Evergrey (plus: Inner Vitriol & Klogr)
Wednesday, 4. 12. 2024
Zagreb / Močvara / Croatia
A good two years have flown by in the blink of an eye since we enjoyed an Evergrey concert in Ljubljana. Given the band’s track record, we can safely call them legends on the global progressive metal scene by now. But they’re one of those incredibly hardworking bands whose creativity shows no sign of drying up even after three solid decades since their founding. Studio albums roll out on a steady two-year cycle and the quality never wavers. Every single one maintains exceptional compositional excellence. The latest, “Theories Of Emptiness” (2024, RockLine review), is proof of that too. So the band set off in late autumn this year on a new European tour to present it. Luckily, one of the new dates appeared again within convenient reach of Slovenia, which meant that catching Evergrey this time around in Zagreb — where they last played in 2019 — was simply not to be missed. This evening marked Evergrey’s third appearance overall at Zagreb’s Močvara club. Anyone who has seen Evergrey live before knows that from this Swedish quintet’s perfectionism, you can expect nothing but the best.
Once again, two support acts were on hand to warm things up. First to hit the stage, at seven in the evening, were the Italians Inner Vitriol, hailing from Bologna. They had joined the tour the day before, playing their first show in Belgrade, while earlier dates on the same tour had seen the Swiss-Italian progressive metal outfit Virtual Simmetry filling that slot — a band we’d already caught two years earlier at Ljubljana’s Orto bar. Inner Vitriol are something of debtors. They’ve been active since 2007, but have just one proper studio album to their name — “Into The Silence I Sink”, released back in 2012 — which caused quite a stir at the time thanks to its exceptional quality. In 2023 the band began showing renewed creative energy. They released the singles Endless Spiral and a cover of the Premiata Forneria Marconi original — those cult Italian prog rockers from the seventies — for the track Impressioni di Settembre, along with the live document “Live In Moscow”. The quartet today consists of founding members drummer Michele Panepinto and bassist Francesco Lombardo, alongside guitarist Michele Di Lauro and vocalist Gabrielle Gozzi. The latter, for instance, turned up in Ljubljana on 3 March 2023 with Temperance, when they warmed up the crowd before Tarja’s set. Inner Vitriol had half an hour, which was more than enough to reveal that this is an exceptionally quality outfit — one that develops, within the classic and accessible progressive metal format, a considerable measure of dark theatre and melancholy, which surely brings them close, in some way, to everyone who came to Močvara that evening primarily to hear Evergrey. A well-oiled unit — Gozzi is a powerful vocal presence, and the band’s tightness is beyond question. They opened with the older Slowly She Dies and gradually built the atmosphere throughout the set, above all confirming their newfound inspiration with an excellent cover of the legendary Premiata Forneria Marconi’s already-mentioned Impressioni di settembre, followed by the brand-new original single Endless Spiral, which grabbed you above all with its dominant, hooky chorus. We’re waiting for a new album, then.
Next up, at eight o’clock, the stage went to another Italian outfit. Klogr (pronounced ‘Key-log-Are’). These are a band cut from an entirely different cloth, trading in beefy, downtuned riffs that build a massive wall of sound while keeping a clearly traceable, irresistible musicality running through their compositions. Klogr are a seasoned outfit — four albums in the bag. The latest and fourth, “Fractal Realities”, dropped at the end of October this year, and the band devoted by far the most attention to it during the set, playing through almost the entire record. The band is led on stage by its only original member, the charismatic vocalist and guitarist Gabriele ‘Rusty’ Rustichelli, who drew the lion’s share of the spotlight during the show. Solos are virtually non-existent, or squeezed to an absolute minimum — what little there is Rusty handles in mid-eight passages, with everything else focused on the massively rolling drive of the two-guitar riffing and the tight rhythm section holding it all up. This gives the band an alternative edge, and their glaring riff wall and simple-but-addictive figures could easily catch the ear of fans of their compatriots Lacuna Coil. The performance was also backed visually by a projection screen mounted right behind Rusty. The guys genuinely impressed with the depth of atmosphere they built during the set, and since it never let up, there was no room for indifference. For anyone looking for immediate contact with a heavy riff curtain that holds up a melancholic but infectious musicality, Klogr were without doubt a thoroughly exciting new discovery of the evening! A band that closed the set with Guinea Pig, taken from the debut EP “Till You Turn” (2013), knows exactly what it’s creating, is developing its musical direction, and follows it with artistic rigour. An extremely convincing performance.
And then Evergrey. At quarter past nine. Interestingly, in our region this band — otherwise extremely well regarded and well known worldwide — can’t draw more than around 300 people to a show. Two years ago in Ljubljana the numbers were roughly the same as this time in Zagreb. But their fans are absolutely blazing and fanatical. A bunch of Slovenians had made the trip to Zagreb that evening, and since Močvara is a bit wider and shorter than Orto bar, the club gave the impression of being nicely filled.
