Album Review: Evile – The Unknown (Napalm Records)

British thrash masters Evile deliver their most personal and meticulous album to date. Following the critically acclaimed album, Hell Unleashed (2021), 14th July 2023 sees the four-piece strike again with their sixth full-length offering, entitled The Unknown, via Napalm Records.

Evile’s thrash sound seemed to have hit a pinnacle with 2021’s Hell Unleashed, a fantastic slab of heavy that proved there was no keeping this band down. How do you follow up something so strong? By doing things a little differently. By getting more personal and profound. This is a grown-up Evile and it will only increase their overall standing in the metal world.

The depth in their sound is extremely evident with the opening title track, which finds vocalist Ol Drake singing from the heart. The slower tempo allows the riffs to shine, melody to ooze through, and more groove to be present than you might first expect.

The bar having been set, Evile continue to the keep the tempo at a lower level for The Mask We Wear while delivering a chunky head-banger. Then smashing through a modern thrash anthem with Monolith. Before reaching the apex of this ‘new’ side of Evile with the epic and melodically charged When Mortal Coils Shed. It doesn’t get more experimental than this when it comes to Evile’s expansion on their thrash sound, and it is extremely exciting stuff.

Although, if you want a more straight-forward high-powered old-school blast than Sleepless Eyes and Out of Sight will provide. Both tracks are a frantic and bullish slice of Evile intensity. The stuff that easily gets the head-banging along energetically, and that easily opens a pit when played live.

The thumping instrumentation that is so prevalent throughout this album is at its strongest sounding with At Mirror’s Speech. The drumming, in particular, is so damn powerful here. Then there is the wicked slice of aggression that comes from Reap What You Sow. Before Beginning of the End and Balance of Time wraps things up with a mix of measured and manic thrash goodness.

Absolutely no-one can accuse Evile of getting lazy and just doing the same thing over and over again. Yet, by still keeping it thrash focused, it’s still clearly them. Just an evolution of the long-standing band. That alone is reason to be extremely positive about this album. Then you throw in a ton of bangers and it’s clear Evile’s current form is unmatched by anyone else in the thrash world right now.

Evile – The Unknown Track Listing:

1. The Unknown
2. The Mask We Wear
3. Monolith
4. When Mortal Coils Shed
5. Sleepless Eyes
6. Out of Sight
7. At Mirror’s Speech
8. Reap What You Sow
9. Beginning of the End
10. Balance of Time

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