Evership - Evership - 2016
“... Ten years in the making! ...”
intro
Nashville based progressive rock band Evership is the band of composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer/engineer Shane Atkinson. In the 90's he made two records with the alternative rock band Curious Fools. After that he left the music business but never stopped writing. However he was successful in a software career he built in the year 2005 a recording studio and opened a commercial and film music production company to finance the album. He started the demos in 2009 and in the year 2013 he shut the music production company down to focus on the record. The self titled debut album of Evership was released on July 1, 2016. Ten years in the making, a very long journey.
line-up
Beau West - lead vocals; Shane Atkinson - vocals, keyboards, drums, percussion, Theremin, Chapman stick, dulcimer, experimental guitar, sound design, orchestrations; James Atkinson - lead guitar, acoustic guitar; Rob Higginbotham - rhythm electric guitar, acoustic guitar, classical guitar; Jaymi Millard - bass, Mike Priebe - background vocals; Nicelle Priebe - violin; Brandon Vestal - electric and acoustic guitars; Dan Smalley - classical guitar, Ebow
Featuring the Charles Heimermann Chorale
review
The self titled debut album of Evership consists out of five long tracks, each around ten minutes long and a concluding section of two minutes. The album opens with the track “Silverlight”. It has a beautiful atmospheric opening with violin before singer Beau West sings his first vocal lines. He has a great voice and for me the band has a typical American sound with some AOR influences. Considering the use of an instrument as the violin, you immediately have to think of the band Kansas. A nice opener with some AOR influences
One of the two big epics of this album is entitled “Slow Descent Into Reality” and consists out of the following parts; “Everyman”, “A Slow Descent”, “Wisdom Of The Age”, “Honest To Me”, “The Battle Within” and “Anyman”. With a length of almost thirteen minutes this track is one of the highlights of this album. You can find beautiful vocal harmonies and great keyboard parts in this diverse track. The vocals on this album are of a very high quality level. There are some great instrumental parts on this track that are slowly building up towards a great climax. Amazing track!
The next track “Evermore” has two parts; “Eros” and “Agape”. Again a beautiful instrumental opening with some great melodies. The vocals and guitar work sometimes bring the name of Queen in my mind. It is a good track but the next track “Ultima Thule” is even better. After a slow opening with acoustic guitars and piano beautiful vocal parts are following. This piece develops into a beautiful ballad like song with great vocal melodies. Also love the keyboard parts and the choir in the end. Absolutely one of my favorites of this album.
The second big epic (13:44) is entitled “Flying Machine” and is divided into the parts “Dreamcarriers”, “Dream Sequence” and “Lift”. The song has beautiful melody lines. The ending of “Dreamcarriers” with the choir is great. After a short second instrumental part “Dream Sequence” the highlight of this epic is the part “Lift”. I am impressed by the beautiful vocal melodies on this album. The band goes full throttle in this last part. The music stays uplifting and we can enjoy great instrumental passages which sometimes remember of the Canadian band Mystery. The album closes with the mysterious soundscape “Approach”.
conclusion
Evership's self titled debut album is an album full of great melodies and beautiful vocal lines. Singer Beau West impressed me with his vocal qualities. The use of the choir on some of the pieces is very nice. Musically the sound of the band has some AOR influences but with the violin I had to think of Kansas. Also the names of Queen and Mystery crossed my mind. The music sounds fresh and uplifting. I enjoyed listening to this album very much. The album has no weak points. I would recommend this album to the fans of bands like Kansas and Mystery.