Evans Blue – “Evans Blue” (2009) June 19, 2009

Written by Andrew Hart

Losing a lead singer might as well be losing your head if you’re a band trying to make it in the rock music biz.  Just ask Fuel, who suddenly saw the spotlight shifted away from them unmistakably quick following the departure of frontman Brett Scallions.  Their album with new guy Toryn Green may have been a really good album, but it’s quite a feat to try and win back the legions of fans that leave with your old singer.  Evans Blue now faces the same dilemma, a good year following Kevin Matisyn’s ugly takeoff, the band tries to pick off where they left off with a one Dan Chandler.  The result, much like Fuel before them, is surprisingly delightful.

Evans Blue has tweaked their sound just a tad in the wake of 2007′s The Pursuit Begins When This Portrayal of Life Ends, opting to soak up the more typical sounds of modern rock, and coming out sounding a whole hell of a lot like Breaking Benjamin.  Vocalist Dan Chandler has a lot to do with this, taking away the unique but far from perfect Matisyn, and replacing him with a powerful hard rock voice.  Chandler commands songs in ways that Matisyn never could, and this is one big improvement noticeable on the new self-titled album from Evans Blue.  Tracks like “Buried Alive” and “The Future In The End” have some crazy hooks thanks to Chandler’s awesome use of his range.  “The Future In The End” may be the most vintage Evans Blue song as well, featuring an opening hook that sounds like it’s straight from the aforementioned ’07 release.

Of course with losing Matisyn, Evans Blue had to quickly come to grips with something everyone knew they’d be missing, and that’s the previous vocalist’s collection of intricate wordplay and lyrical mastery.  The Evans Blue of old was renowned for these lyrics unlike anything in modern rock, and sadly with the new guy in tow, the band has left behind this era.  Those who were swallowed up by Matisyn’s wordplay will find themselves deeply disappointed in tracks like “Sick Of It” which are about as generic as they come lyrically.  Most of the album is still better than expected in this category though, and those who had trouble coming to grips with Matisyn’s lyrics may find themselves pretty happy with the more easy-to-translate words.

Evans Blue’s biggest strength now though, no question, is Chandler’s ability to grip a song and run with it.  Nearly every track is pushed to it’s potential by his excellent pipes, very reminiscent of Breaking Benjamin’s Ben Burnley at times.  The whole band has moments where they sound like either Evans Blue of the first two albums, or Breaking Benjamin, and these are fantastic influences.  “Who We Are” for example, sounds very much instrumentally like Evans Blue.  It opens with the kind of unique instrumentation the band has whipped out previous, but Chandler pulls the song off and makes it sound like a Breaking Benjamin ballad.  In fact, just listen to the chorus and tell me he doesn’t sound just like Burnley.

These may be the biggest strengths and weaknesses of Evans Blue’s attempt to recover from this devastating blow.  They never sound entirely original, and many of the songs blend together the first few times you tackle the album.  However, all in all, it’s a good album if you repress all previous knowledge of the band and just take it as some kickass new music.  “Buried Alive” and “Can’t Go On” especially stand out as fantastic and infectious rock tracks that could do well on radio, or just on your iPod.  This is a good album from a band with something to prove, and prove it they did.  Evans Blue is going to be fine, and Dan Chandler is going to rock your world.

8 out of 10 – Download “Can’t Go On”

Evans Blue is | Dan Chandler – Vocals | Parker Lauzon – Guitar | Vlad Tanaskovic – Guitar | Joe Pitter – Bass | Davis Howard – Drums

Review – Evans Blue "The Melody and the Energetic Nature of Volume" (2006) September 3, 2008

Written by Jake

Evans blue popped onto the scene viciously with their first single, “Cold (But I’m Still Here)”. It was played on the radio so much I fear the records might have actually broken. None the less, Evans Blue kept on trucking, putting out their most recent epic The Pursuit Beings When This Portrayal of Life Ends, with even more of a mouthful for a title.

Over enthusiastic literature aside, a general consensus seems to have been reached that Evans Blue was known primarily for their catchy riffs, ecstatic drums and deep, moving lyrics (the latter done by the lead singer, a man by the name of Kevin Matisyn).

Since The Pursuit… Matisyn has moved on, leaving the band for other pursuits of his own. Ringing in our ears, however, is the first opus produced by this magnificent quartet. An album that certainly moved every one of us that spent money to purchase the fine piece of artwork.
The Melody… starts out hard and rough with the catchy, and surprisingly melodic, “A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed”. Starting to see a pattern with these names? The song hits hard and gets you pumped up for the rest of the record.

“Stop And Say You Love Me” and “Cold (But I’m Still Here)” keep the album going with their own heavy beats and emotional lyrics. Matisyn really knows how to pour his feelings into his songs, and he shows is exceedingly well especially on “Cold (But I’m Still Here)”.

The album doesn’t stop there, bringing in even more hardcore with two songs that sound like covers of two other well known bands. “Eclipsed” and “Beg” sound like Chevelle and Trapt covers, respectively, and it is quite easy to see them as if they were better than the originals. Unfortunately, and yet even more so fortunately, they are one hundred percent natural to Evans Blue.

The dark and moody “Over” sets the stage for the album to start to calm down a bit, which is nice because the constant grunge and distortion does get a little old after a short period. Here is where Evans Blue reaches their first shortcoming. When “Over” finishes, it leads you to believe you’re in store for some long, beautiful acoustic songs about love, romance and maybe baby murder. Hey, from some of the lyrics earlier in the song that last part wouldn’t surprise you.

Case-and-point, “Possession” and “Dark That Follows”, two amazing songs on their own, but are easily overlooked or forgotten due to the fact that they aid in the dragging out of these middle-rock songs that can’t decide whether they’re pure Disturbed or melodic Fuel. Preceding “The Promise and the Threat”, a very much hard rock song, you start to get back in the upswing of having a very exciting, thrashable ending to an already great CD.

Instead, you’re treated to the sudden buzz kill that is “Quote”. Not to say “Quote” is a bad song, as a matter of fact it is one of the top 3 off the album, but the jump from almost metal to all-the-ladies-love-me alternative acoustic is a tad jarring.

The album ends as erratically as it began, stumbling along (in a good way) with “The Tease” batting clean up. A good tune, to be sure, but lessened due to the poor track placement of the preceding half of the album.

The Point – The Melody and Energetic Nature of Volume is an incredible debut for an incredible band, but its main flaw is track order. The flow is increasingly bad in some spots, and at times almost unforgivable. Matisyn, however, and the other band mates make of for this with a kick ass 11-shot of goodies that is sure the have you rocking out ‘till you’re 95 years old.

9 out of 10

Download This – “A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed”
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Take Two by Andrew

Evans Blue’s debut album was one of the highlights of 2006, thanks in large part to creative vocals and melodies. Many of the tracks such as “A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed” and “The Promise and the Threat” still stand out as some of the best rock tracks of the last few years. Matisyn’s vocal croonings are fantastic and help Evans Blue stand out as more than just another rock band.

9.5 out of 10