Supreme Evil

I remember back in mid-1990s that there were upcoming bands with name Diabolic or Diabolical, or either one of them with another word in their name, and I was baffled (a weird fact is that this Diabolic is the only metal band carrying this exact name)... It was mainly printed zines to help a metalhead to find cool bands, and perhaps no accompanying cover CD to actually hear a band.

I recall this US death metal band called Diabolic appeared on pages of these unholy quires. I didn't go and order their stuff right away, but got some of it years and years later. Anyway, let's jumpm to now... I have a question, especially for all death-heads: Are you perhaps disdainful for newer Morbid Angel? Then, may I present you Diabolic and their debut album 'Supreme Evil' from mists of 1998?!

Diabolic do owe a lot to legendary Floridan swamp dwellers Morbid Angel, no doubt about it. This is pretty damn similar to 'Blessed Are the Sick' and 'Covenant' (1991 & 1993 respectively), even though not a carbon copy. Just check out the release year... Morbid Angel isn't the sole influence, of course, as this possesses a hefty resemblance to another Floridan death metal legend, anti-Christian Deicide, and their discography up to 1995, too. Again, not a bad thing to get inspired by. Okay, now guess where Diabolic hail from? Yep, from Florida! I bet these guys saw those two bands play live a lot, and maybe even played with them (couldn't confirm the latter matter). One thing must be plain already: Diabolic do not sound very unique, that's for sure.

Guitar riffs provided by Paul Ouellette and Brian Malone are heavy (sometimes palm muted) or sharper and shearing. At heaviest and most powerful, the guitar sounds like a bloody jet engine! Sometimes, only rarely, there is black metal style tremolo picking to be heard; 'Wicked Inclination' is basically a black metal song. The pace can get really fast. The lead guitar does sound like it was played backwards at times, just like Trey Azagthoth wanted his playing to sound like. There's similar tones and techniques utilized, from reverbed flute sounds to whammy bar use (causing really low sounds that could make the Earth crumble).

The drum beats of Aantar Coates are truly varying, but not as easily identified as Pete "Commando" Sandoval's playing. There are some weirder time signatures and loads of tempo and beat changes, from loads of double kick drumming up to blasting inferno. No triggered drums; they are still forcefully played, even though on fastest beats a bit less so. It sounds organic, human. Every instrument is skillfully played, no doubt, but the bass guitar (by Ed Webb) is not in the front like the drums and the guitars. Still, the album sounds brawny and breathing.

The vocals, then. It's a fantastic performance by Paul Ouellette! He growls with varying pitch; from really guttural low voice to demonic higher snarling and barking (David Vincent style right there!). There's no feebleness in his voice. I guess the lyrical content is clear? Anti-religious topics, demons and death, just like the Joe Petagno cover depicts. It's cool to have the lyrics printed, as the voice isn't very clear with pronunciation.

Generally, all changes in compositions make the songs constantly shifting and really vivacious, but definitely not disjointed. Successful surprise tactics are used. I grant there's no boring moment herein. 'Ancient Hatred', for example, is a full-on attack, while 'Dwelling Spirits' slithers and corrupts. There are some peculiar instrumental pieces here. Do I have to tell by who they were inspired by? Not fucking Jean-Michel Jarre, for sure!

So, 'Supreme Evil is a very potent platter of Floridan death metal. What it loses in its familiarity to other bands meantioned here, it wins in pure gusto it fully demonstrates. A very good album, this!

(Originally writen for ArchaicMetallurgy.com)

Diabolic swept into their respective scene like an infernal phalanx of mercenaries, immediately adapting to the speed and virility of their Floridian forebears. Supreme Evil was released only a year into the band's career, a blazing effigy of anger cast in the mold of Morbid Angel or the higher velocity atrocities of Deicide. There's a brute, professional tone to this record, the equal of nearly anything their neighboring veterans were issuing forth, and the sheer strength and capability of Aantar Coates through both his footwork and blasting makes it all sound too damned easy. Now, Paul Oullette's grunting force was hardly novel for the day, and ultimately this was not a band bringing anything new to the feast of fiends. But as far as the 'generic' slaughter-garden variety of USDM was concerned, the high sonic standards and punishing delivery of Diabolic were nothing to scoff at, and while they might only succeed a fraction of the time at conjuring the malevolence and eerie atmosphere I so often associate with the finer records in the genre, they at least try, harder still than many of their established peers in the mid to late 90s...

I really love the guitar tone here, full-bodied and fetid. Morbid Angel circa-Blessed Are the Sick or Covenant, only more brazen, flowing fluidly through the dynamic architecture of rapid abuse and carnal, concrete breakdowns. "Sacrament of Fiends" and "View with Abhorrence" are two of particular favors amidst this writhing, punishing mass: the former a nice reward after the rather bland ambient intro, an escalating citadel of celerity spiked through with frantic abandon in the leads and some thundering double bass during the bridge; the latter threading tremolo duality into a surging start/stop sequence that ultimately manifests into a burst of bitter schizoid enmity. I also enjoy "Dwelling Spirits" for its brief, haunting intro and thick, gargoyle lurch that again reminds me of Morbid Angel's groovier orientations through Covenant or Domination, but with plenty of accelerated abandon. Other moments of worthiness: the razor tongued stream of dissonant chords hurled above "Wicked Inclination" and the muscular abrasion pent up within the titular finale.

There are a few tunes that lag behind these ("Treacherous Scriptures", "Ancient Hatred"), but not by a wide margin, and there's never really a point throughout the forgiving 32 minutes that you felt the festering ennui inherent in so many faceless USDM hordes. Diabolic are about as well scripted in their influences as it comes, and well aware of how to balance composition with both brickwork and variation, power and precision. Having said that, there's really not much of an impetus to acquire this record unless you're interested in more of the same. It's like being presented with a raw, rare steak, then asking the server to bring it back and return to you with something well done. Creatively and conceptually it does not manage to elbow past a Morbid Angel, Malevolent Creation or Deicide, yet it offers a better balanced aural equation, a blasphemy built to blueprint, a safe harbor from which to pursue an impetuous quarry. Supreme Evil remains one of the best albums of Diabolic, but this lack of uniqueness is one that infects their sum body of work.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

The members of Diabolic do not try to hide their major influence by deluting the songs with unsucessful attempts at creativity. Much like Angel Corpse, Diabolic takes the rhythm of Morbid Angel's "Blessed are the Sick" and thats how you get the Morbid Angel influence. They do not make the same interesting guitar work, sudden and constant shifting in guitar patterns, that exists in "Altars of Madness", instead "Supreme Evil" takes the most thrashy parts of the first two M. Angel albums and combines them into one album. That is not to say that the songs are not technical or brutal, but there is a sense of controlled choas that existed in Morbid Angels first two albums that does not exist in this "Supreme Evil" album. Probably the highlight of the album is the machine gun drumming and how much of the songs are built around enforcing the speed and rythm of the drumming. Infact the drumming, not the guitar writing, that is probably the closest thing to Morbid Angel. The drumming may not be exactly on Pete's level, but it stands well against the like (for example Longstrength's drumming). Overall, the album is a powerful and at the same time unoriginal. Sometimes you have to take one or the other. I do not understand why so many are so critical about bands like Diabolic. They take a formula that is proven and run with it. Its great to listen to their attempt to carve a name out of the Morbid Angel legacy. That is much better then trying to be "different" for the sake of being different and just ending up with something completely average and/or boring. For what it is, "Supreme Evil" is great. Many other have attempted this and have failed miserably. Not every band can reinvent the genre, but why do you have to? Just make some great music and if something original comes out of it... even better.