Legenda neskrotných živlov

After many demos and even more split albums, the time has come for Evil from Slovakia, to release their first full length album. The band consists of two members and has much of experience as it was formed in 2001 and since 2004 when their first demo was released, every year they have been releasing their material, sometimes even more than one release a year. “Legenda neskrotných živlov” was released in November of 2013 and it contains six compositions of overall duration of forty minutes. Musically the band continues to follow the path that it was following in the previous releases too, that is classic European Black Metal with a lot of references to dsbm and some touches of ambient.

Well, here the listener will come across interesting riffs mainly of fast speed, other times warlike and violent and other times heavy, dark and monotonous, they create an intense and thick atmosphere and feelings of fear. Certainly, there are also a lot of passages and bridges which are of medium or slow speed and they bring a depressing atmosphere to the foreground. The ambient elements exist either in the beginning either at the end of the tracks and they just give a more atmospheric character to the compositions. The tracks are quite long regarding their duration (over than six minutes) but the changes between the riffs and the atmosphere work very well for the compositions. Another part of the album that they have taken care of a lot is the structure of the tracks. The bridges and the passages that exist inside the compositions make the changes between the riffs, the feelings and the atmosphere to happen very smoothly helping the listener to follow the overall evolution of the track. However there are parts in which the compositions overcome the limit of acceptable and they become somewhat tedious.

Another element that stands out in the album is its sound. The production is clean but at the same time heavy and dark and combined with the balanced mixture it puts out a very full and massive sound with the depth and the size needed. The guitars are played with flawless technic, with feeling and passion they create a very intense and living atmosphere. The bass has a secondary role, it fills the sound well. The drums have fast and brutal lines, somehow monotonous in some parts, but with the various changes, turnings or technic they gain the attention of the listener. The vocals are the typical, harsh Black Metal vocals, somewhat repetitive, without having a big expressing ability and in some points tedious. Finally, the lyrics are written in Slovak. Along with the lyrics in Slovak that we will find in the cd, the band has offered the English translations of the tracks, something that made me a very good impression. The lyrics are dark stories of the danger hidden on the mountain. They are quite dark and they cause some kind of fear which is not manifested nor take shape. Concerning the lyrics they did a very nice job.

“Legenda neskrotných živlov” may have some negative points, but in overall aspect it is a notable release. Evil through all these years show that they have talent and the will to work. Their improvement from release to release can be seen only in a positive way, not only by their fans but by all Black Metal fans. I think that this is a release which comes from a very passionate and devoted to music band which deserves your attention.