Words:
Samuel O’Flynn
Photos:
Peter and Junie Fundeis, Paul Nakis and Ash Gray
Presented by:
Your Mate Bookings
Venue:
Max Watt’s
To say that this week has been a long one is an understatement, so when the weekend arrives, I like to get out and see some live music and this evening is incredibly special as it’s the long-awaited return of Swedish epic melodic metal force Evergrey after almost 20 years.
Ready for an evening of progressive power metal and Swedish magic I check out the merch on offer this evening and check my bag at the bar and get a drink to kick back with as Canberra Melodic Death Metal legends Immorium take to the stage.
Opening their set with a nice atmospheric intro before ripping into ‘Chains’ from 2024 album Rose Water Black. Due to work commitments frontman Dave Smith is covered this evening by the incomparable Jackson Meldrum from Destruction of the Healer.
Admittedly it’s an odd choice to have a very Gothenburg influenced melodic death metal band open for Evergrey. Although the highly progressive nature and the epic feel of Rose Winter Black sets the tone for the evening.
The Dark Tranquillity influences are on point as Chris Vandermark absolutely demolishes the drum kit, blasting with ferocious intent. The crowd whilst content headbanging to this amazing display was very sparse for such an incredible opening band.
The mood for the evening is a kick back relax and enjoy the magic however there are a few intrepid voyagers on the cosmic wave that called for a pit and Jackson also was in agreeance. The noble horsemen of the Immorium pit are what we took to calling ourselves.
Thanked for our efforts by Jackson he then continues to say “this song is about going to the beach! It’s Called ‘Waves of Damnation”. This track from 2020’s This Too Shall Pass has a calm and tranquil opening before the onslaught of In Flames inspired brutality descends.
The twin lead guitar fury of Dan Norton and Jared Williams is just purely amazing to watch also a circle pit of 4 opens during the heavier breakdown parts in ‘Waves of Damnation’ having long songs means the half hour opening set went by in the blink of an eye.
The last song was quite slow and melodic my dear friends Paul and Val even found a moment to have a slow dance during an extended jam before a final thank you for coming out early to see us play!
The ambient melodic death metal opening set is a fantastic way to open the proceedings this evening, fantastic stuff Immorium looking forward to what 2027 has in store for us.
Damnations Day Geelong based melodic power metalers are next to take to the stage starting at 8:20, Mark Kennedy seamlessly blends thrashy riffs with Progressive chord progressions in the set opening ‘Invisible, The Dead’ this track has a highly reminiscent feel to the early Evergrey material.
Mark’s high notes after a 10-year hiatus are still incredibly tight, now having seen these guys back in the day I was expecting a hard time. Obviously, my tastes have matured or the circumstances of my 2026 and the line-up for this evening has been impeccably chosen as Damnations Day are amazing live.
In between songs Mark introduces the touring keyboard player Luis and his twin brother Dean on the drums before playing ‘The Witness’ from 2017 album The World Awakens the thrashy parts pique some of the early mosh shenanigans however Damnations Day are a fine wine and vibe sort of band.
I had taken a sit-down break due to the heat of course I hadn’t drank enough water so my leg indeed decided to do the big old cramp up, that’s a sign to go have a headbang and get a little bit of water this was just as ‘To Begin Again’ is played.
This one is a soaring progressive tune with soaring leads from guitarist John King that continue on into a special treat for long-time fans and new fans alike in the form of an announcement of new material being currently produced, with the aim to have a new single out by Christmas.
The new track is called ‘Higher’ and its another melodic and epic track with soaring high vocals and intensely beautiful rising guitar parts, oh boy what a fantastic evening for some fantastic Power Prog!
Mark’s banter game is on fire as he gives a spiel about how he can’t figure out technology and that he’s just figured out how to use the square, so come up and say hi and buy the single shirt and our 2 CDs the introduction to ‘I Pray’ is lead into with a bunch of jokes about the cost of diesel.
I Pray is slightly thrashier than their other material and the hot blooded Immorium fans open a prog push pit. Now I’m all for mosh pits but maybe a little bit of room reading needs to go on, as the band room is starting to pack out now, but prog-fans aren’t fans of mosh pits. Plenty of headbanging takes the place of moshing, and Damnations Day conclude their set on a high.
After a 10-year break Damnations Day have made their incredible progressive presence known, these guys are the perfect main supports for a band like Evergrey. Cheers for the epic performance gentlemen.
To say that the crowd was completely amped up would be an understatement and a half it’s almost been 20 years since Gothenburg melodic metal kings Evergrey have been to Australia, to start the set each member comes out with the stage in darkness.
There was a slight mistiming with the opening of ‘Falling From The Sun’ from 2024’s Theories of Emptiness. Keyboardist Rickard Zander was also Evergrey’s hype-man making sure that headbanging was occurring. The epic leads from both Tom S Englund and Stephen Platt are on point. Throughout Falling From the Sun Tom is interacting with the photographers whilst shredding away.
