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Synthesis is the fourth studio album[1] by American rock band Evanescence. It was released on November 10, 2017, by BMG Rights Management.[2] The album includes reworked versions of the band's previous material with orchestral and electronica arrangements, in addition to two new songs. The orchestra was arranged and conducted by David Campbell, with production by Will Hunt Spaceway and Amy Lee.

Synthesis
Studio album by Evanescence
Released	November 10, 2017 (2017-11-10)
Recorded	February-August 2017
Studio	Spaceway, Fort Worth[lower-alpha 1] Dark Horse, Franklin[lower-alpha 1] Ocean Way, Nashville[lower-alpha 2]
Genre	Orchestral electronica
Length	62:17
Label	BMG
Producer	Will Hunt (Spaceway) Amy Lee
Evanescence chronology
Lost Whispers (2016) Synthesis (2017) The Bitter Truth (2021)
Singles from Synthesis
"Imperfection" Released: September 15, 2017 "Hi-Lo" Released: June 8, 2018

Evanescence embarked on the Synthesis Live concert tour, accompanied on stage by a different orchestra in every city. The tour opened on October 14, 2017 in Las Vegas, and included 60 concerts in various cities across North America in 2017 and 2018, four concerts in Oceania and 18 concerts in Europe in 2018.

Background

After the end of the world tour for their 2011 self-titled third studio album, Evanescence took a hiatus from November 2012 to April 2015, during which the members pursued their own projects.[3][4][5] During that period, Lee and Evanescence also parted ways with long-term record label Wind-up Records and became independent artists.[6][7] In an October 2015 interview, Lee stated that she was focusing on solo projects so there were no current plans for new Evanescence music yet, but the band would continue to tour through 2016. "It feels really good to have a lot of different things going on at once in the sense that I feel like I'm not just flexing one muscle", she said.[5] The band made their return to the stage in November 2015, playing three US shows and performing at Ozzfest in Tokyo, Japan.[7]

In February 2016,[8] Lee said the band was working on the six-LP vinyl box set titled The Ultimate Collection, which includes all three studio albums, the previously-unreleased 2000 demo CD Origin, the rarities compilation album Lost Whispers, a studio version of the tour intro "Lost Whispers", a studio recording of the song "Even In Death", alongside a 52-page casebound book with art, handwritten lyrics, photos and rarities.[9][10] The box set was released in February 2017.[11] In August 2016, Evanescence announced a fall tour with more concert dates in the US.[12] During the tour, they played the previously-unheard song "Take Cover".[13]

In October 2016, Lee confirmed in an interview that "there is Evanescence in the future", adding that she wants to take things step by step.[14] She said in another interview that the band was not making a new album yet but working on a project that was "not exactly the most traditional thing", something that would take fans on a "different path that we wanna try."[15]

Conception

The band's fourth studio album and its corresponding title Synthesis were revealed by Lee in a video posted on the group's Facebook page on May 10, 2017. According to her, the title came from the fact that the album is "the synthesis, the combination, the contrast, the synergy between the organic and the synthetic, also the past and present".[16] She further noted how the new music would be stripped down, performed by an orchestra and would feature elements of electronica and the "synthetic world of beats and sounds".[16] According to her, the process behind the album included the band going through their previous catalog and reworking some of their songs. In addition, two new songs were also recorded for Synthesis.[16] She revealed during a video: "This is a total passion project for me. There are so many layers in our music underneath the huge drums and guitars. I've always wanted to shine a light on some of the gorgeous David Campbell arrangements and programming elements in our songs, and that idea snowballed into completely re-doing them with full orchestra, not just strings, elaborate programming and experimentation".[17] Lee further added that the project "flows like a big, dynamic soundtrack".[17] The rearrangement of the songs was done by David Campbell, who had worked with the band during their previous projects, as well as Lee and William B. Hunt.[17]

The orchestral parts were recorded by Nashville Music Scoring Orchestra at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.[18]

Release

On August 14, 2017, the band uploaded a video on their Facebook profile revealing that the album was in its final stages of recording.[19] The reworked version of "Bring Me to Life" was released as the first promo single on August 18, 2017.[20][21] One of the two original songs recorded for the album, "Imperfection", was released as the first commercial single on September 15, 2017, along with the album's pre-order.[22] For Lee, the song was the most important on the album and the process of its writing took a longer period due to her uncertainty of how to put in words what she wanted to.[23] On the same day, the album's release date of November 10, 2017, was also announced and the band uploaded a video on their official YouTube channel of them working on the album in the studio and sharing their thoughts about the project.[23][24] The reworked version of "Lacrymosa" was released as the second promo single on October 27, 2017.[25]

The album was released by BMG Rights Management in the Americas, while being distributed by Virgin Records in Japan and by Sony Music internationally.[26][27]

Composition

The Synthesis version of "Bring Me to Life" is a stripped-down one, as it replaces the drums and the guitars from the original version with a strings arrangement.[28] Its instrumentation is also provided by crashing cymbals, "tension-building" timpani drums and includes various electronic elements throughout.[29]It also completely excludes the rap lines from the original version. Several critics have described its new arrangement as "dramatic".[28][30] Lee has described the song as "new" to her again due to the fact that she incorporated musical elements and vocals which she had "heard in [her] head" since its release.[30]

"Imperfection", one of the original songs written for the album, is an electronic-symphonic track which features Lee's "signature belting". According to Lee, the song was written in the perspective of a person who has lost someone due to suicide and depression and she described it as a "plea to fight for your life".[31] "Hi-Lo", the other original song, is a leftover track from their 2011 self-titled album.[32] It was written in 2007 by Lee and producer Will Hunt, being their first collaboration ever.[33][34][35] According to Lee, the song is about moving on, "but in a very non-confrontational, non-angry way. It's just, 'Hey, everything that happened, I'm over it and I'm not mad at you'."[36]

Tour

On August 14, 2017, the band announced Synthesis Live, a concert tour during which they were accompanied by an orchestra on stage. The tour kicked off on October 14, 2017 in Las Vegas, with 28 stops in various US states and Canada, ending in December. In September 2017, the European leg of the tour was announced, including 18 concerts in March and April 2018.[37][38] In March 2018, it was announced that the band would tour North America that summer with violinist Lindsey Stirling, with the two artists co-headlining. The North American leg began on July 6 in Kansas City, Missouri, with the final show of the tour taking place September 8 in Ridgefield, Washington.[39]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	69/100[40]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[41]
The Arts Desk	[42]
Belfast Telegraph	7/10[43]
Classic Rock	[44]
Kerrang!	[40]
Metal Hammer	[45]
The Music	[46]
The New Zealand Herald	[47]
Renowned for Sound	[48]
Rolling Stone	[49]

Synthesis received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 69 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[40]

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Synthesis.[52]

Evanescence

• Amy Lee – vocals, piano
• Troy McLawhorn – guitar
• Jen Majura – guitar, theremin
• Tim McCord – guitar, synths
• Will Hunt – drums

Additional musicians

• Will Hunt (Spaceway) – programming, synths
• Lindsey Stirling – violin on "Hi-Lo"
• David Campbell – orchestra arrangement, orchestra conducting

Technical

Artwork

• P. R. Brown – album art, design, photography
• Jeff Molyneaux – studio photography, videography
• Tyler Barksdale – studio photography, videography

Charts

Notes

References

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