EVERGREY have been a stalwart of the Progressive Metal/Power-Metal genre, having now produced 13 albums in 25 years. I wasn't expecting an album so soon after 2021's excellent "Flight Of The Phoenix" but once again they have delivered an excellent album with "Heartless Portrait (An Orphean Testament)". This is their first album for Napalm Records.

The album opens in fine form with the pummelling riffage and lyrics of "Save Us" clearly a nod to the recent Covid era:

"We were out of control
We got lost when we stopped to feel
Our inside's bleeding fear
Save us
Fell in love with a story
But its words were never about us
Now we're drowning in trenches
That we've been digging for ages"

The heavy sonics are punctuated by the keyboards of Rikard which really embellishes the song. Add gang-vocals to the mix - courtesy of EVERGREY asking their fans to supply them - some excellent solo work and of course Tom's powerful vocals and you have an opening track that encapsulates EVERGREY's sound perfectly.

It's the same with "Midwinter Calls" that adds some great gang vocals to a killer track. An atmospheric bridge leads to a powerful chorus and I can definitely see this being a firm fan favourite on the European and UK tour later this year.

"The Orphean Testament" is an epic track with some heavy fast riffs complemented by a slower chorus which adds a great dynamic to the song.  The dynamic changes again with a slow brooding riff over which keyboard and guitar solos play over the top and bring the song back to the chorus.

After the excellent "Reawakening", we have two of my favourite tracks.

The epic intro to "The Great Unwashed" is one of the highlights of the track and of course is coupled with an excellent verse and chorus:

"We are in on the lie
We got no place to go
Falling like leaves end of summer
Slowly withering
We are in on the lie
It got out of control
But we'll always unite
The great unwashed"

The epic intro returns briefly before leading into a beautiful breakdown with Tom's aching vocals over a simple keyboard riff which builds with a soaring guitar and drums into a fabulous solo. Tom without doubt is one of the best metal vocalists around, able to bring power, melody and wonderful melancholy in equal measure. I love this song.

"Heartless" is also fantastic with a hard riff joined by keyboard and an epic chorus. It has a very similar breakdown to the previous track (Tom's voice and a solitary keyboard) but is no less effective and was definitely a 'goose bump' moment. This one leads to a soaring guitar solo and again is a superb track.

After "Blindfolded" which is a decent track, we end on the simply beautiful "Wildfires". It's beautiful in its simplicity and mellowness and Tom's vocals are outstandingly melancholic.

"If the sun fell down
And burnt us down to the ground
Would the wildfires remind me of
That my heart's worn out
And I'm all out of fire
And if that's all that life is
I don't want to do this"

EVERGREY are without doubt one of the most consistently excellent Metal bands out there. Their previous four albums were all excellent (I have yet to dive deeper into their back catalogue) and this is another excellent album. There were a couple of songs like "Ominous" which with it's weird verse structure, I found hard to get into it after the strength of the first two tracks and "Call Out The Dark" with a repetitive chorus, but these are minor points on what is another jewel in EVERGREY's crown.