There is a lot of backlash towards this album, but I don't get any of it. Thrash for me is a genre to rock out to. I like turning on a Thrash album and just getting a bucket-load of headbanging riffs and a vocalist who can sound pissed off. The modus operandi of a Thrash album in my mind is for it to kick as much ass as possible, and Evile do just that, providing a healthy mix of any number of Thrash bands from the 80s with a loud, punchy modern production and a lot of thrashy riffs and solos for your consumption.
Evile are pretty much the flagship for all the "retro" Thrash bands coming out these days, and I've heard a lot of people complain about how it is pointless and how it is just rehashing old ideas, but to that I say...who cares? So many good metal bands rehash the old ideas anyway, so how are we to detract these guys from doing it? Evile rock. Enter the Grave is a relentlessly fun album with little to no bullshit in it at all, just a big ole tribute to the olden days. As I mentioned before, this is musically sort of a mix of any number of classic albums, from Metallica to Megadeth to Exodus to Slayer, and it sounds about as good as they all did back then, only without the innovative "fresh" factor. Yes, this is really nothing you haven't heard before. It all sounds familiar, but it is refreshing enough, and the band sounds comfortable with their sound. Matt Drake's throaty and aggressive singing is almost a perfect replica of Tom Araya on the mighty Reign in Blood, and the guitars crunch and writhe and spit out tasty riffs like they've been doing it all their lives. The solos are high and fast, and the drums never stop hitting, and the bass is always present and lurking behind the wall of riffs.
Starting off with a bang on the title track, Enter the Grave pulls no surprise punches. "Thrasher," "First Blood," the closing nuclear storm of "Armored Assault" and especially the ripping and furious "Killer from the Deep" all satisfy as intense Thrashing slabs of fun. I do think "Man Against Machine's" intro is a bit too long, and "We Who Are About to Die" outstays its welcome a bit, and I think many songs here could be shortened for maximum effect, but it isn't too bad of a problem. If you want a solid slab of rocking, kinetic, Earth-moving Thrash, Evile are sure to please. Recommended.
