Review: Evelyn – Multidimensional Transformation

Genres: avant-garde metal, instrumental prog metal, electronica, industrial metal (instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: The Algorithm, Master Boot Record, Neurotech, Space Mountain soundtrack
Country: Poland
Release date: 6 January 2024

With a name like Evelyn and an album cover that reeks of Vieux Boulognendue, I figured Multidimensional Transformation must be generic symphonic metal, no different than any of the other five hundred bands that ape Nightwish—probably replete with a hot, goth-adjacent singer named Evelyn that would make my peer Zach instantly fall in love, too. To be sure, Multidimensional Transformation has symphonic elements, but it’s really a smorgasbord of eclectic electro-prog, pilfering elements from the likes of Neurotech, Mesarthim, and The Algorithm. 

When the first section beyond the superficial intro exploded two minutes and nineteen seconds into the album—with me expecting a bland soprano—I about jumped out of my skin at the relentless industrial blast beats and electronica-suffused blackened tremeloes. While immediately abrasive, a slew of strong melodies began, performed both by the lead guitars (while they weren’t mindlessly chugging as they are across large swaths of the album) and by the prevalent synths which define Evelyn’s sound. Providing a range of styles to Multidimensional Transformation, like trance, electro, breakbeat, and synthwave, the synths easily rise above the rest of the album both in the background as an ambient texture and, more importantly, as an intense, pummeling vessel for carrying the main melodies like The Algorithm or Mesarthim. The best track “Programmed Dream” especially incorporates a more chilled prog metal-cum-synthwave section toward the end as an overall album highlight, divorced from the rather hectic main body of the album.

However, one can hardly hear the melodies for most of the album because of obnoxious, constant blast beats. I love blast beats more than the next guy (unless the next guy is Zach), especially over clean and/or chill sections (as in Neurotech’s excellent Symphonies albums), but Evelyn is far, FAR too much. Even disregarding the horrible tone choice—I mean, really, the echoing, reverb-riddled computerized drums are truly grating—they are far too loud in the mix, drowning out everything else. Moreover, while a sandbox of constant blast beats can be a cool texture to work on top of (see Plague Organ or even Bríi), Evelyn is far stronger without fully blasting, either when it uses more electronica-focused beats or even the exceedingly rare times it abandons percussion completely to let the synths handle the relentless forward march. 

Primarily because of the drumming, Multidimensional Transformation quickly becomes a fatiguing listen. Since the pulse is so relentlessly consistent, the whole album becomes a muddled pool of ever-mutating synths and blast beats, and the album contains very few highlights or particularly memorable melodies even if some are quite pleasant unlike a Neurotech or Master Boot Record release. Moment to moment, Evelyn is fairly engaging even if frustratingly loud (and even more than a tad annoying with the drum tone and some of the bland guitar chugging à la The Dark Atom), but taken as a whole, Multidimensional Transformation does surprisingly little considering how hecticly active each track is. Once you’ve heard half a song, you’ve heard all the album has to offer, AND you’ll save yourself from going crazy at a barrage of quantized drumming. 

At first I really thought Multidimensional Transformation was terrible, but it grew on me tremendously with its sweeping synths and melodicism; however, in the end, the negatives outweigh the positives, and listening to Evelyn became a nuisance. This sure is more interesting than your average Nightwish clone, at least!

Recommended tracks: Programmed Dream
You may also like: The Dark Atom, Arkhtinn, Mesarthim, Gonemage
Final verdict: 4/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Metal-Archives page

Label: independent

Evelyn is:
– Chorus (guitars, programming)
– Asteria (keyboards)