One of Gothenburg’s finest metal acts, EVERGREY, are about to release their fifteenth installment of beautiful, dark melancholy on June 5th, 2026, via Napalm Records, just days before the band joins the undisputed legends of heavy metal, IRON MAIDEN, for two shows on their Run For Your Lives World Tour. After the first spin, it becomes crystal clear that this new offering, entitled “Architects Of A New Weave,” is right in line with the band’s haunting legacy. These Swedes show no signs of slowing down after two killer albums – “A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)” (2022) and “Theories of Emptiness” (2024). In between these outings, vocalist Tom S. Englund also collaborated with keyboard sensei Vikram Shankar on SILENT SKIES‘ latest album “Dormant” (2023), which might explain the choice of a co-producer for this endeavor: the production of this new shiny beast was a joint venture by Englund and Shankar. I must admit that first hearing about this hyped me up for this album, big time, because, in my books, Shankar is one of the Big Four when it comes to progressive keyboard wizards with a knack for haunting, cinematic grandeur (with the others being Richard Barbieri, Kevin Moore, and Jordan Rudess of late). That said, the new album does indeed sound big – anthemic, even! The poignant melancholy of the previous couple of albums is toned down a bit, perhaps. Given the overarching themes of transforming your scars into badges of survival, it makes perfect sense. While the music is quite different, in terms of genre and style, the overall sentiment of the album is somewhat similar to TREMONTI‘s 2021 album “Marching in Time,” which I have since considered the epitome of empowerment through music.
A short cinematic intro track leads into the first song, “The Shadow Self,” the opening riffs of which make it quite clear that the band is firing on all cylinders. At first, the song, let alone the album as a whole, does unfold as a punchy riff-o-rama, and the finer, cinematic details emerge on repeated spins. Not only are the singles pure fire, but the deep cuts also sound pretty damn solid. If I were to single out a few standout tracks, I would put my money on “The World Is On Fire,” “Leaving the Emptiness,” and “A Burning Flame,” on which fellow Gothenburg icon Mikael Stanne (DARK TRANQUILITY, THE HALO EFFECT, CEMETERY SKYLINE) joins Englund in vocal duties to a resonant effect. The title track was released as a single with an animated music video in March, and the rumor has it that the song was inspired by the gargantuan DIO classic, “Rainbow in the Dark.” If so, its influence is not too obvious, save for the nothing short of epic nature of the song. Keyboardist Rikard Zander drops some killer riffs on the track, and his chops are pretty impressive throughout the album with a subtle 1980s-tinted flavor, both in terms of synth timbres and melodies. It was the golden era of synths, so we won’t mind at all. Speaking of which, the third single, “Leaving Emptiness” is probably the most anthemic song of the bunch in the vein of vintage arena rock; for some reason, the song triggered a subtle flashback of the 1985 smash hit, “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” by SIMPLE MINDS, even though these two songs have very little in common, musically; one was a massive pop anthem and the other one is an anthemic metal banger, but I guess they both tap into some sacred internal space where you can positively transform yourself, or something.
After a few spins, it’s beginning to feel a lot like EVERGREY has reached a new level of potency here. As clichéd as it may sound, “Architects of A New Weave” tempts you to dub these metal anthems as the band’s most triumphant offerings to date. That’s not a small feat, considering how pretty damn good those previous two albums were! This new selection emanates a clarity of vision that’s simply outstanding, and the empowering, anthemic nature of the songs adds another dimension to the band’s signature melancholy. It seems that EVERGREY performed a hat trick of sorts by scoring another win with this new beast – that’s three outstanding albums in a row!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Welcome to the Pattern
- The Shadow Self
- Architects Of the New Weave
- The World Is On Fire
- Heaven
- The Script
- Leaving the Emptiness
- Longing
- A Burning Flame (feat. Mikael Stanne)
- Call Off Your Lions
- Chains of Shame
- The Prophecy
Lineup
Tom S. Englund – vocals, guitars
Stephen Platt – guitars
Rikard Zander – keyboards
Simen Sandnes – drums
Johan Niemann – bass
Label
Napalm Records
