Live Review

Evile – Camden Underworld

• 15th Feb 2011

Most metallers will be aware of the recent resurgence of the Thrash scene in the last few years. Most will welcome it too. Thrash for me, was all about having fun, being reckless and playing as fast as humanly possible. What was witnessed tonight is a testament (no pun intended!) to the glory days of the scene.

First up were Mutant. Opening for Evile would prove to be a daunting prospect for most up and coming acts but it appears from my research that Mutant have been doing a sterling job warming the crowd up during this short tour. The same can be said for tonight. In fact, I can’t remember an opening act ever whipping the Underworld crowd up into such frenzy in my 20 years frequenting the place. Mutant take to the stage and just get right to it. It’s immediately obvious that they do have a faithful portion of the crowd rooting for them. With a distinctly Floridian sound and a sci-fi theme to lyrical content and attitude (hilarious references by the frontman of a circle pit being called a ‘black hole pit…), equal amounts of melody and aggression were spewed forth unto an extremely grateful crowd and by the end of their set the crowd were headbanging in unison. Musically, the band were tight and some of their melodic flourishes were an absolute delight to take in but what I most liked about Mutant’s performance was the fact that they have fully harnessed the ‘fun’ factor that people love Thrash music for.

Ipswich’s best thrash outfit, Elimination frankly had a very hard act to follow considering what had transpired before them but not ones for being outdone, Elimination boldly stride into their set with confidence and the look of a band going places with already, their second album ‘Through the Eyes of Madness’ out and available. I’ve personally seen this band evolve, being an Ipswichian myself and they fully deserve their status in the metal world. Elimination’s sound was fresh in the ears, with a much more distinct NWOBHM tint to their overall Thrash attack a la Iron Maiden played at 78rpm. The compositions are more melodic compared with the previous band and the progression of the songs themselves takes precedence, rather than just the feeling of being aurally pummelled; the whole experience of listening to this band feeling much more epic. I guess an affectionate term for Elimination’s music could be ‘Battle Thrash’. The crowd response was disappointing at first and didn’t do the band’s quality justice but it didn’t take long for the crowd to be swayed from the bar area and to the stage to sample the quality that Elimination delivered. In the end, the crowd were eating out of Elimination’s hands and justice was done. Elimination have made solid foundations and should enjoy more success in the near future.

I saw Evile for the first time at Sonisphere 2010 and got instantly hooked with their brand of again, US style Thrash. Evile have added a little more late 80’s Death Metal into the mix however and along with their amazing musicianship and obvious love for the genres, the result is basically the sick lovechild of the best parts of Sepultura, Obituary, Sacred Reich and pretty much any other Thrash band you can name. A masterstroke on Evile’s part is coming onstage to the ‘Rambo’ theme. Not the revved up full orchestral score, but the chilled out and understated acoustic guitar/trumpet combo. This brilliantly set up the atmosphere as the band took to the stage. Their reception was immense as if already, Evile have become national Thrash treasures. Fittingly opening with ‘First Blood’, Evile get straight to business and the crowd go wild. And that’s pretty much how it went throughout their set. Crushing riff, after killer riff, after cutting lead guitar frills filled the venue with ‘Plague To End All Plagues’, ‘We Who Are About To Die’ and the finale, ‘Killer From The Deep’ being most notable highs in an extremely enjoyable set. I can but say that Evile, literally killed and showed us why they are for me, Britain’s number one Thrash act. On this form, I can’t see anyone toppling them either for the moment at least – Evile seem to reek of that essence that makes Thrash one of the more entertaining metal genres: Likeable band members, a sense of fun and a penchant for playing at ludicrous speed.

Leaving the gig however, I kept debating in my mind if the current Thrash revival is one of those ‘cathartic/nostalgic’ movements that we see come and go from time to time. They serve a purpose to remind people of what the ‘good old’ days were like but do nothing to drive the genre into new, uncharted territory. I guess a gig like this lays the gauntlet down and asks these bands to challenge themselves for the future but above all, keep that spirit going. For now, British Thrash is well and truly alive and the crowd definitely want more.