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EVILE, Gibson Guitar Studio, London 23 June 2011

It was only in February this year that I was reporting on an Evile live show in London where they were wrapping up the 'Infected Nations' chapter of their career and preparing to write and record for their next album.

Well these boys don't hang about because four months later, here we are at Gibson's London HQ for an exclusive playback of the fully completed new album 'Five Serpent's Teeth' to sink our fangs into.

A select crowd of media bods, liggers and competition winners assemble in a rather hot room and don't have too long to wait before the whole album is blasted out from start to finish. I won't go into too much detail about what I heard, as that is the realm of the album review nearer the time of the album's September release. No track listing was available either.

What I will say on a first listen is that there is a stronger than ever Metallica influence and Matt Drake's vocals are edging ever closer to the sound of James Hetfield.

There's a 'Fade To Black' on there (which may be called 'When The Darkness Comes') which sounded particularly great, and there's more dynamics going on in general.

...even on a first listen, it's pretty clear this is Evile's best album to date.
 

The second track had some really intense moments that reminded me of German thrash gods Destruction. Oh, and even on a first listen, it's pretty clear this is Evile's best album to date.

Judging by the reaction of a few of the young competition winners I spoke to, I wasn't alone in thinking that 'Five Serpent's Teeth' is a corker, and should easily carry Evile through to the next level.

Next up was a short 'refreshment' break, and thanks to the good guys at Earache who always look after you, the press wristband carried the phrase 'Yes I am a ligger give me booze' which ensured we were fully 'refreshed' by the time the band came out for a somewhat light hearted question and answer section.

The questions had been submitted in advance of the album playback and included such gems as 'can I suck your penis?' and 'when was the last time you shit your pants?', so it's reassuring to see that the current generation of thrashers have lost none of the sense of humour the old schoolers had!

Finally the band return to the stage for a brief live set featuring three or four of the new ones, including a very impressive 'Eternal Empire', and finishing with the old favourite 'Killer From The Deep' dedicated to it's author Dave Alexander who's birthday it was the day before.

As I said, 'Five Serpent's Teeth' is set for a September release on Earache, and from what we heard tonight, the third chapter in Evile's history is set to be an extremely good one.

Review and photos by Jim Rowland