On April 27th, Swedish melodic metal outfit EVERGREY will enlighten the world with The Inner Circle, an adventurous conceptual album exploring the nuances of religious cults and the depth of Evergrey’s expanding musicianship. The album will be released through Inside Out Music America.

The follow-up to 2003’s lauded Recreation Day (which yielded two videos still in rotation on MTV2’s Headbangers Ball: 'I’m Sorry' and 'Blinded'), The Inner Circle sees Evergrey intensifying their musical ability with the utilization of a string quartet, courtesy of the Gothenburg Symphonic Orchestra, as well as handling all of the production duties themselves.

Vocalist/guitarist Tom S. Englund explains, “We never had any plans to go in any direction, and it is one of the things that makes Evergrey unique. We have always tried to be a complex band, but we have always maintained a ‘pop-structure’ to the songs. We are happy that we are evolving as songwriters, and we are fortunate not to repeat ourselves. With Recreation Day, we wrote recorded and released it within five months. With this one, we took a lot more time with it.”

Englund also offers a brief synopsis of the encompassing plot of The Inner Circle:

“It is a conceptual album about being caught up within a religious cult, viewing how you deal with it and how others around you deal with it. It is told from everyone’s point of view, and shows how you fall deeper and deeper into a state of apathy, losing more and more control and power over yourself and dreams; eventually giving yourself over to the cult. It is about fanatics, not specific to a religious group; it can relate to Christians, Muslims, Satanists, Jews, it doesn’t really matter.”

The tracklisting for The Inner Circle includes: 'A Touch Of Blessing', 'Ambassador', 'In The Wake Of The Weary', 'Harmless Wishes', 'Waking Up Blind', 'More Than Ever', 'The Essence Of Conviction', 'Where All Good Sleep', 'Faith Restored', and 'When The Walls Go Down'.

The Inner Circle also includes the following Bonus Tracks: Live & Acoustic In France: 'I'm Sorry', 'Recreation Day' and 'Madness Caught Another Victim'.

Audio clips for 'A Touch Of Blessing' and 'More Than Ever' can be sampled here.

In bringing the complex and evocative endeavor to life, not only was the Gothenburg Symphonic Orchestra employed “to make the production more interesting, more organic and dynamic,” but Englund also enlisted the services of his wife Carina to perform angelic, choir-like vocal melodies throughout the album. Carina Englund has actually appeared on every Evergrey studio album to date.

InsideOut Music America, in recognition of Evergrey’s achievements and potential, has recently reissued the band’s first two stylish and inspired albums, Dark Discovery (1998) and Solitude Dominance Tragedy (1999), neither of which have been previously domestically available. These editions feature new liner notes by Tom S. Englund, and each contains an exclusive video track (Dark Discovery features 'For Every Tear That Falls' and Solitude Dominance Tragedy features 'The Masterplan').

Due to the success of Evergrey’s videos from Recreation Day, the band is planning to film two new videos to promote The Inner Circle, 'A Touch Of Blessing' and 'More Than Ever'. This time around, three reputable directors are queuing to work with the band, one of whom is Stakka Bo, known for his directorial work on MADONNA’s 'Nothing Really Matters' and CHRIS CORNELL’s 'Can’t Change Me' videos.

Evergrey has quickly joined the ranks of Scandinavian metal bands that have been breaking massive ground in the American music scene. Englund offers his theory on the situation, “Scandinavian people are very determined people. When we want something, we kinda go for it entirely. So it does not surprise me that bands like ARCH ENEMY, IN FLAMES, DIMMU BORGIR, and OPETH are getting noticed in America. Especially us, Evergrey, now, with all of the MTV attention; it’s absolutely amazing. We’re just grateful for everything that comes our way.”

EVERGREY will soon show fans their appreciation in mid-April when they cross the Atlantic to join fellow melodic metallers ICED EARTH and CHILDREN OF BODOM for a full North American tour. This will be Evergrey’s second foray into American touring. Tom expresses his excitement, “This tour is really designed for us; all the bands on it are quite melodic. What we are really looking to come of this is to influence people into checking us out; that is really what matters. The last tour with Arch Enemy was great, but this one definitely seems custom-tailored to our style of music. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Tour dates include:

April

18th - Cleveland, OH at The Odeon

19th - Sauget (St. Louis), IL at Pop’s

20th - Chicago, IL at Metro

21st - Minneapolis, MN at Quest

23rd - Milwaukee, WI at The Eagle's Club

24th - Detroit, MI at Harpo's Concert Theatre

25th - Columbus, OH at Newport Music Hall

26th - Toronto, ON, Can. at The Guvernment

28th - Montreal, QC, Can. at The Medley

29th - New York, NY at BB King's

30th - Philadelphia, PA at Trocadero

May

1st - Worcester, MA at The Palladium

2nd - Springfield, VA at Jaxx

4th - Atlanta, GA at Masquerade

5th - Lake Buena Vista, FL at House of Blues

7th - New Orleans, LA at House of Blues

8th - Houston, TX at Engine Room

9th - Austin, TX at The Back Room

10th - Dallas, TX at Deep Ellum Live

12th - Denver, CO at Ogden Theater

14th - Vancouver, BC, Can. at Commodore Ballroom

15th - Seattle, WA at Graceland

17th - San Francisco, CA at Avalon Ballroom

18th - Anaheim, CA at House of Blues

19th - Scottsdale, AZ at Cajun House

21st - West Hollywood, CA at House of Blues