Blog author: Alex Stojanovic "BOW DOWN TO THE THRASHER!!!!!!" If you're a fan of the new wave of thrash, or just a thrasher in general, you should know who Evile are. Today marks a milestone in the band's career and that is the 10th anniversary since the release of their incredible debut album Enter The Grave. The album was produced by the legendary Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studios in Denmark, the same place where Metallica recorded Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets and And Justice For All. I can only imagine what an honour that must have been for the band. Enter The Grave was recorded on holy ground. The supporting tour for the album saw the band play all across the U.K and Europe supporting bands like Sanctity, Exodus and Megadeth. The band also did their first ever tour of Canada in 2008 supporting 3 Inches Of Blood. |
I first got into Evile in early 2010, shortly after Infected Nations came out and the tragic passing of bassist Mike Alexander. At that time, I heard some fast shredders, but Ol Drake just took shredding to the next level. Hearing him rip up the fretboard on tracks like "Thrasher", "Killer From The Deep", "Schizophrenia" and "Armoured Assault" sent my jaw to the floor. I'm not a guitarist, but I tried keeping up with the tremolo picking in "Thrasher" in air-guitar mode and my wrist was in so much pain afterwards. They play the song even faster live. What's even cooler is that some of the lyrical themes were inspired by films. A few examples would be "First Blood", obviously inspired by the Rambo film. "Killer From The Deep" was inspired by Jaws and "We Who Are About To Die" was inspired by Gladiator.
I unfortunately never got to see Evile live, but I certainly hope that changes in the future. Since the band are currently unsigned, all the members have day jobs and are doing things at their pace with playing shows and writing their next album, it will still be a while before Evile start doing tours again. That is if they ever do tours again. It's tough to make a living while playing metal these days.
The four times Evile came to Toronto in 2010 was when I was still underage, so I wouldn't have been allowed into the clubs to see them. Oh well, c'est la vie. Three of those shows were support slots with Kreator, Overkill and Forbidden. The other show was a headline show at Sneaky Dee's. Like I said, I really hope they come back to Toronto sometime soon and I think I can speak for all Evile fans here.
That being said, Enter The Grave will continue to be looked at in high regard as one of the best modern thrash albums of all time. If you have this album, blast it at full volume. All the best to Evile for the future and once again, happy 10th birthday to Enter The Grave and R.I.P Mike Alexander.
I unfortunately never got to see Evile live, but I certainly hope that changes in the future. Since the band are currently unsigned, all the members have day jobs and are doing things at their pace with playing shows and writing their next album, it will still be a while before Evile start doing tours again. That is if they ever do tours again. It's tough to make a living while playing metal these days.
The four times Evile came to Toronto in 2010 was when I was still underage, so I wouldn't have been allowed into the clubs to see them. Oh well, c'est la vie. Three of those shows were support slots with Kreator, Overkill and Forbidden. The other show was a headline show at Sneaky Dee's. Like I said, I really hope they come back to Toronto sometime soon and I think I can speak for all Evile fans here.
That being said, Enter The Grave will continue to be looked at in high regard as one of the best modern thrash albums of all time. If you have this album, blast it at full volume. All the best to Evile for the future and once again, happy 10th birthday to Enter The Grave and R.I.P Mike Alexander.