Enter the Grave

Evile’s Enter the Grave is one of the most important albums of the late-2000s. That old school metal sound was making its way back into the mainstream conscious following the death of nu metal and decline of the -core subgenres. Some of them there -core bands had dabbled a bit into thrash, especially Trivium with their celebration of 80s thrash in the form of The Crusade. It wasn’t great by any stretch of the imagination... even “good” might be a stretch, but the important thing to take away from here is that it was a popular band showing their love for Metallica and Slayer in their own little way. But then you get something like Enter the Grave and the game changes. At this point, it became clear that 80s metal – especially thrash metal – was making a comeback, thanks to the efforts of established bands and the new kids on the block.

It’s got that sound that reeks of 80s nostalgia. There’s that dirty kind of crunchy sound to it that gives the riffs that extra bit of, well, crunch to make them really thrash. It had a similar sound to albums like Master of Puppets, only a little cleaner... just not squeaky clean like The Crusade was. Even looking past that, the album does start off on the right foot. “Enter the Grave” rides on this mid-paced groove before diving into a bit of mayhem with Matt Drake doing his best Tom Araya impression. It’s not quite “Jesus Saves” – he’s not on fast forward, speaking in tongues; but there is still finesse in his shouty vocal stylings that amplifies the edge in its riffs. “First Blood”’s chorus thrashes so hard, I’m actually convinced that it single-handedly inspired Overkill and Metallica to write thrash metal again.

But fuuuuuuuuuuuuck man, “Thrasher” is a goddamn beast of a track! It may appear to be thrash metal 101 given its fairly boneheaded approach and short runtime, but the hustle behind the blisteringly fast riffs coupled with the sheer attitude behind the entire composition generates enough energy to power a city. Between the insane thrashing, the hard-hitting vocals, the well-timed gang shouts and hooky as fuck riffing in general, “Thrasher” is absolutely the highlight of the album as it perfectly exemplifies that old thrash metal chestnut we all know and love.

Then you get through “Man Against Machine” and “Burned Alive” and... well, the thing is that Evile at least had the sense to pace their albums out. A lot of the problem I have with the modern thrash scene is that they tend to just thrash and well that’s it. Evile, on the other hand, wrote their songs with contrast in mind. Like yeah, the Drake brothers could riff like their arms are sewing machines, but they also had an understanding of how to really let those moments pop. This is largely by having mid-paced segments, if not mid-paced songs period. It lets the riffs settle in by allowing the grooves to bridge them. Yet, it also lets the listener appreciate the riffs by slowing it down and giving the songs a real sense of completeness. Out and out thrashers that just thrash are fine every now and again, but not for a whole fucking album, and Evile knew this.

The problem is that they don’t do an awful lot interesting with it. There are the makings of great songs here, but the execution doesn’t really reflect it very well. For instance, “Man Against Machine” takes like ten years to start getting to the good parts. Really though, you could easily trim the first minute of its runtime off and it’d be all the better for it. Still, it does, at least, transition into a fairly intense thrash hit, but it doesn’t quite hit like the earlier ones did. Songs like “Burned Alive” and “Schizophrenia” hit like a dump truck but lack the replay value of the earlier songs. At like the second or third listen, they fly on by with maybe only the soloing to make any kind of impression. “We Who Are About to Die” – what, from boredom? Really though, you have this groove that’s got nothing going on, but then halfway through, it briefly goes right on into mad thrashing territory! Sadly, soloing aside, it then rides on a nothing riff before going back to the aforementioned groove. “Bathe in Blood” has the same thing going on, just at a shorter runtime. Really, only the final song, “Armoured Assault”, gets it all right, taking notes from “Damage Inc” by ending things off with an absolute bang! Intro slowly creeps us right into the thrashing assault that hardly lets up, especially with the tremelo-picked chorus – it’s the kind of song that shows exactly how thrash metal can make an impression in 2007 and beyond. If only it was able to maintain that momentum...

For all it has to show us, Enter the Grave is a frustrating album from an execution standpoint, and a rather up and down experience from a listening perspective. It was clear what Evile’s strengths were and what they could’ve done better. The best moments were when they put together riffs that were like roided up takes on old Metallica riffs. “Armoured Assault” could actually give “Damage Inc” some pressure, for instance. Matt’s vocals weren’t quite as fresh, but their refreshing quality comes from just how much conviction he places behind his vocals – namely, plenty. Those vocal lines, man, let me tell you... alongside the riffs, these were the moments that made thrash feel fresh and exciting! The not-so good moments were those slower ones that couldn’t entirely manifest into a melody that sticks in your head. The grooves that were less melodic and more plodding. The mid-paced riffs that just couldn’t pop like their faster brethren. There was certainly potential – it just didn’t really come out that well.

It’s easier to overlook your first time listening to it back in 2007 and the whole thing was like a freshly mowed lawn. But when the calendar reads 2020 or even 2008, the smell wears off and you see it for how it really is. Amidst some absolute bangers are songs that have their moments offset by some non-descript songs that just kind of exist. But let me tell you, those bangers definitely did their part in bringing back the old school!

Apropos of nothing, I've decided Evile's debut Enter the Grave was in need of an exhumation (hyuck hyuck). Its release was during a time of uncertainty; a lack of clarity on the condition of metal in general and thrash in particular. NWOTM was a relatively new thing, with its earlier envoys like Fastkill and Joel Grind's Toxic Holocaust too commercial unfriendly and psychopathic to make much of a splash. Along comes Enter the Grave, an overt throwback to power thrash, unifying might and melody to create far more digestible thrash anthems. 'Thrasher' became one of the most downloaded songs on Rock Band 2, Evile's career trajectory resembled Metallica's only without the money, and the rest is history.

