The Devil Is Always Looking for Souls

In the same way I save up "violence points" reserved for limited play of R-rated games (a far cry from fun and charming, inner child friendly fare such as Pokemon Shield, Octopath Traveller 2 or Sackboy: A Big Adventure), also set aside credits towards rough musical trade which strays from usual, easier to digest daily bread. Therefore, allow me to double jump into the firepit of razor sharp speed metal opulence which is Evilcult's second full-length, coming on hellhound nipped heels of 2020's At The Darkest Night, alongside pre-Covid EP and slew of singles - one of which, "The Witch" closes this Hades trapped, seven track Satanic sandwich.

Rasping unholy via vile vocals, front/ax man Lucas "From Hell" conducts this full-speed orchestra, as bassist Renato Speedwölf and drummer Blasphemer arrange touches of high tempo manifestation. Starting with primeval opener "Ancient Power", the Brazilian trio convinces right off the black magic bat. If this sounds cheesy, don't worry because the songs are serious, direct and throttling; these dudes know how to land a blow. What's also great is how they apply faint tempo variations whilst still at max speed, such as during late half of titular haymaker "The Devil Is Always Looking For Souls" and beginning of soon-to-ululate "Chants Of The Night".

At first, I was tempted to connect dots between Evilcult and New Zealand's Stälker, yet relatively more extensive track lengths, as well as intermittent hazy breaks which permit easy orientation and steady pacing on behalf of the former disallow such parallelism. Also, the fact album is rather brief, in contrast, makes for an expedient and concise listening experience. In general, malevolently rocking riffs and swift blindsiding leads, as part of the rabid/rapid chase, effuse something of the B-tiered cult.

Further dark altar supplicants "Call Of Evil" and "Die In Hell" don't race by at breakneck pace, mixing up their nefarious formulas like fallen sorcerer supremes. At over five/six minutes, they retain attention whilst building tension before turning in for their critical hits. The former's killer guitar solo and latter's Judas Priest-ly time warper of an intro do it for me bigtime. Closing pair "Speed Metal Fire" and "The Witch" equally live up to captions, making Evilcult's The Devil Is Always Looking For Souls an ideal catalyst for anyone looking to spice up their gruel. Without any weak moments within its self-knowing frame, it cruises on warm wind of recommendable speed metal hymns.

Plus, its awesome album artwork is to scream for.