Evergrace was formed early 2001 in the Swedish town of Edsbyn, by six individuals on a singular mission - to create quality heavy metal. The band soon created a buzz in the scene. However, singer Johan Falk was not content. He felt the music of Evergrace needed improvement and a greater sense of depth. So late in 2003, he left Edsbyn to study in the music program at ITM in Huskvarna, Sweden. Wanting to keep the momentum already established, they managed to continue for two years, playing occasional shows, keeping the name Evergrace on the radar screen of the Scandinavian music scene. In early 2006, armed with Johan’s newly completed musical training, the improvement that comes with continued individual practice of the other members of the band, and the vigor that a break always provides, Evergrace renewed their commitment to their original vision with greater strength. Wasting no time, they set out to record a full-length album. Label-shopping began in conjunction with writing new material, and again providence struck, for it did not take long to strike a satisfactory deal with Sweden’s Ulterium Records, and a new partnership was formed. The self titled debut album was tracked in Studio EVG in Edsbyn, June-July 2006, with mixing work expertly handled by none other than Per Ryberg in Studio Soundcreation. That final mix was then polished to a shine at Criteria Mastering by Thomas “Plec” Johansson. And for artwork, the band and Ulterium Records both agreed - it had to be created by mastermind Mattias Norén  for ProgArt Media. Not long after the debut album saw the light of day in late 2006, the band chose to change their name to Incrave.

EVERGRACE (2006) ULTERIUM

Heavy metal with Christian lyrics as always been of high interest to me. But since it's hayday in the 80's and early 90's there haven't been that many new bands to grasp my attention. And of those few that have cut the mustard, only a handful have been good enough to "compete" in the secular market. So always eager to hear new bands, I was excited when the debut album from Evergrace got some positive recognition on The Christian Metal Realm (the largest Christian Metal community on the net). Evergrace play what I would describe as melodic heavy metal. Some might put a power metal tag on them, and some would even throw in a progressive tag to their music. Both are wrong, in my opinion. This is music in the same vein as Majestic Vanguard, Harmony and Narnia. I even detect some Sacred Warrior similarities here and there, especially in the harmony background vocals. The music is very easily accessible, and you find yourself humming along to the chorus already on the second track. And that is the strength of the material herein; it's well written, and quite catchy. What I don't like here though, is Johan's vocals. He simply doesn't have a god voice, at all. He sounds flat, uninspired, and lacks pretty much everything a good vocalist should have. Maybe he works better in a live setting, but on record he almost ruins the otherwise strong album. Too bad, as Evergrace could have become one of the better new acts in the Christian metal circuit. Now they comes off as just another mediocre entry to the crowd.

Shortly after the release of this album, the band changed their name to Incrave, and they are re-releasing the album with different artwork, and a new title.

Killer tracks: Life Has Just Begun..., Alive, I Am You