the album, as well as the bonus track "Trilogy Of The Damned". This song is a vocals and piano only medley of three songs from the band's first two albums, and was originally the Japanese release only bonus track for the release In Search Of Truth. The track may not seem like anything special if you're not acquainted with Evergrey, but this track is absolutely amazing and very well done, and really only incorporates guitars for ambience, such as the low, distorted guitar solo about four and a half minutes into it. If you get the chance to hear this song, or even buy this version of the release, the track really is worth it. Recreation Day is definitely a pinnacle release for Evergrey, and is the closest thing to a masterpiece that you can get. With only one drawn out section in the entire release, and the single "I'm Sorry" sounding a little too corny for the album, there's nothing really wrong with this album. The music is superb, the production is great, and there's clearly more passion in the music of this release then anything the band has done before, making this one a must have.
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