Call me a stickler for tradition, but Enter the Grave is the only Evile full-length I can recommend without caveat or pangs of guilt. It contains a flock of vigorous, energetic headbangers whose structure and pacing suggests this band did all their homework, went to bed at a decent time, and comfortably passed all of their riff exams with B-'s. I thus equate their efforts to other promising greenhorns of the time like Abuser's Threats of Fate and Bonded by Blood's Feed the Beast. Pummeling thrash riffs are about as oblique and coy as a dump truck on fire, smashing through the aforementioned 'Thrasher' and my personal favorite track 'Burned Alive', with definitive, unignorable gusto.

Simple these tracks may be, Enter the Grave's party piece is an aptitude to shift tempo effectively. Even the absurdly long epic 'We Who Are About to Die' remains captivating by virtue of its articulate, escalating song structure. Though, it does bear mentioning this buttery finesse over musical timekeeping embiggens this album's weaker moments as well. I hope I'm not the only one who routinely skips over the full minute of go-nowhere noodling that introduces 'Man Against Machine'. Hell, sometimes I skip over the next minute of suspense-building riffs just to get to the good part. But in fairness, that might have more to do with my ADHD than it does the, um... Man, I feel like playing Donkey Kong Country 2.

So there's something of a war of ideals lurking behind an otherwise straight-shooting, newb-friendly thrash album. On one hand, there isn't much behind the scenes of 'Schizophrenia' or 'Killer from the Deep'. You get up close and personal with intense riffing passages bolstered by a quasi-melodic bark, which feels reverent of its classic power thrash elders like Paradox's Heresy and Xentrix's Shattered Existence. On the other hand, you've got production stodgier than cake batter, go-nowhere acoustics that feel about as necessary as those in 'Fight Fire with Fire', and a slew of non-sequitur setpieces like the bizarre allegro contrivance of 'Bathe in Blood'.

These complications are superfluous to requirement, if you ask me, and what's more I think they paved the way for Evile's more *ahem* "ambitious" pursuits later in their career. Cult classics they may be, their hoity-toity pomp and circumstance effectively erased their name from the who's who of NWOTM. (Notice how Warbringer and Havok still come up in conversation occasionally?) As the case may be, I attest Enter the Grave has held up remarkably well in the grand scheme of things. I would hesitate before calling it a modern thrash classic though, because it's 12 years old. So instead I'll call it a "fairly modern thrash classic that's old enough to make me feel old."

My story with this album is pretty particular. I remember easily that my first 'independent' thrash experience, thus leaving out The Big 4's sporadic appearances on my older brother's stereo, was exactly with this album. To be precise 'We Who Are About to Die' led me into this world, after I found that song attached at the end of another one I downloaded, still not knowing why. I was captivated by the 7+ minutes of the song, full of tempo changes, catchy in the mid-paced sections and overwhelming after the sudden acceleration in between. Note that these things were completely new to me at the time: the young me had never found that spark in Metallica or Slayer before (I remedied it later anyway), that flash of inspiration which attracted him irremediably towards the entrance gates of thrash metal boundaries. I could only grab immediately my mobile and use Shazam to identify the band name, and after some researches I found myself loving also some of the remaining tracks from Enter the Grave and, eventually, from the other two albums too. This was about 5-6 years ago, shortly after Five Serpent's Teeth had been released; this was the beginning of my immense love for the genre.

Before things get boring, let's close the 'personal story' section, though the clarifications were meant to describe why I cannot be completely objective about this album. Well, Evile's name stands out among the countless revivalist fellows because of their take on thrash, heavily influenced by Metallica, yet with a sort of distinctive style, like few other contemporary bands (Vektor, Hexen, Fog of War are all good examples). The features which have made their latest albums successful are melodic vocals by Matt Drake, ambitious song-writing and the like... the peculiarity is that almost nothing of these things is present on here! Yes, for their debut (remember that we are in 2007) Evile opted for a simpler, straight formula, not unlike a modern equivalent to Kill 'Em All, within the limits. It's not even that difficult to find similarities between some songs... 'We Who Are About to Die' itself stands really close to 'The Four Horsemen', except for the central acceleration I noted before. That riff shortly after, then, doesn't it remind you anything? It's a not too hidden homage, to be honest, such as the tempo change in 'Schizophrenia' – great track anyway – draws heavily from 'Welcome Home'.

Surely it isn't enough to accuse the Drake Bros' crew of plagiarism, for sure. Let's not forget that the revival thrash wave was at its birth, opposed by many and probably considered a short-lived attempt to resurrect the gold years of the genre. And the first, highly derivative works to come out seemed to endorse this way of thinking (think of Chemical Assault or Spread the Fire), because they could hit safely and take overt influences from well-known bands, without the pressure of today's obsession for innovation, caused by the proliferation of generic thrash band all over the world. Metallica were (and still are) their major inspiration source and this had been the result. Nevertheless, in spite of the immaturity displayed throughout the 10 songs of Enter the Grave, it's still a convincing album, thanks to its energy and enthusiasm, joined with technical skills well above average; taking a look on Evile's subsequent efforts, probably this is not their best, but it comes really close, albeit being like a foreign body in their discography.

While the other mid-tempos don't excite too much, or don't bring nothing really alluring to the table ('Man Against Machine' and 'Bathe in Blood'), and the remaining tracks in the middle try a bit of everything, with mixed to positive results (the start-stop attack of 'Burned Alive' is quite interesting, to say), the full-throttle assaults launched by the Britons are easily the highlights, mainly for a reason. Albeit the band members were nearly in their thirties, the juvenile approach of the album makes these songs flow way more naturally if compared to the slower tunes, which will (rightly) occupy more and more space in the following years. For now, Evile want to play fast and they deliver us 'Thrasher', 'First Blood' and 'Armoured Assault', the three essential songs of the record. The first one is quick, sheer violence at maximum speed, though also its main riff sounds already heard before. The second one, after a slow introduction, brings slight rhythm variations, yet occasionally bursting into fast attacks. Eventually, the last one is perhaps their fastest track ever (Ben Carter remains one of the most underrated drummers today), and conversely features a load of killer riffs which come straight out of nowhere. A landmark of revival thrash, in my humble opinion. The elder Drake brother does a good job as a vocalist too, at least in these tracks, with his trademark voice, despite the low variety throughout the whole album.

