Evile - Infected Nations
By now, a lot of people in the thrash scene are aware of Evile - after all, their 2007 debut "Enter the Grave" was arguably the best debut album out of the so-called thrash revival. This time around though, the fearsome foursome have upped their game big time in a spectacular attempt to break away from the bog standard (and for some, slightly stale) thrash sound and try something new. And they manage to pull it off with surprising ease!
"Infected Nations" is an album that stands high above all the competitors today - it has all the elements of what made Evile's debut so good, but the band have pushed themselves to create something thats still recognisable as thrash, still recognisable as Evile, but most certainly not to be dubbed as "Enter the Grave 2". Instead of taking one step forward, the band has taken four or five giant leaps by adding a slightly more progressive edge to their music, varying time signatures and some very technical riff work. Remarkably, it all gels very well and everything feels justified - it isn't technical or fast just for the sake of it. Each of the band members have advanced dramatically as musicians too, with Matt Drake's vocals being the most noteworthy change on this record.
With more mature songwriting, musicianship and lyrical topics, on top of the brilliant trademark Evile sound, "Infected Nations" is most certainly one of the best metal albums of the decade, let alone the best album of 2009. The band deserves nothing but praise for trying to push the boundaries and set themselves apart from all the other thrash outfits lurking around these days, and hopefully this record will be hailed with as much historical importance as "Reign in Blood" in the future. And with the recent and tragic passing of bassist Mike Alexander still at the front of everyone's minds, this album has already gained even more importance by sadly being the last album he would ever record. An absolute must-have.
"Infected Nations" is an album that stands high above all the competitors today - it has all the elements of what made Evile's debut so good, but the band have pushed themselves to create something thats still recognisable as thrash, still recognisable as Evile, but most certainly not to be dubbed as "Enter the Grave 2". Instead of taking one step forward, the band has taken four or five giant leaps by adding a slightly more progressive edge to their music, varying time signatures and some very technical riff work. Remarkably, it all gels very well and everything feels justified - it isn't technical or fast just for the sake of it. Each of the band members have advanced dramatically as musicians too, with Matt Drake's vocals being the most noteworthy change on this record.
With more mature songwriting, musicianship and lyrical topics, on top of the brilliant trademark Evile sound, "Infected Nations" is most certainly one of the best metal albums of the decade, let alone the best album of 2009. The band deserves nothing but praise for trying to push the boundaries and set themselves apart from all the other thrash outfits lurking around these days, and hopefully this record will be hailed with as much historical importance as "Reign in Blood" in the future. And with the recent and tragic passing of bassist Mike Alexander still at the front of everyone's minds, this album has already gained even more importance by sadly being the last album he would ever record. An absolute must-have.
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
Earache Records
Reviewer: Dave Ingram Jr.
Oct 17, 2009
Oct 17, 2009
Next review:
Sycronomica - Syroscope
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