EVILE- Hell Unleashed (Official Discussion)

[Darkofeden]

Figured i'd set up the discussion thread since i've seen a lot of people get their copy early online and it leaked and it's tomorrow in a lot of countries

My thoughts? It's hard to say. A lot of the songs have this homogeneous quality to them that genuinely frustrated me on first listen enough that I stopped and skimmed through the rest of the songs and noticed that like, 8 out of the 9 had essentially the same super fast tremolo riff and I almost turned it off until I realized that I was just being super close minded and was just looking for a reason to write this off since I didn't super super love the two singles I heard. Being on my third listen now, i'm enjoying it a lot. More than I thought I would.

Specific bullet point thoughts about each song, Paralysed is a super solid opener, second half of Gore really does it for me since it takes a moment to slow down, I like the weird very Slayer-esque opening to Incarcerated, War of Attrition has a middle bit I really enjoy, Disorder really really reminds me of Death which is super cool? I wish more of the album took this angle, The Thing (1982) was the track on my first listen through that made me think like yeah this is some classic Evile shit, Zombie Apocalypse despite being a cover is probably my favorite song on here because damn that riff is heaaaaaaaaaavy and once again I sound like an old man but I like that it sloooooooooooooooooooooooooows down instead of being breakneck 24/7, Control from Above shreds, then the title track we've all heard is... still alright. I'm not super in love with it, second half is the better half for sure. Would have preferred it end with Control From Above

And that's about it. Main points being, I wish that there was more variety overall and that there would be some good mid tempo stuff but I do not blame Ol for wanting to just put out a very very fast record like this. No idea where i'd rank this with the other Evile albums because its so new. My whole blurb there might seem a bit over critical but like I said, as I listen to this more i'm definitely enjoying it more. Very much reminds me of Infected Nations where I didn't super love it on first listen but now I absolutely love it. We'll see what happens. Any of you guys heard it yet? What are you guys thinking?

 

[Podgie]

I haven't listened to The Thing yet. It's, what, 11pm here in the UK. Debating staying up till midnight and see if it appears on Spotify (or downloading it...) as I won't have my copy delivered till tomorrow evening (when I get home from work) at the earliest.... Even more intrigued than I was already after reading that though!!

Bet Ben sounds MASSIVE.

 

[Darkofeden]

Bet Ben sounds MASSIVE.

Oh absolutely, especially on Zombie Apocalypse, super super super fat ride cymbal sound

 

[zerostatic]

Just got an email this afternoon saying it had shipped. I will be pissed if it does not arrive tomorrow. At least I have spotify.

 

[I-TEND-TO-DIE]

It's fucking great and about time they are releasing a new album!
I saw some of the footage and the new Evile songs are very promising and it seems they really changed their sound (?)
Well iam not listening alot of metal this days iam sorry lol but yeah i really like it.
Can't wait to get my fucking copy..

 

[ThatOneDude]

I enjoy the album a fuck ton. The amount of aggression and speed feels like a breath of fresh air, especially considering how unmemorable Skull feels, now that I look back.

I think that Ben has been the CLEAR mvp of the album for me. Ol and Joel do their jobs great and Adam being able to keep up is great, but I've never seen Ben go this fast, or this hard, or this creative in all of the Evile albums. He does snare/kick one-twos phenominally, his double base work is great, his fills are great. He's aged like a fine wine.

If I had one criticism about the album I think is that a lot of the riff/tempo changes in some of the songs feel a bit awkward. Incarcerated is probably the best example of this, but otherwise my needs are met. When the songs are fast, the songs are FAST and I like that.

My favourite tracks to be honest are the singles, but if I had to pick outside of those I would go with Control From Above for how it progresses throughout the entire song, Disorder for how unique/catchy it feels, and War of Attrition. Similarily, the Mortician cover sounds really cool too.

Ultimately, I think the album is great. I would prob compare this to Vader's Solitude in Madness from last year. A very good album with clear cut standouts that kick ass.

 

[Darkofeden]

Just got my copy in from the mail like 10 minutes ago and DAMN the splatter looks NICE. Also saw that Matt has a lot of credits in the album which is cool, and then that the album was dedicated to Dave which honestly makes me happy but also really sad. I think that dude would have LOVED the album

I mean DAMN man that splatter is fuckin nice.

 

[ThatOneDude]

SHEESH that splatter looks beautiful.

Also saw that Matt has a lot of credits in the album which is cool, and then that the album was dedicated to Dave which honestly makes me happy but also really sad. I think that dude would have LOVED the album

Matt getting credits on the album, in a way, is a nice send off/nod.

Are you serious about Dave getting the dedication?

 

[Keenan]

He has a full page in the CD liner notes. Sadly, this isn't in the vinyl version.

Listened in full for the first time this morning. As I feared, I didn't like it at all.

 

[Darkofeden]

He has a full page in the CD version? Damn. I gotta find a scan of that, I just don't buy CD's at all.

I figured you wouldn't like it in the end, but I still say definitely give it a chance. I was absolutely looking for reasons to dismiss it on first listen but i'm glad i've gotten over that because I really really like it. But in the end, it is personal choice

 

[Keenan]

Yep. I think it was that same picture that was in the RIP thread. It's an incredible gesture that had me feeling pretty emotional when I saw it. Definitely a classy move.


