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EVILE
The Unknown

Napalm (2023)
Rating: 6/10

It’s strange that an act who started out as a Metallica covers band nearly 25 years ago should still, to some extent, be flogging the same dead horse. Sure, when these UK thrashers first arrived on the scene there was a buzz about their 80s aping, but I for one became extremely bored. Evile’s 2021 opus, Hell Unleashed, the first to feature guitarist Ol Drake taking over lead vocal duties from his brother Matt, was somewhat of a generic blur.

With The Unknown, the band’s sixth full-length, Evile continues to labour in spite of the aggression. Prime example of such dull as dishwater mimicry is ‘When Mortal Coils Shed’, a dreary Metallica rip off circa the “black” album with its moody tone and James Hetfield-inspired sullen croons. The same could also be said for the opening title track; dark and brooding for sure but also lethargic and uneventful.

Admittedly Ol Drake’s vocals are a marked improvement from the formulaic rasps displayed on the last record, and they do suit this slower approach that the band has taken. I certainly applaud the band for changing direction because of the ten tracks on offer here only a few are pacier affairs, but, and it’s a big but, this means that Evile’s “new” sound is somewhat dull and regressive in their quest for a more sombre, bombastic design.

Oddly though the band seems happy to plumb the depths of some of Metallica’s worst discography – Load (1996) and Reload (1997) – for inspiration, ‘The Mask We Wear’ being a prime example. The Unknown is like a tired film reliant on stock footage; the riffs are flat, the vocals are of standard Hetfield worship and it takes at least five songs before the album comes to life in the form of ‘Sleepless Eyes’.

There is a lot of metal out there trying to sound old, but The Unknown is a snooze fest jam-packed with recycled riffery. Why Evile continue to feel the need to dredge up Metallica’s back catalogue is beyond me. In spite of being very competent musicians such a composition is stale and such drudgery seems a waste of their talent.

Neil Arnold

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