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EVILDEAD
Toxic Grace

Steamhammer (2024)
Rating: 4.5/10

It’s kind of weird that US thrashers EvilDead, who enjoyed a degree of mild success in the 80s and early 90s, released an album, United States Of Anarchy, in 2020. Swept away in the tides of the Covid pandemic, the return of the Los Angeles, California-based band was barely a whimper, but here they are again gracing us with their presence for their fourth full-length studio album and sadly this too is underwhelming, and not because of a global panic.

EvilDead, like a lot of bands returning to the fray, just don’t have the energy, the ideas and, in this case, the power or the lyrics to contend with any of today’s classier acts. Sure, it’s cool that the line-up consists of members from the late 80s – founding member and guitarist Juan Garcia (Body Count / ex-Abattoir / ex-Agent Steel), vocalist Phil Flores, guitarist Albert Gonzalez (Anger As Art), drummer Rob Alaniz, and bassist Karlos Medina (ex-Agent Steel), who joined in 1990 – but I’d expect a hell of a lot more from such an experienced tribe.

Now, EvilDead where never Shakespearean wordsmiths, but when you read the lyrics to songs like ‘Subjugated Souls’ and ‘Raising Fresh Hell’ you might think that a teenager is behind such cheese. Thankfully, some of the riffs throughout the album are decent, but there’s just no consistency on board let alone potency. The vocals appear as half-hearted narration at times, and then you get hit by ‘Bathe In Fire’ where the band makes a complete u-turn by marrying a King Diamond-style of spooky prowess fused with Death.

There’s no real sense in it and the band just seems lost as they announce a return riddled with holes. There’s awful lyrics on ‘Fear Porn’ but the song has a solid riff and better vocals, and ‘Stupid On Parade’ builds well and chugs nicely but the vocals are weak. Meanwhile, the short instrumental ‘World Ov Rats’ is actually half decent.

I played this album to severed friends of mine who were all 80s thrashers who liked EvilDead, and they all raised the same issues. I’m sure many of the old fans will welcome Toxic Grace as being an “awesome return” just through nostalgia, but there’s absolutely nothing here that tells me that EvilDead have risen to take over the thrash league. In fact, with this release they’ve gone from mid-tier stalwarts to lower league veterans on their last legs.

Neil Arnold

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