Evanescence - The Bitter Truth

Ten years passed between Evanescence and this one, and Amy Lee spent most of them refusing to make a record she did not mean. The Bitter Truth landed in March 2021 on BMG as the first Evanescence album of original material in a decade, written and released in pieces through 2020 while the world was shut down, which turned out to suit an album this preoccupied with rage and endurance.

"Wasted On You" arrived first and set the register: heavier guitars, less orchestral gloss, Lee singing lower and meaner than the Fallen-era template. "Use My Voice" turned into a protest anthem with a stacked choir of women including Lzzy Hale, Taylor Momsen, Sharon den Adel and Lindsey Stirling. "Better Without You" and "The Game Is Over" hit as hard as anything the band has recorded. Nick Raskulinecz produced and mixed, Ted Jensen mastered, and the strings by the Nashville Music Scoring Orchestra are arranged by David Campbell.

It is the sound of a band that stopped worrying about the size of its old shadow.

Single LP on black vinyl, cut at Sterling Sound. A straightforward, well-made pressing of the album that put Evanescence back in the room.