By now, I guess almost everyone has heard of this band and of this album. Haters will continue to avoid it, that's for sure. But if you're not afraid to be judged not true enough, or if you are in the middle of a nostalgic mood and you miss the good, ol' days of thrash metal, Enter the Grave might be a surprise in both cases. Yes, surely it lacks the personality one would expect, but this is one of the cases where I feel it doesn't even need one.

You can also find this review on MetalBite.com.

The United Kingdom is no stranger to thrash metal, having being the homes of bands such as Acid Reign, Re-Animator, and Xentrix. When thrash metal gained new ground in recent years, it also became the home of Evile, a band that is actually a cut above most retro-thrashers. Even with their debut album, they still managed to break themselves away from the beer-and-pizza-and-killing-posers status-quo that a lot of thrash bands have been following during these years. They've got all the trademarks that made thrash metal the subgenre of choice for some people, but they also put a few differences to make their music more appealing to people demanding more than just songs of nuclear destruction.

I don't even need to remind you of the presence of e-note rhythms on this album any more than I need to remind you that the story of "Romeo and Juliet" didn't have a happy ending, but it should also be noted that there are more notes that make up the chugging and galloping rhythms of each song. This proves that there's more variety in terms of riffing, and that Evile is a step ahead of many thrash metal bands who chose to use just the e-note rhythm (I'm looking at you, Warbringer!). Even when there's an e-note rhythm, it can still be very effective, like in "Bathe in Blood", which contains a galloping e-note rhythm and a mid-paced tempo. As long as the riff proves to be aggressive and skilled at the same time, having a slower tempo does not hamper a song. The use of the tri-tone is also prevalent in some cases, like during the intro of "Man Against Machine" and the title track. There's a few thrash metal bands that make use of the tri-tone, including Sepultura and Slayer to create an intimidating vibe for their work, and that's what Evile does that here, too. The thrash metal bands that fall into the "generic" category barely even use that. They feel that all they need to do is write a song with lyrics about mosh pits, killing posers, etc, etc, etc, slap an e-note riff, and they'd be set.

Sure, this album has it's own problems, but it makes up for them by making the songs more original in a sense. Not that a whole lot of things are original these days, but at least they tried their hardest to make their songs more original than anything else. For instance, much of their songs consist of one tempo that is often double or triple-timed to thrashing speed. That's a major problem with a lot of thrash metal bands formed in recent years; they don't seem to believe in variety when it comes to time signatures. They feel that all they need is a fast tempo, and their songs would be instant favorites. Evile, however, does have a little more variety. I mentioned before how "Bathe in Blood" is more mid-paced, but when much of your album consists mostly of the same speedy tempo, that's actually not bad. And don't forget the intros to some songs, like "Man Against Machine", which starts off as soft and eerie, and then slowly speeds up as it builds up to the main riff. There's also instances where the thrashing speed slows down by half, and this usually happens during the choruses or the bridges of some of the songs. This proves that while the band had intentions of making their music fast and grinding, they also intended to distinguish themselves from other bands.

At first glance, Evile might seem like yet another retro-thrash band that don't put a lot of brain power into their work, but if you listen to it long enough, you'd find that they're way more than that. They're what thrash metal should sound like in the 21st century. Not the themes that have been done to death repeatedly, not the pretentious nu metal or metalcore-like wannabes, Evile. The band should serve as an example of what a beginning band should do with their music when writing and recording. New thrash metal bands should think outside the box more often, and that's exactly what Evile did.

Evile is the epitome of the thrash revival, in the sense that they full embrace and amplify every single cliché associated with the original 80s scene with the fewest modern twists to speak of. This eventuality is 100% unavoidable given the fact that this band began as a tribute band and, for all intents and purposes, remains one to this day in spite of now creating their own material. Perhaps therein lay the reason for the backlash against “Enter The Grave”; it’s an album that represents everything that Metallica should be sounding like right now, and also what the rest of the thrash scene should have been doing in the underground during the 90s rather than pandering to the grunge and nu-metal crazes that came and went like a pair of soiled shorts.

But metal scene socio-political rhetoric aside, there’s nothing to complain about an album like this one, as it perfectly embodies all essential elements of the spirit of thrash. Be it your typical futuristic apocalyptic storytelling along the lines of “The Terminator” series, or just the usual mishmashes of psychotic episodes and horrific encounters that have defined the style since 1983, this is an album that keeps to the established orthodoxy while managing to keep things pretty fresh in a tried and true formula. It has the speed and fury of “Kill Em’ All” and “Show No Mercy”, but also the attitude and gusto of “Horrorscope” and the slightly progressive tendencies of “The New Order”. In fact, I would argue that this is among the better answers to Metallica that has been put forth since Testament, while being maybe slightly more derivative than the late 80s Bay Area crew led by Chuck Billy were at their inception.

Perhaps the greatest draw of this band is their ability to tap a number of differing sources from the 80s scene, though mostly localized to the Bay Area style, while still maintaining this consistent tendency of embodying their Metallica tribute band past. The opener “Enter The Grave” and the up tempo crusher “Killer From The Deep” take on a heavily Metallica oriented flavor, reminding of the faster and more thrashing elements of “…And Justice For All” without the glaring production flaws. “Man Against Machine” takes on more of a creepy, “The New Order” feel with a dissonant clean guitar intro that all but paints an image of fallen humanity, followed by a gradual build up to an eventual explosion of speed riffs and gritty shouts that sounds half Slayer, half Annihilator.

