EVILE

When I was younger I mostly listened to the great old Thrash Metal bands but never really explored any of the new blood so was eager to hear this. Upon listening to ‘Infected Nations’ I was both disappointed and pleased to hear Evile’s latest effort expresses the genre as I remembered it. Therein lies my problem with this album, there’s nothing original here; it’s all been done before exactly as it’s done here. Now don’t get me wrong, I do like this record to a degree. It’s got some fearsome riffs and a simple, yet complete, sound enthused with a great maturity for a band only on their second full length album. The simplicity takes the form of Matt Drake’s shouting vocals which work in most tracks, especially in my favourite of the album ‘Plague To End All Plagues’, however it occasionally falls short, notably on ‘Now Demolition’ where he ranges from sounding brilliant to boring. The guitars and drumming are the real things to be admired here though, which is lucky since there are a lot of prolonged instrumental sections beside the rudimentary guitar solos. Guitarist Ol Drake shines brightest on the album with his tight shredding but many of the riffs can’t be overlooked either as they’re often memorable and not the slightest messy whilst maintaining an unrelenting anger. Whilst this really is a guitar album, Ben Carter’s drumming doesn’t get left behind and really gives the album a healthy injection of energy when needed from time to time. Whilst adding diversity to the album I was disappointed with ‘Hundred Wrathful Deities’, the final track, an instrumental piece. It clocks in at a hefty eleven-plus minutes and really drags on, not due to length, instead it lacks the anger and energy of the previous tracks. It could be down to the lack of vocals but it feels like an outlet for ideas Ol couldn’t quite fit in anywhere else on the album, except for some hauntingly calm sections which fit in nicely with the similar sounding intro to the title track. All in all it’s a pretty good record with some maturely approached songs but don’t expect it to broaden your horizons in any way, it’s a straight up Thrash record.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Earache Records

Album

INFECTED NATIONS

Review by Nicholas Dishington

RUNNING TIME:

58:56

RELEASE DATE:

21st Sept 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) Infected Nation
2) Now Demolition
3) Nosophoros
4) Genocide
5) Plague To End All Plagues
6) Devoid Of Thought
7) Time No More
8) Metamorphosis
9) Hundred Wrathful Deities

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

UK

"It’s got some fearsome riffs and a simple, yet complete, sound enthused with a great maturity for a band only on their second full length album."