Tom is a two for one deal as he’s also the frontman and damn the high notes are just pure Swedish magic not to mention the rest of the band providing multiple backing vocal parts.
‘Where August Mourns’ from 2021’s Escape of the Phoenix is next off the cab it’s one of those ear worms that just digs in, with soaring leads and beautiful harmonies ‘When August Mourns’ is one of the first big sing-along moments. The final chorus is where the room explodes with everyone at the top of their lungs singing “If I’m just aching this can’t go on. I went from chasing dreams to all alone. A change of season where August mourns. I really need life to touch me”
A thunderous applause erupts and the ever flowing well of charisma that is Tom Englund says “its been 19 years Melbourne, you’re not going to hear all your favourite songs as we have 15 albums so that’s 154 songs. Tonight we’re going to play some of our current favourites hopefully you lot will enjoy”.
Tom also makes a wise crack about it won’t be 20 years before they return as in 20 years, he’ll be dead. Too much laughter from the band and audience alike, he then asks “hey Melbourne show me your beautiful singing voices, this one’s off our new album it’s called ‘Heaven’ so join us”.
‘heaven’ is one of if not my personal favourite song off Architects of a New Weave, so I gladly joined in singing with Evergrey. The slow dancers returned during this song too there was also an attempted mosh pit too. I’m not one to turn down a pit but Evergrey’s performance is captivating and I can’t look away.
Each solo played by Tom and Stephen is immaculate the progressive epic feel of the show comes through by the mesmerized crowd; the sound guys are doing a phenomenal job as the music sound just as crisp as a studio performance.
I’m also going to add that an Evergrey show isn’t just the music there is also an amazing and elaborate presence with the lights, and there is also stunning projected visuals from all represented eras of Evergrey’s illustrious career.
‘Eternal Nocturnal’ gets further crowd involvement happening with Rickard, Johan and drummer Simen Sandness starting a crowd wide clapping in time to the opening drumbeat. Before Johan Niemann starts one hell of a bass groove, the heavier passages in most Evergrey tunes feel like they could again inflame a pit.
Tonight is an evening of emotion and catharsis so I decided to find a different vantage point for the next part of the set as yes, I was not in a getting knocked about mood, so I relocated to the sound desk to get a better view of the stage and the other parts of the performance.
To think that 2026 has been the year that Your Mate Bookings have bought out all the cathartic and super emotional bands Swallow the Sun and Amorphis. As well as DRW bringing out Katatonia exactly a week before Evergrey is absolute catharsis overload, I am not complaining about this.
Now where was I oh yeah, catharsis! The band departs the stage save for Tom and Rikard for a stripped back version of ‘Words Mean Nothing’ off Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy the emotions are overloaded however the overload point is when they back this highly emotional tune up with ‘I’m Sorry’ a cover of Diba from Recreation Day. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room this my friends is what pure emotion looks like.
When Evergrey announced their tour initially it was in support of Theories of Emptiness as that was the current release at the time. So the tour being called the Great Sothern Emptiness tour was right on the money and a having a war delay it until late October meant that this monumental tour is also the Australian launch for Architects of A New Weave.
The heat inside of Max Watts is insane this evening the atmosphere is intoxicating and after playing the title track of ‘Architects of a new weave’ Tom says “we have a 5AM flight to Canberra tomorrow, so tonight Melbourne lets party. The cherry bar is hosting our official after party”.
With this we have arrived at the concluding songs of the set ‘Leaving the emptiness Behind’ this song is a high energy almost pop metal track, its energy is infectious with the entire band backing each other up to create amazing harmonies. The high-octane energy of ‘Leaving the Emptiness Behind’ gives the mosh bros an opportunity to open a slight bounce pit.
Our magical evening with Evergrey is almost over as the false walk off occurs, the crowd is ravenous for more Swedish magic and Evergrey oblige with Tom saying “Thank you Melbourne, we will be back and we might even play your favourite songs next time. we are closing this evening with the first single off Architects of a New Weave, this is ‘OXYGEN!’”.
The heavy opening of ‘OXYGEN!’ gives way to such a beautiful melody, one that is perfect for a waltz no doubt the floor space was full of slow dancers moving to the soothing melodies. There is also an extended live ending where the instruments are put on a loop and the band and crowd OOOOO AAAAAHHH to the main keyboard progression.
And with that Evergrey take their final bow for this evening of wondrous Swedish magic and take a photo with the crowd. I can safely say that I was absolutely blown away by how tight the set was, whilst being disappointed that ‘Blackened Dawn’ didn’t make the set. The spread of tracks throughout the almost 20 years of absence was on point.
Thank you for remembering us all those hundreds of thousands of kilometres away Evergrey! I for one cannot wait for your Australian return gentlemen
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