The basic feel of this entire album is as a highly ambitious yet uniquely streamlined recap of just about every pure thrash experiment that occurred between 1983 and 1991, though focusing the most on the middle period when the truly crippling elements that were Death Angel, Heathen and Vio-Lence began to push the envelope in terms of how fast and how heavy the style could be. The outliers in this are “Thrasher” which opts for an old school 1983 Metallica sound with its simplistic gallops and celebratory mood of bodies flailing in the pit, and the longwinded “We Who Are About To Die” which goes for an all out “…And Justice For All” mixture of slow, medium and fast, with maybe a slight helping of that same Testament flavored atmospherics (particularly at the beginning) that were encountered on “Man Against Machine”.

This is something that any thrash metal fan should be able to appreciate, but it’s particularly geared towards people who would like to see more of what Metallica was doing before the 90s and don’t like it done half-assed the way Trivium and other metalcore pukes have been. Granted, those who think that thrash metal ran its course and should be left in the graveyard of metal history will probably hate this album more than any other revivalist work of late given that it makes zero attempts at expanding beyond what has already been done. Speaking for myself, I’m fine with thrash metal being in the graveyard provided that bands like Evile continue to invite me for another session 6 feet under like this one.

There is a lot of backlash towards this album, but I don't get any of it. Thrash for me is a genre to rock out to. I like turning on a Thrash album and just getting a bucket-load of headbanging riffs and a vocalist who can sound pissed off. The modus operandi of a Thrash album in my mind is for it to kick as much ass as possible, and Evile do just that, providing a healthy mix of any number of Thrash bands from the 80s with a loud, punchy modern production and a lot of thrashy riffs and solos for your consumption.

Evile are pretty much the flagship for all the "retro" Thrash bands coming out these days, and I've heard a lot of people complain about how it is pointless and how it is just rehashing old ideas, but to that I say...who cares? So many good Metal bands rehash the old ideas anyway, so how are we to detract these guys from doing it? Evile rock. Enter the Grave is a sober, relentlessly fun album with little to no bullshit in it at all, just a big ole tribute to the olden days. As I mentioned before, this is musically sort of a mix of any number of classic albums, from Metallica to Megadeth to Exodus to Slayer, and it sounds about as good as they all did back then, only without the innovative "fresh" factor. Yes, this is really nothing you've heard before. It all sounds familiar, but it is refreshing enough, and the band sounds comfortable with their sound. Matt Drake's throaty and aggressive singing is almost a perfect replica of Tom Araya on the mighty Reign in Blood, and the guitars crunch and writhe and spit out tasty riffs like they've been doing it all their lives. The solos are high and fast, and the drums never stop hitting, and the bass is always present and lurking behind the wall of riffs.

Starting off with a bang on the title track, Enter the Grave pulls no surprise punches. "Thrasher," "First Blood," the closing nuclear storm of "Armored Assault" and especially the ripping and furious "Killer from the Deep" all satisfy as intense Thrashing slabs of fun. I do think "Man Against Machine's" intro is a bit too long, and "We Who Are About to Die" outstays its welcome a bit, and I think many songs here could be shortened for maximum effect, but it isn't too bad of a problem. If you want a solid slab of rocking, kinetic, Earth-moving Thrash, Evile are sure to please. Recommended.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com

Of the many 00’s wanna-be thrashers, Evile are the only ones that I’ve heard who truly are the real deal. I think this stems from the simple fact that Evile have squarely focussed their retro-sights on the late 80’s / early 90’s instead of the more fashionable 1985 period. This means that instead of trying to recreate a period where the musicians where struggling with their own limitations (albeit unwittingly producing some magnificent music in the process) this band are able show their considerable playing abilities and capitalise on the excellent soloing of guitarist Ol Drake. Matt Drake is the perfect voice for this band too, sounding like a cross between Tom Araya and modern day Cronos, he’s also a cool front man, with a dry wit that is very endearing in the live setting.

Indeed it is Evile’s unashamed embracing of their talent over the ‘party-thrash’ attitude of their peers which sees them rise to the top of the heap, and unlike some other modern supposed thrashers, Evile thankfully eschew the ‘crossover’ angle so beloved of bands like Municipal Waste, in the process providing us with easily one of the best thrash albums since 1990.

Is it perfect? No, of course not. But it is very good and forms a very solid foundation for the band to build on. I particularly like the fact that they have plenty of old style ‘dugga-dugga’ riffs ala Metallica circa 1983 or fast Slayer circa 1990. This is a major plus point for me and I really hope the band don’t abandon this style as they progress. Obviously a band like this isn’t going to start dropping ‘Nu’ riffs into it’s repertoire, but when you actually listen to a lot of old thrash bands it’s surprising how few actually used that most obvious style of riff, or at least used it well.

Actually the more you listen to this album the more Matt sounds like latter-day Cronos. Which is another definite plus point as I’ve always liked Cronos voice. But what of the songs? Well, I’d say the obvious standout track is ‘Thrasher’, but the album as a whole is pretty consistent. ‘Bathe in Blood’ is another good tune, albeit a tad slower and more catchy than some of the others on display.

And how cool is it that this album was produced by Fleming Rasmussen? I bet these guys were happy as pigs in shit when they secured that little coup!

Simple physics tell you that the amount of potential energy an object has is directly proportional to the kinetic energy it has once it begins moving... I can think of no better way to describe Evile.

No matter how often or furiously I fly the traditional or power metal flags, thrash will always reign as the champion of all sub genres to me. But as we all know, thrash died a pretty agonizing death around the time the '90s came 'round. There were still some excellent releases (Victims of Deception and By Inheritance are the main ones I'm referring to), but for the most part the genre just kind of lost credibility and crapped out. Imagine my delight when it was brought to my attention that a surge of new bands were cropping up and attempting to bring back the glorious style that had fallen out of favor so many years ago. The biggest name out of this latest revival attempt is Britland's own Evile.

Yet like all music, the most popular band is rarely the best at what they do. The album starts off like a great throwback to the keg standing days of yesteryear. But after the first three or four tracks, the whole thing starts to get tedious. Enter the Grave, Thrasher, and First Blood are all rip-roaring thrash behemoths, but whatever magic the happened to harness when writing/recording those seemed to inexplicably vanish and thus leaving the remainder of the record to be insipid and dull. The riffs remain sharp throughout the duration, but they lose their attention grabbing quality once Man Against Machine starts.

