The Story of E-volution
by Kate

When you start a band, you do it because you love to play music and express yourself creatively. You don’t know where you may end up, how successful you may become … And if you’re trying to shoot for a fairy tale – you may just get bitterly disappointed! You can make plans and have high hopes, but the only thing you actually can do is to put your heart and soul into your work and hope that someone will notice your effort, and appreciate it enough to let you stand up on the stage and perform in front of an audience. Hopefully the audience will love you too.

EverEve were lucky enough to get that kind of a notice. It came from Nuclear Blast and the effect of that was their 1997 debut CD “Seasons”. “Seasons” was a dark and heavy album, but surprisingly “smooth”. The rich melodies had very gothic overtones and vocals that change from warm and romantic to harsh and cold in a blink of an eye – just as the seasons of the year seem to change fast. And this was a very good start for the band.

The following year, the second album saw the light of the day: “Stormbirds”. Here EverEve continued their doom/gothic metal style with epic songs that flow seamlessly from one into another as if they were just one, solid piece of mesmerizing music. The band toured a lot in support of their records and build up a nice fan-base. But the wind of change started blowing from the east…

One of the characteristics of time is that it never stops passing. It brings new ideas and possibilities and makes people grow - sometimes apart. In EverEve’s case it was the latter. Therefore, they decided to part ways with their lead singer, Tom Sedotschenko. This was a risky step to take because people (especially fans) tend to recognize and associate bands with their vocalists, but for EverEve this step proved to be worthwhile. They started working with a ‘guest’ vocalist, Benjamin Richter (of Vermilion Fields and – currently - Thanateros) and in the second half of 1999 released their third production: “Regret”. Just prior to the release of “Regret” the band learned that their former singer, Tom, died by the means of suicide. The news was a painful “punch in the band’s stomach” and it dampened everybody’s spirit for a while, but “the show must go on”… By now, EverEve had played many concerts and festivals all over Europe. After “Regret” the time came to cross the Ocean… Hence in the early 2000 they came to play a nice mini-tour in the United States.

The years 2000 – 2001 brought a whole new wave of changes: for the band and within the band. First, the original drummer, Marc Werner, left the group giving the seat behind the drum set to Martin C. Vocalist, Ben Richter, decided to concentrate on his own musical project and the microphone fell into the hands of the (up until now) keyboard player – MZ. EverEve also switched record labels. They now signed a contract with Massacre Records which – in 2001 – released the bands fourth child: “E-Mania”. Although the basic musical core of EverEve’s work remained the same – some things have changed on “E-Mania”: a) MZ’s voice and singing style are different (softer and more “sensual”) than Tom’s and Ben’s; b) the songs were shorter and more defined as separate entities; c) the dark, gothic overtones remained in place, but more “electronics” have been introduced and the new “Cyber-Goth-Metal” label was created. This slight change of style opened doors for EverEve to a whole new group of fans. More successful concerts and festival performances followed and yet another change in the line-up took place: the band parted ways with its original bass player, S.M. Basstard and OQ took over the “low vibes”.

“E-Mania” received very positive responses from both fans and critics and officially put EverEve on the goth/industrial clubs’ play-lists. Then, in 2003, it was followed by the fifth CD: “.Enetics (11 orgies of massenjoyment on the dark side of the planet)”… and the Cyber-Goth-Metal kept on growing as were the numbers of places of Eve’s appearances and the lines of fans. But then again the band learned that things can not always be perfect .This time the stab came from SK Kiefer’s side (guitar), who decided to leave the band. There was no replacement for SK’s six strings and EverEve become a four-piece group. As that ‘four-piece’ they recorded and released their latest production: “Tried & Failed”. “Tried & Failed” is a beautiful, musical & lyrical combination of 14 songs that some people are not afraid to call “masterpieces”: more refined than all of its predecessors, dramatic; full of gothic melancholy and dark melodies and yet – it “lets the spirit embrace the light”. This is the album that can guarantee EverEve a significant place in the goth/industrial music history – as they rightfully deserve it.

This is a band that, in their nearly 13 years of existence, had met and fought against more obstacles than many people in their lifetime (including a complete burndown of their rehearsal space with all the gear inside) and never gave up. They refuse to be restricted, limited, held back and get ‘labeled and classified’ under any one, single style. They’re not afraid of change, progress and development (personal and musical)… The story of EverEve is the story of E-volution – and one with the happy ending.