“So far it’s looking pretty good,” comments Evergrey vocalist/guitarist Tom S Englund of the band’s latest release, Torn. “The reviews are fantastic and the album is charting well. It showed up today in the fourth position on Swedish Billboards.” With the help of Internet pre-sales, we sold out of every Limited Edition copy before it was even released - all 20,000 that were in stock.”

Not bad for a disc that’s only been out worldwide for about a week. Of course after just one listen, you’ll see why as Englund and company – Henrik Danhage (guitar), Jonas Ekdahl (drums), Rikard Zander (keyboards) and Jari Kainulainen (bass) have delivered a stellar mix of powerful, soaring vocals, over-the-top guitar grooves and solos and a thunderous groove that combine into an infectious sound.

“Soaked” is one of the strongest tracks both vocally and musically. “It’s about being a young person. Not young; he’s 27 years old. He was a friend of mine who had a lot of struggles in life. To make a long story short, at one point he couldn’t take any more and decided to end his life. It’s sad, but you also feel angry towards someone for being a coward, for taking his life instead of stepping up to the problems. Apparently sometimes problems become too big and too much, so who am I to judge?”

The band recently finished a video for “Broken Wings,” scheduled to premiere on Headbanger’s Ball in late September or early October. “ The song is pretty much the same thing as “Soaked,” but it’s about a girl I knew. She didn’t kill herself but was going to,” states England.

“F*ck man, it sounds like my life has been terrible, and it hasn’t. With these songs, I want to prove it’s comforting for everyone to know that - no matter how much shit you go through in your life - there’s always somebody who’s had it worse than you or the same as you.”

“Music is such a powerful tool, and so many messages can be conveyed - good and bad, “ Englund states. “Our lyrics have a message that ‘you’re not alone.’ It’s a comforting thought that there’s always gonna be people who can relate.”

Now that Torn is out, the band is gearing up for a busy time. It’s just been announced that they’ll be opening for Whitesnake for two shows in their home country of Sweden in December. “We’re finally playing these hockey arenas that we’ve been going to all of our lives to see other bands play, so it’ll be really cool,” Englund notes.

Will they be making their way to the States, as well?
“We’ll definitely be coming there, but we’re waiting for the right tour. On this album, we decided to do everything right and not just jump on any tour for the sake of touring.”

Pick up Torn, keep an eye out for the “Broken Wings” video on MTV and watch for an Evergrey stop in Texas.
“I really love Texas. We’ve played there two or three times, and we’ve got a lot of friends in Texas.”