Milan-based band Evilspell was formed in 2006 in order to pay tribute to the old schooled Speed / Thrash genre. Throughout the years, their sound became little more grim and blackened, yet without forgetting the roots of All Evil. After two demos they released their debut in 2010 (Antisocial Satan, self-released, and re-issued in 2013), and at the very end of 2013 their second album, Necrology, got released.
Necrology is a collection purest Thrash Metal hymns, but it is not just a tribute to the old school alone; there is quite a humoristic attitude behind the whole concept. And that fun-attitude is inherent throughout the whole (lengthy) album. Keep that in mind, don’t take this stuff too serious.
But it does contain every single aspect from the eighties: shouting vocals with some hysterical yells, fast-paced melodies, Fingerspitzen-solos, pounding bass lines, simplistic and repetitive drum salvos, you know, the usual ingredients of Old. But it’s done pretty neatly, pretty decently.
The lack of originality is, once again, of no importance. Once again, it’s a tribute to the Eighties, and meant to be fun, rather than ‘true’. And it’s not that Necrology is full of classics-to-be – on the contrary – but it surely is a nice, almost melancholic sonic dream of long-forgotten greatness. Besides, Evilspell are quite varying in their stuff, though the focus for sure lies on fast and furious thrashiness all over the place. So, if you like any smelly sh*t that reeks of Slayer, Destruction, Bulldozer, Venom, Sodom, Tankard, Sepultura, Kreator, Dark Angel and Metallica, then bla bla bla… Retro Thrash for melanchalcolists…
[a non-ignorable remark: a sub-label of Undercover Records is Evil Spell, and they release stuff within the very same trend – is it a coincidence? Is it? Something to think about… Have a good night…]