Seven Acts to Apocalypse

‘Seven Acts to Apocalypse’, predictably segmented into seven tracks each dedicated to a deadly sin, is fundamentally the work of a so-so stoner doom outfit elevated beyond their station by a very talented vocalist, one whose eclectic range brings drama and borderline symphonic weight to these rather flat Electric Wizard offcut riffs and – dare we say – quaint retro psychedelic occultism. Mistress Wournous’s vocal diversity traverses the bombast of Candlemass, to emotive alt rock crooning, to gravelly ritualism. Evidently operatically trained, she is able to commit to each genre without compunction, with her style bleeding into the surrounding music, thus shifting its overall orientation and impact.

Perhaps this is a little unfair to the remaining members of The Evil. Each track is littered with two or three memorable riffs, and scatterings of character beyond the loose drone of tritone fuelled stoner doom. It’s just that the style they play in is by now rather dated even if we speak in revivalist terms. The trend of Black Sabbath aping psychedelic stoner doom triggered by the likes of Electric Wizard and brought to its zenith by Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats looks rather tired in 2023. The Evil bring some much needed energy and activity to the framework, but if it were not for Mistress Wournous’s vocals I probably would not have even filtered this out for review.

The music is well produced, exhibiting the industry standard analogue organicism for this genre. A dirge of bass ridden guitars fleshes out the bulk of the mix, with loose yet busy drums stitching together the gaps between each droning chord together with creative fills, exhibiting patterns that do not overly rely on crash cymbals (another common failing of the genre) despite their heavy use. Thundering bass serves its purpose in lending some much needed gravitas. Ancillary keyboards and “weird” guitar effects further populate the mix with welcome activity and character.

But most importantly, each song is defined by at least one memorable theme. Development may be found wanting, but The Evil do a good job of communicating a lurking sense of menacing ritualism, of commandingly dark spiritualism defined by a rampant intoxication that is ultimately the central thematic pillar of stoner doom.

But it is left to Mistress Wournous to bring that extra edge to this music that graduates it into something truly exceptional. Clean vocals are always a risk within a metal setting, it being the instrument most tied to a sense of individualised emotion that threatens to bring the listener out of the cinematic experience. Or at an even more basic level, one may simply be averse to a particular vocalist’s timbre.

But here they are delivered with such commitment, talent, and range that it gives The Evil another dimension to play with, one not available for many of their peers. Indeed it warps not only the thematic and emotive impact of the music, but even the genre itself, allowing it to bleed into traditional heavy metal, symphonic metal, and heavy psych with ease. This leaves us forced to regard ‘Seven Acts to Apocalypse’ as a shining example of how to resurrect this stale subgenre from its current mire, and bring a sense of motion to the otherwise tepid creative cul-de-sacs it currently finds itself in.

Originally published at Hate Meditations