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A few good songs, and another band trying to be Metallica.-
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| Evile: Five Serpent's Teeth |
Thrash Metal
Earache Records
October 18th, 2011
- Five Serpent's Teeth - 5:45
- In Dreams of Terror - 5:20
- Cult - 5:01
- Eternal Empire - 5:45
- Xaraya - 6:15
- Origin of Oblivion - 5:06
- Centurion - 5:57
- In Memoriam - 5:57
- Descent Into Madness - 4:35
- Long Live New Flesh - 5:28
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| Review Information |
Release length: 55:09
Review posted on October 14th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 4.5/10 |
 
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Enter the Grave (2007) • Infected Nations (2009) • Five Serpent's Teeth (2011)
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| EP(s): |
All Hallows Eve (2004)
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| Single(s): |
Bonus Demos (2007) • Thrasher (2008) • Infected Nation (2009) • Cemetery Gates (2010) • Cult (2011)
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| Demo(s): |
Hell Demo (2006)
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| Live CD(s): |
Live at Hammerfest (EP) (2010)
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| Review |
Back in 2009, Evile bassist Mike Alexander passed away, which is still a terrible loss to the Metal community. Despite this tragedy, and the less-then-well-recepted second full-length album, Infected Nations, many wondered if Evile would bounce back and continue on as a group. Surprisingly, the group went back into the studio rather quickly, having replaced Mike the same year with Joel Graham, to record their follow-up album, Five Serpent's Teeth. And with this, it becomes clear Evile is no longer Evile but now a full-blown idol-worship band. But, does this group do it well?
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If I wanted to sit down and listen to Metallica, I'd put in a Metallica album. Five Serpent's Teeth became a very rough listen, especially since the promotional version came altered with high pitched beeps to prevent piracy but that's the label's move and not something to hold against the band or this release. With this effort, it's clear that the group is blending in some of the rougher material of their previous effort, Infected Nations, but focusing more on the cleaner vocal performance and lighter, catchier riffs of modern Metallica, but paying more attention to that then their own original sound. The guitars here sound pretty good with a decent heavier sound and good distortion backed up by the bass well to give it a heavier edge to it. The bass ends up being rather loud and noticable in the mix as well, which works in the music's favor. The drums have a slight click to the bass kicks, the snares are loud and sound full but some parts do seem to have a bit of a thud, and the cymbols do crash pretty loud and fit the general Thrash concept of what the kit should sound like. The vocals are at a decent level with the rest of the instruments, and nothing drowns each other out really, though the bass sometimes feels a little more hidden then louder in the mix. Some tracks do give a stronger bass sound thanks to what the guitar is playing, such as the single off the album, "Cult," which is also the biggest Metallica carbon copy on the release.
But, even though that song is not that original, it's well done, and far more enjoyable then others on here. The atmosphere is also a lot darker then other songs on here, though much of the album seems to try to have that heavier environment to it in comparison. But due to the slower pace, the song's more ominous sound works well and really puts the bass to a far better use then simply just backing up the guitars like some of the faster tracks here. The title track, "Five Serpent's Teeth," is not a bad song, but the music itself is not that enjoyable and, while far from original, just seems a little cluttered and more forced to sound unoriginal. It makes for a good start to this release and shows the band hasn't completely lost any sense of originality, and "In Dreams of Terror" assures that small fact through some of the more chaotic chords and drums being performed at the start and end of the song in place of the traditional generic Metallica material.
Aside "Cult" being one of the few tracks that genuinely stand out, there's also the longer "Xaraya" to contend with. The song doesn't feel too original or unique in any sense really, but it's the shedding of the original sound mixed with the darker overtones and slower, heavier sound that does make this track stand out a bit more. Though having some of the initial Evile entity at play in some of the songs is far from a bad thing and actually becomes a welcome thing to this release of idol-worship, the song's eery and haunting sound really make up for the lack of originality and compliment the harmonized cleaner vocals better then other tracks here. The song also manages to keep the listener attentive with enough solid transitions and changes in pace that nothing here really seems to become repetitive. Sadly the same cannot be said for "Centurion," a song that also has a slower pace but the music itself just feels incredibly generic, lacks any real atmosphere or solid transitions or changes to the music, leaving the track to feel drawn out to the point where it feels like Evile doesn't get that they've already killed the horse rather early on with this song. It also does help that the material feels similar to other tracks you've heard before. And then of course there's "In Memoriam" which, simply put, sounds like "The Unforgiven" by Metallica and any other slower ballad track they have put out.
In all honestly, there's a number of good songs on here, but there's also a number of tracks here that just won't grab the listener, including the title track, "Eternal Empire," and a few others, all leaving Five Serpents Teeth to come off more as a mixed bag of entity crisis material. A lot of people claim if you're a fan of Evile then you won't be disappointed, but I was a fan of the band's first album and this group has slowly been letting me down. Five Serpent's Teeth is the complete other end of the spectrum compared to their last effort. Instead of simply being a dull offering, it's good but basically musical plagiarism. The only thing going for the release is the songs on here that are catchy and the few that are actually really good due to the enhanced atmosphere. Other then that, if you're a fan of Metallica, or even if you're not, you're honestly just better off dragging out The Black Album and listening to Metallica then this one. That is, unless you're one of those fanatics who think the only good Thrash is Metallica, then by all means buy this album and support the continued ripping off of that band by their supposed fans. I'm sure they're as pleased over this as they were with Napster.
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