There is something very admirable about a band that actually has their shit together from the very start and even succeeds in putting out demo material worthy of maximum praise. One could argue that being a tribute band and paying one’s dues on the road playing covers before actually crossing over into original territory is quite the effective springboard. Evile’s story is basically along these lines, starting off as a humble Metallica tribute band before hitting the studio and taking a shot at their own thing. The resulting first effort “All Hallows Eve” was definitely along similar lines to not only Metallica, but also the redder side of the Big 4 as exemplified in early Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer (think pre-1986). But it also paved the way for one of the more enthralling thrash institutions in the overall revival of the style, as did this subsequent demo, which actually listens more like an EP sampler for the debut “Enter The Grave”.
The cliché picture of a demo being a less than stellar feat of both production and execution is not to be found on the aptly named “Hell Demo”. Even the album art reeks of a sense of professionalism and idiomatic imagery that would fit in nicely with Slayer’s “Hell Awaits” and Sodom’s “Obsessed By Cruelty”. The sound is not quite as massive and pulverizing as what is heard on “Enter The Grave”, but it gets pretty close and passes for what normally is considered professional grade studio work. The guitar has the appropriate mixture of crunch and thud, the drums are pounding without being overbearing, and the vocal work is audible, clear, and heavily indicative of a Tom Araya style shout. Most of the songs found on here exhibit that fast and feral tendency of the Teutonic trio, but the riff character occasionally exhibits a somewhat restrained, proto-groove character typical of later 80s Metallica.
In essence, the entire contents found on here are crafted to be memorable, yet also quite wild and wicked in the proper thrash sense. The closer “Thrasher” has a particularly rapid paced riff set loaded to the brim with gallops to the point of making the likes of Jon Schaffer blush, yet is also fairly easy to follow and even sing along to. Some of the intro material and middle sections on “We Who Are About To Die” and “Russian Roulette” takes on a sort of mid-paced, “…And Justice For All” character, but mercifully without falling into the same repetitive and poorly mixed traps of said album. But ultimately the best song on here is the opener “Enter The Grave”, which cannot help but force its way into the long-term memory of all who hear it and reminds heavily of the greatest moments of mid-80s Slayer.
While this is probably not the most essential pickup of the average buyer of all things thrash, it is something worth checking out through the mp3 medium just to get an idea of what this band sounds like without the support of big label production teams, which is actually just as good. Most of what is on here can be found on the debut album, and the rest is basically of the same overall mold. Then again, if owning one of this band’s albums is essential, you might as well do the Pokémon thing is catch them all, but first all who are reading this can feel free to mock me for making an anime reference on a thrash album review, I deserve it.
'Demo'. Anyone hearing that word in conjunction with metal surely has the quintessential image of poorly-recorded, unlistenable noise on a cassette tape.
Not so here; Evile have produced a demo with the clarity and quality of sound that would shame most famous bands. The guitars have a slightly raw edge, reminiscent of 'Extreme Agression' era Kreator, with the drums being spot on in production and timing, the kicks bassy and meaty sounding. As always, the lead guitar stands far out, the solos easily rivalling almost any metal band you can call to mind; rapid-fire and a testimony to Ol's skill. Each note is clearly distinguishable because of the production, leaving a first-time listener in awe at the speed and skill of execution. For me, the lead work really makes Evile stand a cut above the rest.
The vocals on this album feel much more polished than on their E.P.: their vocalist has obviously been putting in plenty of practice as the tone of his singing voice sounds much more even and controlled in this demo than 'All Hallow's Eve'. The vocals are clean without being weak in delivery, definitely adding an extra layer of 'metal' to the mix. I found myself listening to 'Thrasher' on repeat and banging my head to the chants of 'bow down to the thrasher!' because of how much better they sound on this demo.
Musically, this demo is strong, every song a headbanging masterpiece. Each one is packed full of decent thrash riffs, never descending into filler; subsequently, the whole album is one to whack on and listen to all the way through. A couple of tracks that stood out for me in particular were 'Thrasher' and 'We Who are About to Die': the riffs in those two songs caught my attention with their head-nodding catchiness. To my ears, this demo is definitely a step up from their E.P.; it's less raw, more professionally produced, with the riffs being faster and slightly more technical in their execution.
A damn near perfect demo. If this is Hell, fetch me a goat to sacrifice to Satan, 'cause being eternally damned never sounded so good.