{"id":100974,"date":"2023-07-14T00:00:28","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T23:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=100974"},"modified":"2023-07-19T13:41:04","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T12:41:04","slug":"album-review-evile-the-unknown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-evile-the-unknown\/","title":{"rendered":"EVILE – The Unknown (2023) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

EVILE
The Unknown<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNapalm (2023)<\/span>
Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s 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\u2019s 2021 opus, Hell Unleashed<\/em><\/a>, the first to feature guitarist Ol Drake taking over lead vocal duties from his brother Matt, was somewhat of a generic blur.<\/p>\n

With The Unknown<\/em>, the band\u2019s sixth full-length, Evile continues to labour in spite of the aggression. Prime example of such dull as dishwater mimicry is \u2018When Mortal Coils Shed\u2019, a dreary Metallica rip off circa the \u201cblack\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Admittedly Ol Drake\u2019s 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\u2019s a big but, this means that Evile\u2019s \u201cnew\u201d sound is somewhat dull and regressive in their quest for a more sombre, bombastic design.<\/p>\n

Oddly though the band seems happy to plumb the depths of some of Metallica\u2019s worst discography \u2013 Load<\/em> (1996) and Reload<\/em> (1997) \u2013 for inspiration, \u2018The Mask We Wear\u2019 being a prime example. The Unknown<\/em> 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 \u2018Sleepless Eyes\u2019.<\/p>\n

There is a lot of metal out there trying to sound old, but The Unknown<\/em> is a snooze fest jam-packed with recycled riffery. Why Evile continue to feel the need to dredge up Metallica\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EVILEThe Unknown Napalm (2023)Rating: 6\/10 It\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,214],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-evile"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100974"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100979,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100974\/revisions\/100979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}