Against Evil (review by MMB)

Against Evil

All Hail the King

6 April 2018

Against Evil formed in 2014 and in 2015 recorded both a single and an EP, and in 2018 they have the full-length debut. Against Evil is a band from India bitten with the bug of classic heavy metal. What a debut it is! They have such good songs and they show their young-heart personality very well.

It is fun, uptempo songs and the band’s objective is to rock with songs that have an uplifting energy, direct riffs, on-beat drumming, and guitar melodies that communicate themselves effectively. They craft songs that speak the international language of classic-style traditional heavy metal. In short, it is good songs, and that’s the main thing that really, really counts, isn’t it?

The singing is very appealing in the sense that it hits the sweet spot in melodic singing; it is not the all-out banshee glass-shattering screaming that some people say that they find annoying. It is a midrange singing style, with a nice, ear-pleasing tone. On the song “Sentenced to Death” some of the vocals are a bit grittier, closer to the thrash style, but the chorus is still melodic. “We Won’t Stop” does feature the most near-thrash energy in the vocals.

The way the band does backing vocals is appealing, too. Sometimes it sounds like gang-shouts vocals, like the way that it is common in thrash and punk rock, but in this case the difference is that the pleasant tone of the voice makes it cool, as opposed to irritating or amateur-sounding or just like some “every-man” shouting. Maybe it is the melodic tone of the backing vocals that make this band do a good job on that front.

Against Evil is all about guitars, riffs and solos, and when they join that together with the singing in songs, it works out for them. Hopefully this band is just getting warmed up. This band should be interesting to people who want to rock out and have fun with young-heart heavy metal.

againstevil.bandcamp.com