\u201cI never stopped making music,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve been writing and making more music than ever. In general, I\u2019m not fond of getting a lot of attention, so I really appreciated working \u2018behind the curtain\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, however, he came across Everon\u2019s recording contract and realised that the Mascot label still held an option for a further album and jokingly enquired whether they wished to exercise it. \u201cI thought nobody would care and that there was really no point in doing an album,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n
He was mistaken and soon realised that Mascot did care. In fact, they were absolutely serious about releasing a new album \u2013 and so the musician set to work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same thing could have happened five or 10 years ago and I would have had no better or worse reasons to make or not make an Everon album,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The result of these endeavours is Shell<\/em>s: 11 brand-new songs plus a truly stunning re-working of Flesh<\/em>\u2019s 14-minute title track, indubitably the magnum opus within the Everon back catalogue. Their unmistakable DNA runs through Shells<\/em>; it\u2019s supremely melodic \u2013 the verses are even catchier than most bands\u2019 choruses \u2013 with Philipps\u2019 and Hoever\u2019s guitars taking the band into grittier, more metallic territory on occasion. It\u2019s also frequently grandiose, with Philipps\u2019 brilliant orchestrations a significant feature throughout. In short, Shell<\/em>s is a consummate progressive rock album, qualitatively far exceeding anything the band achieved in the past, and an early contender for record of the year.<\/p>\nInitially Philipps questioned whether he would be able to meet the expectations of existing Everon fans, but he quickly let go of those concerns. \u201cIf I think that way, I\u2019m not going to get anywhere,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe only thing I can do is what I do with everything: trust my inspiration, do what comes up and feels natural to me, and hope it resonates. I have no intention for it to sound like something I did 10 or 15 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Equally, he revels in the freedom that the prog genre affords him. \u201cIt\u2019s progressive rock, so you can allow yourself to think in bigger structures. If you work on something where you know it should be three or four minutes in length, there\u2019s things you don\u2019t do. But Everon is like setting my antennae in a different direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some bands making a comeback might rely on rehashing old ideas or material written during their absence, but not Philipps. He composed the new music and thoughtful, sometimes intensely personal lyrics for Shells from scratch last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have a plan or a single note or word for anything at all,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut it was super easy and went like a charm. I write most music in my head, not on instruments, and the moment I decided to do the album, the first ideas were coming to mind. I probably could have made 20 songs if needed.”<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
(Image credit: Axel Jusseit)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHowever, the re-emergence of Everon is marred by tragedy, following the unexpected death of Moschus last May. The drummer, who had recently celebrated his 60th birthday, had already completed more than half the drum tracks needed for Shells<\/em>, leaving his bandmates with the dilemma of whether to press ahead and complete the album or whether to abandon it once and for all.<\/p>\n\u201cThe initial thought was that we should forget the whole thing,\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd then for a few weeks there were a lot of practical issues to take care of. Together with Schymy, I took out Moschus\u2019s studio and drum room and dealt with his apartment, motorbike and car. At the reception after the funeral we talked about what to do. By then I had Moschus\u2019s computers \u2013 he had been recording on his own and so I knew he had already done eight songs. It was too late to stop there. And also knowing how passionate Moschus was about [Shells<\/em>], he would have been mad at me, for sure, if I hadn\u2019t finished the album.\u201d<\/p>\nWith all the new material written and only the recording of drums for three songs \u2013 Until We Meet Again<\/em>, instrumental OCD<\/em> and Guilty As Charged<\/em> \u2013 outstanding, Philipps drafted American drummer Jason Gianni to complete the album and re-record drums for Broken Angels<\/em>. As such, while Shells<\/em> stands as a stunning release in its own right, it also serves as a tribute to their late drummer and friend.<\/p>\nPhilipps seems pleasantly surprised by the level of interest that Everon\u2019s return has generated. Although he deems a further Everon album \u201crelatively likely\u201d, he\u2019s careful to manage any expectations about the band returning to the stage for the first time in around 20 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the arrangements are complex, to do justice to how the album sounds would require quite some logistics and involve more hands than we have available. But if the album is an unbelievable success, it\u2019s something we might consider\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch this space…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.loudersound.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"German prog metal outfit Everon surprised everyone, not least themselves, by returning with Shells, their first new studio album in 16 years in 2025. The band\u2019s driving force, Oliver Philipps told Prog the reasons behind their 16-year absence and long-awaited comeback…. Over the years, bands come and bands go. Some come to an end by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2305143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2305142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/If-I-didnt-have-songs-we-wouldnt-make-an-album.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2305142"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2305144,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305142\/revisions\/2305144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2305143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2305142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2305142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2305142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}