The Swedish progressive metal band Evergrey released their fifteenth album on the 5th of June, “Architects of A New Weave”. Teased by four incredible singles, “Architects of The New Weave”, “The World Is On Fire”, “Leaving The Emptiness” and “A Burning Flame”, the album is as good as those songs made me hope it would be. The song released on the 6th of November 2025, “Oxygen”, can be found on the second CD (Deluxe Version) and not in the album itself, which might be a bit disappointing to me as it was a song that truly seduced me.
Evergrey was founded in 1993 by the singer, songwriter, and guitarist Tom S. Englund with the now ex-guitarist Dan Bronell. Joined by the guitarist and newest member Stephen Platt, the drummer Simen Sandnes, the bassist Johan Niemann and the keyboardist Rikard Zander , Tom managed once again to create a unique album in which we can find the dark themes that are the band’s imagery for years, but with a fresh wind of combativity.
The album opens with “Welcome to the Pattern”, spoken words that are promises of something new, “we build a new weave, where the brave are reborn”. Evergrey gives the plan of their new design.
“The Shadow Self” comes next. A heavy song, in the riff and in its topic, but already with this questioning about reconnecting with ourselves. The guitars play punchy and strong riffs, carrying the shadow, while the keyboard theme comes and goes as touches of light, as twinkling stars. “The darkness is calling me”, but Evergrey will go from shadows to starlight and the next song, “Architects Of The New Weave”, definitely shows we won’t get lost in the shadows for too long. “We”re part of a waking sun” and the band makes us stand and turns chaos into order. The rhythm played by the drum is regular, the keyboard is stronger and the riffs heavy but the darkness turns into combativity. “From shadows to starlight, from fracture to form”, this album is building order from chaos and you see this construction in the songs themselves.
The way is never linear, and the next song “The World is On Fire” puts us through darkness again with guilt. From the particular and private world to the larger one, the world is on fire, my world is on fire, everything is blurred by tears and fears. Tom's voice carries the emotions perfectly through the song without exaggeration and touches the listener directly. “Heaven” comes next, then “The Script”, repeating this scheme of ups and downs, those moments of hopes, desire of changes and combativity versus pain and despair and questioning. Chaos meets order, darkness meets light and this album mixes all, even inside each song.
“Leaving the Emptiness” shows this perfectly. The song starts with “I am lost and feeling heartless” but the chorus comes with “we’re leaving the emptiness behind”. The song gives us the desire to run, to start moving with its rhythm and energetic guitars. It is the turning point, the second part of the album in which the weave takes its shape, as we can see in “Longing” : “I close my eyes and start to believe in the words you say, I’m beginning to feel them”. The second part of the album also feels less heavy than the first one, also in the melody, confirming this progression.
„A Burning Flame“ with Mikaelem Stanne(Dark Tranquility, The Halo Effect, Cemetery Skyline) continues to unwind the thread. The burning flame is within us. “Call Off Your Lions” goes further in the action. We are the architects of a new weave, not the observer, and we are the masters of our lives: “don’t watch your life” “it’s not waiting for you”. The liberation comes with “Chains of Shame”. The understanding of old patterns and chains can be broken once we acknowledge them. Everything leads to “The Prophecy”, where the light is here once we take actions and become an active architect of our life. This song, with particularly strong orchestral passages, comes back to what was told in the intro: the brave are reborn.
In this new album, “Architects Of A New Weave”, Evergrey once again harmonizes perfectly lyrics and melodies to carry their message. This is true Evergrey, with Tom’s unique voice who knows how to carry weight and gives depth, with the same foundations of previous albums, but with something that feels more direct, more hopeful. Evergrey manages to be recognisable without staying in their comfort zone.
Since I have discovered Evergrey with “Escape of The Phoenix” they have never disappointed me and this album is no exception. I really appreciate this wind of novelty brought by the theme, the melody as well as the new members and I am hooked by the deep lyrics of every song. Some die-hard fans might not agree with me, but I will give a good 95% to this album!
Written by Céline Fetel
Edit by Kerry Lynx