Their main influence is strikingly obvious when you listen to tracks like We Who are About to Die, as it sounds like something that was written for ...And Justice for All that just barely missed the cut. It is no surprise that Evile started off as a Metallica tribute band, and while there is nothing wrong with paying homage to the band that brought the genre to mainstream eyes (a double edged sword, as we can well see), there is an uncomfortable amount of rollover that managed to seep into these kids' brains. Luckily, most of the influence comes from Metallica's period as thrashers, not media children. Unfortunately, there are a lot of riffs that sound like Kill 'em All and Ride the Lightning throwaways, and the resulting deja vu shunts any of the originality on the record.

Evile gets a decent amount of both praise and hatred, but one aspect that it seems everybody can agree on is that Matt Drake has a great thrash voice. I pondered this for quite some time, what made one a great voice for the style? After about twelve nanoseconds of reflection, it hit me like a slippery fish, he's a dead ringer for Tom Araya. This is obviously a great thing considering Slayer is pretty much accepted by scholars worldwide as one of the greatest thrash outfits ever to grace us humble humans on this planet.

The instrumentals however, are a very large portion Metallica, with microscopic bits of Slayer and Coma of Souls era Kreator. The drumming is in a kind of state of equilibrium between the boring, typical, and uninteresting beats of Lars Ulrich and the high speed double bass and tom rolling intensity of Dave Lombardo. They took a cue from late '80s Metallica once again by completely drowning out the bass, giving the production a very similar feel to ...And Justice for All. The songwriting varies between hearkening back to the glory days of 1986, and chugging, plodding songs that just kind of meander across the finish line. Thrasher and Killer from the Deep are good examples of the former, while Bathe in Blood and Man Against Machine exemplify the latter. We Who are About to Die rides on a catchy yet tiring and unimaginative groove for the first four or five minutes before finally tearing into a thrash monster, which, once again, just reeks of late '80s Metallica.

Overall, this is a decent thrash record with a nice old school tinge to the sound. As the title implies, this band has potential up the ass, and it will definitely show once they get the ball rolling. Until then, we have this half cool, half plodding thrash record to keep us hopeful. Not shitty by any means, but not a classic either. Municipal Waste and Merciless Death are the front runners in the thrash revival movement in my eyes, but Evile could take them over with a little bit of work.

I first heard about this band when they sent me a friend request on MySpace. Sure, it sounded cool and made me feel a bit nostalgic. Upon listening to the title track "Enter the Grave" I was reminded of perhaps some decent-thrash bands from the 80's-90's or so. Nothing really special. However they are definitely better than most of the shitty new thrash bands out there, so I give them credit for that. And aside from their vocalist, that is the only reason I feel they deserve any points here. Once you get over the "wow, this sounds old school" or whatever factor, you're left with a boring, bland album.

As I just mentioned, their vocals are great, in my opinion. They have a certain punch that I feel is definitely missing from a fuckton of bands today, namely thrash and some of the bands that try to go for a more "old" thrash sound that dominated back in the day. These are the vocals that kids like Matt Heafy would castrate themselves over, to sound like.

Many people have said that the title track is the landmark song on the album, however it bores me to no end. I turn the song off and pull out some Ride the Lightning or Holy Terror. That stuff is still thoroughly enjoyable to this day, and I'm sure someday soon all these fans will realize that Evile's debut album will not do such. As I said in my first paragraph, I think people are getting caught up in all the excitement over a band that they believe could grow to be metal icons. You were horribly fooled with Trivium, and I really see no difference here. The difference I see between Evile and some of the bands they try to aspire to (Metallica, Slayer, I'd assume) is that Evile has no landmark songs on this album, and this album will not stand the test of time and still be enjoyable long after you listen to it.

By the way, "heads down, no nonsense thrash"? I could have sworn the saying was HANDS down.... Awesome marketing trick there.

This album has struck me a little differently on nearly every listen. On a first, mildly distracted run-through, I thought to myself, ‘well, here we go. Bay Area revivalism. It was bound to happen, but this sound was done to perfection in the 80s, why bother?’ On my second listen, several songs, notably the menacing, epic-sounding ‘Man Against Machine’ and the gladiatorial musings of ‘We Who Are About To Die’, stood out and convinced me that, yes, there was some point to all this. I also liked the soloing – fast, furious and just technical enough to pass muster by 80s thrash standards. Also, with Flemming Rasmussen at the board, the sound is everything you’d want from a thrash album. And then on a third listen, I started having doubts again. Classic Exodus, Slayer, Artillery, and Death Angel are definitely influences here, and that’s all to the good. But how much is this album really worth if you already have Bonded By Blood and Reign In Blood in your collection, that is to say, if you’re a metalhead with a modicum of taste, sanity and a sense of the history of the genre?


Well, that’s a hard question to answer. And it may be an unfair one, as well. It would be cynical to accuse the new crop of thrash revivalists of hopping on a bandwagon just because it’s suddenly becoming trendy – I know that every time I spin those old 80s albums I get a supercharge and wonder why they don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Can’t blame these fellows for thinking the same and suiting action to thought. Also, stacking a young band’s first album against classics of the genre is a loaded comparison if there ever was one.


The point is, this is a decent crop of songs that genuinely evoke the spirit of old school thrash. Where the themes or the format seem regurgitated or limited (the vocals on ‘Burned Alive’ sound a little too much like the singer is channeling Tom Araya – you could easily sing the opening verse on ‘Angel Of Death’ to his vocal lines here), I think it’s important to remember that they are working in a style which itself worked best within certain specific parameters, to be honest. The songwriting and musical ability on display here suggest that they’ll only get better. Anyway, sometimes branching out can be a bad thing – I’d prefer hearing a Bay Area clone band like this bashing it out with real conviction than listen to some of the more egregious dinosaurs of the original movement penning mindless paeans to pro wrestling and computer games, duking it out with female power metal vocalists on AoR versions of their more commercial songs, or resorting to nu-metal levels of musical under-development and replacing snares with what sound like collapsible steel chairs to sound hard again.


