“A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)” comes almost a year after “Escape of the Phoenix” and via a new music label. This wasn’t expected at all, but Evergrey decided to release the album without any delays, since they already started writing new stuff right after the release of their previous album.
Evergrey do what they do best… they play dark atmospheric music with heavy riffs, strong melodies and amazing vocals. What can one say for one of the most distinctive voices in metal music… Tom S. Englund is truly a gifted musician, as he can write music, sing and play the guitar equally remarkably. The other members, Henrik Danhage on guitar, Rikard Zander on keyboards, Jonas Ekdahl on drums and Johan Niemann on bass, are equally good, as they know their place and how to put the “music puzzles pieces” fittingly to each song. Moreover, the production is heavy and tight. The album was recorded at Top Floor Studios Gothenburg, engineered by Jakob Herrman and produced by Tom S. Englund and Jonas Ekdahl, with mixing and mastering by Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios (Volbeat, Destruction, Epica and many more). The wonderful album artwork was done by Giannis Nakos (Oceans Of Slumber, Amaranthe, The Agonist and The Crow, etc.) at Remedy Art Design.
“A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)” is a dark and atmospheric album… with deep and meaningful lyrics. The prog, power and even modern elements are all combined together so as to offer a truly immense outcome. Evergrey are not new in the game, they have been in the music scene for over 25 years and they still manage to release albums that bear their own trademark. I do not get some people who are stating that this album is moving on the same Evergrey music path. What do they expect from a band like Evergrey to do? To play pop, reggae or extreme music? They have their own personal and unique sound… something that most of the bands out there would kill to achieve. Hence, you do not change a winning team! Those who are keeping in pace with the band will surely fancy “A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)”… as for the new ones, once they try it out, they will be positively amazed by its heavy atmospheric melodic tunes.
