Album Review – The Root of all Evil by Spite (Stay Sick Recordings)

American deathcore heavyweights, Spite, have released their crushing new album, The Root of All Evil, via Stay Sick Recordings.

The 5 piece are renowned for their relentless aggression and The Root of all Evil is a fine example of extreme metal but with purpose. Spite are Darius Tehrani on vocals with Lucas Garirrigues and Alex Tehrani on guitars. On bass it’s Ben Bamford and on drums, Cody Fuentes.

The Root of all Evil is heavy. Really heavy. 11 tracks, or 32 minutes, of relentless aggression. Playing a blend of hardcore and deathcore, Spite hit you hard from the first track, straight through the album without letting up. Straight from the opener, Reign in Hell’s opening roar and explosion of drums and crunchy guitars you have to take notice. The vocals are insane mixing a higher, hardcore like yell with deep and dark growled sections. The drums are machine like blasting out speed beats while the bass shakes your bones through. Guitars have that deathcore, metallic crunch to them as they bang out quick riffs and occasional groove.

There isn’t a ballad on here. The whole of The Root of all Evil is non stop heavy. Variety comes more in switches in vocal styles and the level of heaviness. Occasionally songs drop into a bit of a groove breakdown which I love. The Offering is one such song, viciously heavy but with a more rhythmic tempo at parts and even a little guitar melody nearing the end. Doom also starts with a big booming groove riff with stop start drums before throwing a curveball as it drops into spoken word then back up to the banging blasts again. Doom is quite experimental really and shows the band have a creative edge while remaining intense and angry.

Other tracks go straight for the jugular. All I Know Is Hate has a lulling start before turning into an absolute rager of a track with vicious vocals delivered at breakneck speed and a wicked drum and guitar rhythm. Judgement Day takes that heaviness, laughs at it and turns it up a few notches. Remember This? Brings a bit of groove back at the start with a bass line that rattled around in your skull before taking a turn into a violent 2 minute breakdown with the briefest of lead guitar soloing.

The title track, The Root of all Evil is a brilliant song. Bringing all the elements of the album together for a crushing track. Horror core styles lyrics, mixed vocals and music that jumps from destructive riffs to head banging groove. It’s a banger. As is the track Incarcerated. Unsurprisingly heavy but with a progressive intro riff that gives the song a different edge. The use of squealing guitars near the end to give a kind of siren effect is cool too. The album closes with Killzone. You can probably guess by now that it’s heavy. Big hits come from the main riff and the powerful vocals. Chunky groove parts give your neck muscles a work out and occasional respite from the straight up pummelling. Damn.

Did I mention The Root of all Evil is heavy? It really doesn’t let up much across the whole album. Spite start off by pummelling you and end with you beaten and bruised on the floor while they continue to hit you with a few sly kicks. Aside from all the heaviness though there are some really exciting things going on. The drums are spectacular and the riffs absolutely bounce you around. For me though, I love the vocals and the mix of styles utilised. They become an instrument of their own and hit with real force and venom. It is a crushing album that raises the bar in deathcore to greater heights.

The Root of all Evil is available now on all the usual streaming platforms. You can grab a physical copy from the band here.

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