This album won’t replace anyone’s timeworn stash of thrash classics – but it will serve as a good, crunchy snack in between main courses, and an aperitif for further destruction from Evile. Yes, I just jammed in a Richard Cheese reference there. I’m so smug, you should sue me.

What we have here is one of the best musical releases of 2007, one of the best modern examples of thrash metal, and one of the best thrash releases period. Pure and undiluted, what stands out most is the way in which it blends blistering intensity with a great catchiness that gets it stuck in your head and makes every song unique and an instant winner; there are many examples, but check out that opening riff of First Blood: clear, powerful and effective.

As many will say, it's not redefining the genre or trying anything revolutionary, but this by no means rules it out (and ultimately, in a genre as limited in stylistic variation as thrash, how many albums can honestly be said to redefine it?). It's fantastic balls-out thrash metal, with every element of the band pushed to the best performance.

In general music terms it's got bits from all over the spectrum of thrash. You can hear influences of Metallica, Slayer, Onslaught, Testament, Exhorder and some of the German thrashers like Destruction and Kreator. Evile do a good job of never sounding like they're ripping anyone off: the influence of all these bands can be heard, but they don't sound close enough to any one to sound like they're genuinely just imitating others. The style they play may be made up of many others combined, but it's still ultimately their own. It's also worth noting that while a lot claim a strong Metallica sound, that's really not true, just listening to it you wouldn't think that. Perhaps the only connections are the vocals sounding vaguely early Hetfield-ish and the lyrical themes of death as in Ride the Lightning. It sounds much closer to Slayer overall.

Lyrically, the usual style and lyrical themes of war, death, blood (plenty of that!) are to be found here, but then this formula has served thrash well for a long time, and continues to do so here. And the songs do have some interesting, if not particularly challenging, themes. Rambo fans in particular will love "First Blood". They're delivered in, for want of a better term, a minimalistic manner: rather than flowing verses Matt Drake opts for more short, sharp barks, but they pack plenty of punch, and it feels appropriate to the style.

The musicians themselves are on top form and are all really shown off well. The mixing is particularly excellent and full praise to Flemming for putting out another winner. Matt is a great vocalist, he's angry but doesn't rely on extremes of pitch or gruffness, he's just a good old fashioned thrash vocalist, and it's worth noting that he's very clear, there's no trouble making it all out. Some lines in particular such as "Jump into the pit!" from Thrasher and "Salute you!" from We Who Are About To Die are very powerful indeed, and a marked improvement on their demos.

The riffs themselves are high-quality, be they fast or mid paced, and on this note they really handle the elements of pacing well. Too many thrash albums rely purely on speed to get the point across, cramming in as many riffs as possible with little thought to the overall structure. By slowing it down occasionally, Evile make the album a much more memorable experiene than some who just thrash for the sake of it. It's all very memorable too, every song stands out from the others while still sounding consistent. It'll melt your face and break your neck when it wants to, but it doesn't rely on extremes to get results.

The drums and bass drive the songs just as often as the riffs, with Bathe in Blood providing a wonderful example of mid-paced thrash. Indeed, I find the drumwork exceptional, it's not flashy, but it forms a solid backbone of the entire album. "Thrasher" is as much of an intense thrash anthem as the title suggests, "We Who Are About To Die" builds very nicely and climaxes in some of the more powerful stuff on the album. The chorus on Scizophrenia" is utterly irresistable, and I challenge anyone not to head-bang with that beat towards the end of "Killer From The Deep".

Skillful playing, great production, memorable choruses and riffing, driving beat and power, plentiful aggression focused on crafting good songs, it's all here. This here is an essential addition to any thrasher's collection, a perfect example of how this lovely flavour of metal is alive and well, and will have anyone head-banging along. Enter the Grave is up there with the best of the 80s thrash records, and regardless of what era it's put out in, good thrash is good thrash. Get this, crank it up, and "Bow down to the thrasher!"

Thrash metal has been making a comeback in recent times with artists like Municipal Waste and Fueled By Fire leading the metallic hordes back into 80s imagery and poser-killing pits. But during such a surge, there are bound to be groups that make the powerful subgenre seem obsolete or just boring, like England’s Evile. Often hailed as an upcoming thrash warlock, Evile’s hype was solely established by the band’s “Enter The Grave” CD, which has surprisingly been turning heads since its release. As a thrash fan, I gave into pressure and picked it up, yet Evile’s debut gives more than what the listener bargains for. Despite having its moments, “Enter The Grave” is unquestionably a minimalist approach to thrash in which vague qualities are highlighted without any strain of authentic attributes or musical diversity.

Though many items play a role in its demise, “Enter The Grave” mainly suffers from its impalements caused by poor instrumentation and Evile’s unending musical continuation portions. Being a thrash band, there are certain expectations about the riffs and the brutal anticipation amongst the guitar playing, but this is not the case here. The riffs are essentially second-rate Exodus chimes lacking technicality and differed chord progression as everything sounds like one sub-par picking section on repeat until you find yourself struggling to stay awake. Stripped away is the ring of originality and its grand cacophony, and so we are left with this generic pile of mindless thrash that presents no sign of a real band anywhere. There really isn’t much to say about the percussion or the bass as both play no role whatsoever in “Enter The Grave,” which obviously just leaves a show of stupid shredding with no positive qualities at all for the listener to indulge.

“Enter The Grave” is a failed effort on the musical spectrum, but the vocals are anything but destructive to Evile’s slumping debut. Matt Drake’s position at the front of this thrash quartet adds a decent addition to this fading effort and fits Evile’s choice of metal appropriately. As a vocalist, Drake is the general thrash singer you’d expect with aggressive overtones and the whole 80s attitude, and that’s exactly what Evile needs at the microphone. Any form of negativity is rather infrequent with few issues on the vocal patterns and his semi-annoying tone, but those problems are few and far between. Drake does a good overall job softening the blow, as this record would be almost unbearable if he wasn’t its main feature.

