#038 Evile - Enter the Grave

Evile are one of the better-known bands among the "new" thrash bands, which represent the resurgence of the genre, somewhat. Musically, their first album "Enter the Grave" sounds somewhere between Venom, Master-of-puppets era Metallica, with maybe a sprinkling of Anthrax thrown in for good measure. Evile certainly go for a retro style with their sound, and, indeed, their cover art. This, however, is done relatively tastefully, and does not lead to much, or any, cheesiness.

Through the first couple of tracks, I pondered who on earth the vocalist reminded me of. For a while I thought he sounded a lot like Tom Araya, however, listening more closely, I settled upon Cronos, the vocalist of Venom, especially reminiscent of Venom's later material. The vocals are of quite a typical thrash style, harsh, but not extreme. Throughout the album, they exude a youthful energy, with well thought-out, catchy-structured vocals in most songs, which work together with, as opposed to on top of, the guitars, which, incidentally, provide a very solid sound, which is fairly riff orientated, and is unrelenting throughout the album, creating a work of great strength and ferocity.

However, to say that the riffs are the mainstay of the album is certainly an exaggeration. Songs such as "Killer from the Deep" showcase blistering solos which stand tall with anything which the golden-age of thrash, in the eighties, has to offer, and, unlike many of the newer thrash bands out there, the soloing actually has a fairly unique sound, albeit slightly resembling Slayer and Metallica, which is understandable, when you consider how much of an influence these bands must have. An interesting thing about the album, too, is that there are actually a few lengthy songs, quite a rarity, and in great juxtaposition with what one might expect. Evile, however, do this very well, and at nearly eight-minutes "We who are about to die" showcase the band excellently, with machine-gun drumming, fantastic riffage saturated with attitude, and varied and excellent solos.

It took me quite a while to get around to listening to this album, and that, as far as I can tell, is because the . the first two tracks don't really do much for me, They don't seem to show much of the bands character, while, essentially, all tracks beyond and including track three are fantastic, and show a degree of originality, as opposed to the openers, which feel a little generic. I have yet to hear Evile's second album, but I can only hope it is as good as this, and that the third, which they are working on, continues this trend.

I give this album 8/10. It grew on me, one heck of a lot.

Links:
Evile on Myspace
Evile official site