Evil Is Forever

This is the only really good Astral Doors album, and while the follow up Astralism was decent as well, I really don’t think they can beat this one. Evil is Forever is an old school hard rock/metal album that doesn’t really break new ground, but certainly makes up for that with how much ass it kicks. It was also one of my first ever metal albums, and so this one has a special place in my heart.

The traditional Astral Doors formula is pretty much crunchy guitars, heavy riffing, some 70s-style keyboards and the vicious, man-eating vocals of Nils Patrik Johansson, done here with some of their most memorable songs. I mean can you really deny the blistering opener “Bride of Christ,” sacrilegious lyrics and hooky chorus and driving riff and all? I don’t think you can. “Time to Rock” is the most typical song on here, with perhaps the most unabashed Dio worshipping, but it’s not bad.

With the title track, though, we see probably what Astral Doors is best at – slower, grinding tunes. These guys are killer at churning out atmospheric mid-paced stompers. The creepy “Praise the Bones” and album standout “Fear in their Eyes” have some incredibly well done melodies and riffs. Johansson’s vocals are pretty much the central focus of the band, and while sometimes he goes a little too far over the top, he does more or less rule the album with his mighty howls. The band has a knack for writing great choruses, and every one is memorable after just one listen. They are short and layered and sung with a lot of verve.

One of the band’s other strengths on here is that they just sound completely unhinged and deranged, like an escaped cannibalistic mental patient. They attack these songs with a frenzy and mania unheard of in a lot of better known bands – this kind of hunger can only be found in an up-and-coming act, and I think it is exactly what is missing in Astral Doors’ later works. But on songs like “Pull the Break,” “The Flame” and another album standout in the furious “Lionheart,” they sound like they’re ready to smash some heads in, and it is one of their biggest assets.

So that’s Evil is Forever, and it is awesome. The band just put all their different parts together into one hell of a melodic metal album, with every tune hitting in all the right areas – catchy, rocking, tight and aggressive. The band never matched it. If you like any kind of melodic metal you need this one stat. Go get it.