HHHH
Brace yourselves, ladies and gents, for the artistic curveball the maestros of British thrash, EVILE, are about to hurl our way.
Ah, the lads we’ve known since 2004, scribbling thrash symphonies on death metal canvases with the gall of graffiti artists. Now, poised to pounce yet again on July 14, 2023, with their sixth studio venture, a musical enigma they’ve titled ‘The Unknown,’ under the patronage of Napalm Records.
It’s akin to seeing waltzing in the mosh-pit. EVILE is slowing things down a touch, embracing the weightier side of their musical persona. It’s like they’ve stumbled upon a brand-new palette of auditory hues. In place of their routine headbanging beats are tuneful vocals singing melancholy harmonies; it’s thrash with a therapy session, if you will.
Their lyrics, as if the ghosts of Shakespeare’s tragedies have come a-knocking, dive headlong into the abyss of human experience. From grappling with the soul-sucking spectre of depression, the pain of loss, the terror of recurring nightmares, to the existential dread of self-perception. It’s as if they’ve opened a window into their minds, an unexpected fly-on-the-wall opportunity into the EVILE household. It’s about as personal as it gets: navigating the disorienting maze of dementia, wrestling with the music industry like it’s a slippery, steroid-pumped WWE contender, and oh, the brutal, unglamorous grind of the star-studded life. It’s like finding out the gods of thrash are, after all, as human as the rest of us, only their day jobs involve creating earth-shattering riffs instead of Excel spreadsheets!
Mr. Ol Drake, the vocalist and guitarist of EVILE, pilots this introspective journey. It’s a paradoxical cocktail of emotional vulnerability belted out with their heaviest, noisiest, and dare I say, most rebellious sound to date! On ‘The Unknown,’ our auditory senses are piqued by masterpieces such as the eponymous track, a haunting mix of ethereal melody and headbanging riffs. ‘When Mortal Coils Shed’ doubles down on EVILE’s newfound emotional depth, while cacophonous numbers like ‘Reap What You Sow’ and ‘Monolith’ leave nothing to the imagination but a sonic cataclysm.
‘The Unknown’ is a thrash metal pandora’s box of sorts. It dares to question the genre’s need for speed, instead opting for a punchier sound that reveals a hitherto unknown lyrical complexity, unfurling an intoxicating blend of contemporary metal audacity. It’s like finding out your best thrash metal mate also happens to be a professor of philosophy. But then again, that’s EVILE for you – ever the unpredictable lot.