Evocation - Evocation
Breath of Night Records - MRBON13CD - Oct 2004
By Patrick Walsh
As far as retro death metal acts go, Evocation are fairly near the top of the heap. Although there are plenty of bands who have done the whole 'lets do an inferior version of what Entombed did in '91 (most notably Bloodbath on Resurrection Through Carnage)', the strength of the material on this release gives it a unique flair it can safely call its own.
Evocation have been knocking about since '91 themselves in fact, and yet through various circumstance it has taken them until now to release anything proper. One listen to Evocation confirms that the band have decided to act as though the last ten years never happened, and yet Evocation is a strangely captivating listen. On the one hand are the groove based Euro-death metal riffs wrapped up in a suitably raw 'n dirty production for authenticity. Whereas the many purveyors of the ye olde school often sound like trite copyists, Evocation actually sounds like it was recorded in the early nineties. The band incorporates a variety of incredibly nice touches in places; lecherous cackles, an occasional folky acoustic guitar flourish and funny little keyboard bits that sound like early black metal at times, which is interesting because the darkly melodic atmosphere created can be likened to a good black metal album, even if the material itself is rigidly death metal in tone and structure.
What really makes this album a winner though is the obvious sincerity of the creators of this music. Not once does it feel as though Evocation are engaged in a pointless homage excercise, mainly because the tracks on offer are worthy to stand alongside almost anything from the era it, ahem, evokes. If Evocation had released this little belter twelve years ago we'd be speaking of it in the same hushed tones as one does nowadays about Left Hand Path.
8.5/10
Breath of Night Records' Official Website
Breath of Night Records - MRBON13CD - Oct 2004
By Patrick Walsh
As far as retro death metal acts go, Evocation are fairly near the top of the heap. Although there are plenty of bands who have done the whole 'lets do an inferior version of what Entombed did in '91 (most notably Bloodbath on Resurrection Through Carnage)', the strength of the material on this release gives it a unique flair it can safely call its own.
Evocation have been knocking about since '91 themselves in fact, and yet through various circumstance it has taken them until now to release anything proper. One listen to Evocation confirms that the band have decided to act as though the last ten years never happened, and yet Evocation is a strangely captivating listen. On the one hand are the groove based Euro-death metal riffs wrapped up in a suitably raw 'n dirty production for authenticity. Whereas the many purveyors of the ye olde school often sound like trite copyists, Evocation actually sounds like it was recorded in the early nineties. The band incorporates a variety of incredibly nice touches in places; lecherous cackles, an occasional folky acoustic guitar flourish and funny little keyboard bits that sound like early black metal at times, which is interesting because the darkly melodic atmosphere created can be likened to a good black metal album, even if the material itself is rigidly death metal in tone and structure.
What really makes this album a winner though is the obvious sincerity of the creators of this music. Not once does it feel as though Evocation are engaged in a pointless homage excercise, mainly because the tracks on offer are worthy to stand alongside almost anything from the era it, ahem, evokes. If Evocation had released this little belter twelve years ago we'd be speaking of it in the same hushed tones as one does nowadays about Left Hand Path.
8.5/10
Breath of Night Records' Official Website