Evile might sound like a good thrash band on paper, but their dull debut is cast into the dirt below due to several obvious and redundant errors. As a whole, Britain’s pseudo-starlets are vastly flawed in almost every musical category ranging from the riffs to the song structure, and the areas that beg for improvement are painfully clear; it’s just not a fun experience. “Enter The Grave” is far too generic to qualify as a decent release, and I’m quite certain my name is Charles McGrinfuck if Evile’s full-length debut marks any revival in the thrash metal genre.

In my review of Onslaught's comeback CD, I lamented the almost absolute lack of proper thrash being released these days. A few exceptions aside, the older bands have either split up or started mucking about with modern influences, and the young pretenders of the last 15 or so years have been either the groove metal spawn of Pantera and Machine Head's take on a dying genre in the 90s, or simply modern metalcore borrowing an old Bay Area riff here and there.

But despite this, there has always been a surviving underground passion for thrash in its purest, untampered form, with a groundswell of young bands currently tearing up the U.K.'s unsigned scene. Considered by many as the most promising of the bunch are Evile, who recently cashed in on some lucrative support slots by being snapped up by legendary extreme metal label Earache.

The Huddersfield 4-piece take their biggest influences from the heavier end of Bay Area thrash, never taking many cues from anything further forward than 1986. Their formative days as a Metallica tribute band have obviously left something of an imprint of that band on Evile's sound, but a middle ground between Exodus and Slayer is probably the most appropriate comparison to the songs on 'Enter the grave'.

Frontman Matt Drake's barking vocals are an obvious Tom Araya imitation, but performed so well that the replication never feels forced or awkward. His lyrics are also delightfully old-school, with themes of war, death, and erm, a really big shark, a breath of fresh air compared with the cartoonish political subjects Dave Mustaine and Gary Holt have been turning out of late. Better still, there is not a hint of Pantera-worship, macho man lyrical posturing to be found on the CD.

The 10 songs on 'Enter the grave' are uniformly tight and aggressive, with a multitude of jagged riffs ensuring that proceedings very rarely drag. The guitar solos from lead player Ol Drake are massively impressive, sounding often like the speedy fret runs of Kirk Hammett but also taking in the more melodic and technical style of Exodus as well.

Set off against the rampaging pace that most of the CDs runs at, the 7th and 9th songs, "We who are about to die" and "Bathe in blood" are more patient, menacing numbers. Perfect midtempo thrash (how often do you see that written down?), they are driven by bludgeoning, hypnotic riffs rather than sliding into groove-reliant mediocrity.

The former is a near 8-minute thrash epic, while the latter is an ominous, marching effort with a riff that must lock live audiences into that rhythmic, swaying type of headbanging the way only this sort of music can. Both songs of course feature classic New York thrash-style breaks in the middle that are executed flawlessly and make sure the songs do not get mired in repetition.

It is very hard to find criticism for Evile on their debut CD. Some listeners may be turned off by the blatant lack of originality in their songs, but when looking past this and listening to the music on its own terms, there would be hardly a thrash fan alive without room for 'Enter the grave' in their collection. A classic British thrash CD hasn't been recorded in some time, and it would be hyperbole to say that is what has happened here, but on this sort of form Evile may be the band to do it sooner rather than later. A better thrash CD in all likelihood won't be released in 2007.

(Originally written for http://www.metalcdratings.com/)

Earache record’s marketing department must be very happy right now, because they’ve promoted their young thrash metal bands in a very effective way, and lucky for them the metal media has picked up on it and is selling based on a single tagline: ‘thrash is back! ’. Along with Municipal Waste, Evile are the second Earache band to really be put in the spotlight for leading some kind of revolution in the metal scene, especially in the UK. They’re energetic, they’re fresh UK talent and to top it all off their debut album, ‘Enter The Grave’ was produced by Flemming Rasmussen, the guy that produced Master Of Puppets, arguably the biggest thrash metal album of all time. What more could a promoter want from a new band? If you’re into thrash the talk of this band will certainly interest you, and there’s a good reason for it.

The opener and title track of ‘Enter The Grave’ sets the mood for the whole album; it’s a balls-to-the-wall thrasher with massive nods to the 80’s thrash gods throughout. Anyone who’s familiar with even a little thrash will recognise immediately where their influence is coming from. There are even a few suspiciously delivered lines which sound rather similar to classic thrash songs (Bathe In Blooooood, from a lacerated sky…) but these guys are no plagiarisers. These four guys from Huddersfield clearly have chemistry, and I think a lot of it is due to Ben Carter’s drumming. While the drums mostly have a formulaic backbone, he always does something to freshen up the tried and tested offbeat snare beat, with double bass rolls, floor toms and a variety of different cymbals. He’s got speed, endurance and a great dose of originality, which is exactly what any thrash band needs to have to get anywhere today.

Of course the drums wouldn’t be worth anything if they weren’t accompanied by a pair of top quality metal guitarists. Your wish is their command. They take up the familiar line-up of rhythm guitarist/vocalist and lead guitarist, in brothers Matt and Ol Drake, and in short, they’re awesome. Dirty tone, some impressive downpicked riffs and a variety of soloing styles come into play throughout ‘Enter The Grave’. I counted two riffs on the entire album that didn’t get me pumped, and a good 10 or so that were absolutely top drawer. Again, there’s nothing new in the style but it’s great to see that style come close to it's peak sound (no doubt thanks to Rasmussen’s stellar production) in some of the riffs these guys play. There’s a thrash riff for every occasion, a lightning fast pummelling of aggression, incredibly headbangable mid-paced sections and even a few down tempo South Of Heaven-esque riffs that are oozing with menace. The faster riffs’ string-skipping nature brings to your attention the talent of bassist Mike Alexander also. He only has a few steps out from behind the guitars (but in music like this, you don’t expect them to) but simply keeping up with the riffs is quite a feat in itself.