Unfortunately, all the fears I had about the album were well founded. Vocals/lyrics are definitely not for me. Like, AT ALL. There's no singing involved. It's all just yelling at the same exact tone for the entire album. It sounds juvenile, which hurts to type out. It sounds like a teenager just discovered metal, looked up some classic album covers and immediately made an album based off the results
"GORE!! BLOOD!! ZOMBIES!! HELL!!" Just... ugh. Songs are very straightforward and seem to start, scream and then sprint to the finish line as fast as possible. They also all kinda sound the same. I knew which ones the singles were but there was a point around... War of Attrition/Disorder, or maybe it was Zombie Apocalypse/Control From Above where I literally didn't know what song was playing. They sounded so similar that I thought it was the same song.
It's almost as if we went back in time and we're witnessing a direct sequel to Enter the Grave. All the technicality and progressiveness of Infected Nations, Five Serpent's Teeth and Skull just went straight out the window and we're all back to being 17.

This all sounds very harsh, I know. Sadly, that's just what I took away from it on my first listen. It hurts pretty bad that I don't like this album and it hurts even worse that I also didn't like the new Gojira album. It's a double whammy of disappointment... on the same day. Maybe this one will grow on me like Skull did, but I've had Evile shuffle on most of the day and whenever a new song comes on I kinda just hear it and forget about it, then get hyped when In Dreams of Terror comes on right afterward.

Quickly summarizing this big block of text,

 

[Podgie]

I think that dude would have LOVED the album.

Oh, knowing Dave, he certainly would have loved it! A fitting testament to Dave's unwavering support for the band since their demo days, I think. And like Keenan says, a classy move by the band, and one which brought a tear to my eye when he sent me a photo of the tribute in the CD booklet.

He has a full page in the CD liner notes. Sadly, this isn't in the vinyl version.

This is a shame. Perhaps I'll pick up a CD at some point too.

Matt getting credits on the album, in a way, is a nice send off/nod.

I wouldn't be surprised if Matt continued to be involved in Evile and contribute lyrics / themes in the future.

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Sadly my record hasn't arrived yet (perhaps I didn't pay for the 'fast postage'? I don't know...) which is kind of disappointing (to say the least). However I have been listening to the album on Spotify, though I was working Friday and Saturday so I haven't had a great deal of time to digest it...

First impressions?

Lets acknowledge the elephant in the room, Ol doesn't quite have the same vocal range as Matt and that's obviously contributed to the slight shift is sound. I think while Ol's slightly more 'straightforward' thrash / death vocals may alienate some fans (Keenan! <3 ) on the flip I think they'll also sit well with a lot. Sure I miss Matt, but I think Ol's done a great job here. He sounds good!! He's just not Matt, and I think it would be unfair (and unrealistic) for him to emulate him. Saying that, maybe I'm on my own here - but I think he does kind of sound like Matt at times as well. I mean, they are brothers after all therefore have a similar accent etc. Anyway! The vocals are obviously a little flatter now. But enough of that.

Quick summary after my first few play throughs, Paralysed doesn't seem to do much for me yet for some reason, I've been enjoying Gore more on the album than I did when I heard it as a standalone single, Incarcerated is possibly my favourite track so far - I love the Slayer vibe to the intro (which is also VERY 'Evile', a la We Who Are About to Die) and then there's that groovy mid-paced riff... and a real classic bouncy Sepultura sounding riff which is awesome, War of Attrition is another of my favs, again with the chunky mid-paced riff I just love hearing from Evile, Disorder is an interesting one, maybe a little different from Evile but cool... The Thing I had high hopes for (because the movie is amazing, no?!) but am I little underwhelmed by it so far. Saying that, it's a solid song and I'm opening up to it more and more with every listen (looking forward to reading the lyrics to this one - and wondering was this one of the songs Matt wrote lyrics for?). The cover is pretty rad, obviously pretty deathy, Ben's symbol work is real cool. Control from Above is another of my initial favs, and the title track I've heard a lot at this point - dig it. Classic solo section from Ol.

Looking forward to sinking my teeth further into it over the next few days (hopefully my copy arrives tomorrow!!).

 

[Revell]

Heard this and the new Gojira album for the first time last night while on a long drive on the highway during sunset, volume turned all the way up. Was not dissapointed!! Ben’s drumming... fuck. And some career-best riffs.

Favourite track at the moment is Control from Above, fucking loved the nod to Sepultura’s Desperate Cry. Chills.

 

[I-TEND-TO-DIE]

Iam just listening it right now and WOW it's old-school as fuck!!
I mean it's really the Old evile from Enter the Grave again. I missed these elements on Skull anyhow it sounds very polished not to say it's a bad
record but it just lacks some of the old-school Thrash elements.
Really, I don't mind about the vocal style it's certainly sure it's different but i really like some deeper vocal style too iam not so narrow minded and
a big plus is the riffs and the music in general which i feel is fucking great.
I really like it although iam not even half-through lol but Iam really sure the guy they've dedicated this album would have liked it too haha
It's really a great album I would have never expected it that this would turn out to such a gem.
It's in the line with records of Sodom and Asphyx which i contemplate as the best at this time..