Anyone who has ever sat in my vicinity long enough will have heard my theory that the received wisdom spread by nearly all documentaries on music that the second “Nevermind” came out all other rock music died, to be an utter sack of crap.
Whether we agree on that or not, then one thing surely where we can concur is thrash. Thrash – whatever has changed in this world over the last 40 years or so – has always remained the same.
EvilDead understand this as well as anyone. Arriving in the second wave of thrash in the late 80s – I can remember getting their second album in 1991, and this is their second record since reforming in 2016.
In honesty, you could listen to “F.A.F.D” the opener, and not know what era it was from, you’d just know it was superb thrash metal.
And that’s sort of the point.
Not that this is boringly dated. “Reverie” is fresh, and perhaps because most of these boys have been together since the start, there’s a chemistry here, it is all over “Raising Fresh Hell”.
Juan Garcia’s guitar (he’s also in Body Count among others) and singer Phil Flores are born to do this and the social commentary of “Stupid On Parade” is a real highlight as it surveys the modern world with incredulity.
And as ever, with EvilDead there’s a desire to stretch. “Subjugated Souls” is as fast as it gets, but you perhaps didn’t imagine the cold, icy blasts of “Bathe In Fire”, not a million miles from Norway and death metal, while the menace keeps coming on “Poetic Omen” which seems to plan its strike methodically.
The instrumental “World Ov Rats” is a vehicle for Garcia and fellow guitarist Albert Gonzales in the main, but it all ends with another of my beliefs being discussed in flashing neon: The world outside your window isn’t being reflected in the news we are given. Essentially, if we’re not frightened, they’re not doing their jobs. And when Phil Flores spits “new crisis every day” on “Fear Porn”, I’ll imagine EvilDead agree.
When the apocalypse comes, when the cockroaches are running about in the nuclear winter, the mutant zombies will be playing thrash metal. They could do a lot worse than do the Toxic Waltz to “Toxic Grace”.
Rating 8.5/10
