Evile
Skull
Earache Records
2013
Evile are a British thrash metal band which took shape in 1999 and for the first years they used to play Metallica, Sepultura, Exodus, Annihilator and Slayer covers. In 2004 they released their first album (“Evile”), and now they’ve released their fourth work which is entitled “Skull”. In a way, not much seems to have changed for them; one could say they still play covers of Metallica, Sepultura, Exodus, Annihilator and Slayer songs.
The truth is that when one sits down to listen to a thrash metal album like “Skull” it is exactly the kind of album he or she expects to hear so, in that respect, it’s a pretty decent attempt on Evile’s behalf. The album features hard riffs, powerful vocals and a tight rhythm section. The problem is that I kept thinking that I’ve heard all these songs somewhere else before.
I mean it’s not a good sign that the second I heard the word “abyss” somewhere in the lyrics of “Skull” I got the burning desire to press stop and put on Slayer’s “Seasons in the Abyss”. I think this shows that, while Evile’s music is fine, it doesn’t go beyond the source material. I don’t know, maybe if you have never listened to Metallica, Megadeath or Slayer (let’s pretend this is somehow possible), then you’ll probably find “Skull” to be a great album. But if you were not born in the 2000’s or you haven’t been living in a cave for the last 30 years, “Skull” has the tendency to sound kind of like a word for word retelling of the same story. No matter how great this story is, there’s no way you’ll find it equally entertaining.
However, with all this said, “Skull” is still a pretty decent album (very) heavily influenced by Megadeath, Metallica, Sepultura, Exodus, Annihilator and Slayer’s work. At the end of the day, that’s what you look for in a thrash metal record. If Evile had managed to take the music of the previously mentioned bands a step further then we could be talking about a great album. Sadly though, they didn’t. I for one will look forward to their next attempt, because I think they have the skills to produce a great record; I mean the talent is there, but let’s hope they put it to use next time around.
The truth is that when one sits down to listen to a thrash metal album like “Skull” it is exactly the kind of album he or she expects to hear so, in that respect, it’s a pretty decent attempt on Evile’s behalf. The album features hard riffs, powerful vocals and a tight rhythm section. The problem is that I kept thinking that I’ve heard all these songs somewhere else before.
I mean it’s not a good sign that the second I heard the word “abyss” somewhere in the lyrics of “Skull” I got the burning desire to press stop and put on Slayer’s “Seasons in the Abyss”. I think this shows that, while Evile’s music is fine, it doesn’t go beyond the source material. I don’t know, maybe if you have never listened to Metallica, Megadeath or Slayer (let’s pretend this is somehow possible), then you’ll probably find “Skull” to be a great album. But if you were not born in the 2000’s or you haven’t been living in a cave for the last 30 years, “Skull” has the tendency to sound kind of like a word for word retelling of the same story. No matter how great this story is, there’s no way you’ll find it equally entertaining.
However, with all this said, “Skull” is still a pretty decent album (very) heavily influenced by Megadeath, Metallica, Sepultura, Exodus, Annihilator and Slayer’s work. At the end of the day, that’s what you look for in a thrash metal record. If Evile had managed to take the music of the previously mentioned bands a step further then we could be talking about a great album. Sadly though, they didn’t. I for one will look forward to their next attempt, because I think they have the skills to produce a great record; I mean the talent is there, but let’s hope they put it to use next time around.