Anyone who’s ever heard a Slayer record before will know that good lyrics are nothing more than an added bonus to a thrash record, but the lyrics of Evile are indeed very good. Don’t expect any political commentary from them though. The songs are about the typical thrash themes, death, war, corruption and a little ancient history. Of course, the war and corruption themes are not to be taken and really thought about separate from Evile’s music, as they are just a boost to the energy and attitude of the music. They’re very effective in this way as Matt Drake’s voice has enough grit to make it a good metal voice, but enough clarity to let the lyrics come through, so the lines that add to the feel are nothing short of f--king metal.

Evile are a great thrash metal band, that much is undeniable. Perhaps the ‘new wave of thrash metal’ is fabricated by the media and record labels, but if it means that more bands of Evile’s calibre emerge, then I’m certainly all for it. Cynics could point out similarities between the band and other bands all day (Matt has a passing resemblance to the late, great Chuck Schuldiner, the ‘Armoured Assault’ intro being basically Metallica’s ‘One’ etc) but this reviewer is certainly looking forward to a strong and lengthy career from these guys. When your album is produced by the same guy that produced three Metallica classics, I’m sure there’s going to be a high quality control and the standard that Evile have set for themselves is very high, and I can only hope that they continue to churn out songs like ‘Enter The Grave’ and ‘We Who Are About To Die’ and inspire a real thrash revival.

Originally written for www.heavymetalsociety.org

It’s the production that gives ‘em away. It is not 1987 nor 1989. This is 2007. The production simply is too good for old school thrash metal standards even if Flemming Rasmussen has put his name on it. The modern equipment blows their cover. A problem? Nope, not really, but it shouldn’t get any cleaner than this to be honest. But I’m glad the album doesn’t sound as digital as most triggered Scandinavian semi-thrash that began to surface in the late nineties. The production –objectively speaking – is remarkably good!

What exactly does Evil sound like. Simple, we take the first song ‘Enter The Grave’. Opening break followed by a 1987 Anthrax riff, the Exodus riff comes in at 0:26. At 0:47 the Slayer riff - taken almost directly from Reign in Blood - starts and sets the tone for the verse. The originality is zero but a unique combination of these three styles of thrash within one minute. On the following songs a lot more different bands look around the corner for inspiration.

The start of ‘Burned Alive’ is mind blowing. This is top class thrash metal. Hell, the whole song is one of the best ones on the album. ‘Killer from The Deep’ starts with yet another typical Exodus riff but not as good as the title track. Evile turns out to be most effective on their shorter songs that don’t exceed the 5 minute limit. Making songs like ‘Thrasher’ and ‘Schizophrenia’ worthy of mentioning in British thrash metal history.

‘Man Against Machine’ and ‘We Who Are About to Die’ lose tension at times and I found this to be a shame. The intro to ‘Man Against Machine’ is quite dragging and the first 2:16 minutes could really have been left off entirely. I have to admit the Slayerish break at 3:57 on ‘Who Who Are About To Die’ is pretty damn cool and so is the Kirk Hammett inspired solo section (5:35 to 5:41) but the rest of the song – as said - takes too long. They also are less effective on slower material (‘Bathe In Blood’ drags on and gets dull before it finally gets some balls at 3:35 minutes).

Matt Drake’s vocals remind me of a lot of other thrashers but if have to pick one the name that comes to mind the most it would be Damian Montgomery (Ritual Carnage) during their 2002 album ‘The Birth Of Tragedy’. At times he almost sounds identical. This is also because of the same type of lyrical rhythms he uses. Not a bad thing I assure you. The Birth Of Tragedy is my favourite Ritual Carnage album. Although with this kind of dynamic retro-thrash I would prefer equally dynamic vocals. They don’t necessarily have to be more melodic, but a tiny bit extra variety might be the icing on the cake here.

I should also mention a few riffs are too obviously based on some classic eighties riffs. For example the Anthrax riff (‘Who Cares Wins’ – State Of Euphoria 1988) on the song ‘Man Against Machine’ at 3:52 minutes. It wasn’t necessary and you could have written an original riff yourselves. The rest of the album proves that.

Top songs: ‘Enter the Grave, ‘Thrasher’, ‘First Blood’ , ‘Burned Alive’ and ‘Schizophrenia’. A great start but I honestly expect the next album to be better. The material presented here is still a bit inconsistent at times but hey, this is just the debut. I also wonder how the band will grow lyrically. I have a reason not to touch that subject concerning ‘Enter The Grave’.

The UK thrash metal scene is one of the best around at the moment with bands like Gama Bomb, Mutant, SSS and Pitiful Reign all amassing decent followings. However one of the most promising bands from the UK scene has to be Evile. Evile's demos showed a lot of promise but with Enter the Grave they have really taken a step forward and could possibly be one of the bands to take thrash back to the mainstream. How so you ask?


By serving up a dish of full throttle, bone crushing, no holds bared 80s thrash, Enter the Grave is a true tribute to the kings of 80's thrash. The songs are furious, fast and catchy with the occasional mellow intros topped by face melting guitar work, the way real thrash should be. Ol Drake creates some of the best thrash solos I have ever heard; he is certainly up there with the best. Drum work is what you’d expect from a thrash band. Matt Drake nails the vocals perfectly and being able to hear his English accent adds something a little extra to the overall sound. Production is great as it should be a with a producer like Flemming Rasmussen whose work also includes Metallica’s Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning, in short the production is a thrash fans wet dream.


Hopefully this is only a preview of what is to come from these young UK thrashers, it’s not the most original album but I dare say this is just as good if not better then the originals. This would be a crime for any fan of Testament, Overkill, Exodus etc to miss out on.


Stand Outs
- We who are about to die
- Bathe in Blood
- Armored Assault.

85/100 – Very promising debut