The band delivered exactly what we came for and what we expected. A superior performance. No brakes. Sovereign, full force. Ferocious. The quintet’s tightness is frankly flawless. You can feel the exceptional bond between the members, confirmed by the steady stream of excellent studio albums (four in the last five years alone) and the stability of the lineup — no hidden agendas, just an extraordinary mutual camaraderie calling the shots. The bulk of the show was devoted to presenting the latest, excellent “Theories Of Emptiness” album. The only mildly surprising thing, really, was that the band (aside from the newest tracks) didn’t play a single song we hadn’t already heard two years ago in Ljubljana. That observation aside, it was clear that nobody in Zagreb that evening was losing any sleep over it. The band was carried on the wings of an incredibly blazing, heartfelt enthusiasm and the rapture of the crazed devotees, who were going absolutely wild in the first five rows, owning every single word Englund sang. And it was precisely that bond between the audience and the band’s performance — forged in an instant in this excellent club venue — that was the main added value of a breathtaking show. The chemistry was incredible! Sparks flying everywhere and salvos of surplus energy. Bombastic. In terms of sound, the guitar phrases occasionally overpowered everything else, and the one that suffered most was Rikard Zander’s keyboards — he was harder to spot anyway, pushed into the background on the small club stage. But that same sound issue was noticeable two years ago in Ljubljana as well. That’s why we watched this Evergrey concert largely from the mixing desk (at the back), where the sound picture was most acceptable.
An important note! Evergrey have a new drummer! That’s Norwegian Simen Sandnes, who before joining Evergrey worked with Temic, (Norwegian!) Shining and Arkentype. From the moment he stepped on stage and in the very first bars of the opener Falling From The Sun, Simen went absolutely off at his drum kit. And that ferocity didn’t let up. With a fresh new wave of energy, Evergrey have navigated this lineup change without a hitch. The commander and main driving force of the band in every respect — the charismatic vocalist and guitarist Tom S. Englund — remains vocally excellent, while the other hugely important entity in the band is of course Henrik Danhange! The elusive guitar virtuoso who once again stunned with some breathtaking feats. It was great to watch the on-stage communication between the band members up close — everything resolved mostly through intense focus as they lock onto each other through the demanding passages. Bassist Johan Niemann, who has been holding down the bass for Evergrey for fifteen years now, made several trips from his left-side position to Sandnes, or to Zander, who was ‘hidden’ in the background. Exceptional execution. Nothing escapes them. That goes for the guitar harmonies in thirds between Englund and Danhange too, calibrated to Swiss precision!
The best concerts are over in a flash. This Evergrey concert delivered exactly that kind of experience. The setlist leaned heavily on material from albums released in the past decade. The only track reaching further back in the band’s history was fired off in Močvara during the encore — A Touch Of Blessing from the conceptual album “The Inner Circle”, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and which regularly features in the band’s touring setlists. You’d wish for a bit more variety — a Waking Up Blind, say — but okay. The band closed the concert in the same spirit it began. With the newest album “Theories of Emptiness” and the magnificent Our Way Through the Silence, which — with a measure of supreme dramatic theatre and bombast — lifted Močvara skyward one last time!
What to say in closing? Nothing much new, really — nothing we haven’t already said when covering the Evergrey concert two years ago in Ljubljana. Magic and perfection. Perhaps, just slightly, there was a touch of restraint — the band wasn’t quite as chatty as they were two years ago in Ljubljana — but they didn’t forget to come out among the fans after the show, take photos and hand out signatures. In the established ritual of their tours! Evergrey remain a well-oiled, filigreed and razor-tight unit that continues to maintain peak performance form at their shows. When their concert ends, they send you away already counting down the days to the next encounter — which is yet another testament to the band’s concert invincibility!
Author: Edita Klemen & Aleš Podbrežnik
Photography: Aleš Podbrežnik
Inner Vitriol – setlist:
1. Slowly She Dies
2. The Frozen Wind
3. Butterflies
4. Impressioni di settembre (orig. PFM)
5. Endless Spiral
Klogr – setlist:
1. Hysterical Blindness
2. One of Eight
3. Face the Unknown
4. Lead Wings
5. Whale Fall
6. Gravity of Fear
7. Waking World
8. Unspoken Words
9. The Twisted Art
10. Guinea Pigs
Evergrey – setlist:
1. Falling From the Sun
2. Say
3. Midwinter Call
4. Distance
5. Eternal Nocturnal
6. A Silent Arc
7. Call Out the Dark
8. One Heart
9. Where August Mourn
10. Weightless
11. Missfortune
12. Save Us
—encore—
13. A Touch Of Blessing
14. King Of Errors
15. Our Way Through the Silence
