Sixth album from California's Castle, across a career that stretches back 15 years. I initially liked Welcome to the Graveyard, the band's fourth album from 2016, but it has proven to have had little lasting impact on me as I never reach for it when I'm in the mood for some doom. Evil Remains seems destined to follow the same path. Castle has all the hallmarks for good doom metal, from the heavily reverbed guitars, occult lyrics, mournful vocal lines, etc. and the pacing of the album is not plodding, rather mid-paced for the most part, which gives Castle a broader appeal. The issue I have with Evil Remains is that it is bland. The songs are generic examples of doom, none of the riffs does anything that either hasn't been done before or better than anyone else, and the choruses are choruses, nothing more. While Evil Remains is on, I'm fine with it but my feet aren't tapping, and no hooks are getting stuck in my brain. There is nothing actively offensive or bad on the album but the only thing I remember about it when it is over is that I can't remember anything about it. Doom is a tough genre and Castle are by no means bad at it, they simply haven't done anything that makes this album more than another release in a vast sea of other choices.
