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An utter waste of a prime opportunity and great talent.-
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| Mpire of Evil: Creatures of the Black |
Heavy Metal, Black Metal
Scarlet Records
October 25th, 2011
- Exciter (Judas Priest cover) - 5:22
- Motörhead (Motörhead cover) - 3:04
- Reptile - 4:58
- God of Thunder (KISS cover) - 5:20
- Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be (AC/DC cover) - 4:03
- Creatures of the Black - 5:25
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| Review Information |
Release length: 28:12
Review posted on October 24th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 3.5/10 |
 
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
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Creatures of the Black (2011)
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| Review |
Back in 1979, a dark Metal force that helped shaped the landscape of the Heavy Metal style came into existence under the name of Venom. Since then, the group has hammered out new material throughout the years, as well as varying line-ups. Recently Dryll found Antton teaming up once more with Mantas. And now, for 2011, The Demolition Man returns to solidify the original Venom line-up under a new monicker, Prime Evil, which was later dropped to an anagram version called Mpire of Evil. Will this legendary group's reunion issue in a new wave in the Metal world, or does their debut offering, Creatures of the Black, end up being a release that simply won't be worth the wait for such a monumentous event?
First of all, this EP is a collection of a few cover tracks that are supposed to show some of the band's influences, as well as the original compositions "Creatures of the Black" and "Reptile," the latter of which has been streaming on the band's Facebook account for a little while now, making this a bit of a letdown for such a group. The audio quality here is also rather high pitched with a rawer sound to the instruments that comes off like a somewhat lower quality recording from the early eighties. This isn't the worst thing that could have been used for the album, and gives off a bit of a nostalgic trait to the music thanks to the louder guitars and really strong distortion, and it honestly just feels too loud in the mix and most of the time comes through as more noise then anything else, especially with the track "Motörhead", though the additional slightly cleaner guitars, such as during the solo, sound fantastic for this quality. The bass is pretty obvious and loud in the mix, really standing out from that higher distortion to allow a catchier groove to some tracks, and the drums feel a bit muffled but still reminiscent of that early eighties, even late seventies recording sound. The cymbols crash at a decent volume though sound a bit more in the background compared to the louder snares and bass kicks with a good click to them. Of course the vocals change for pretty much every track, and feel a little buried in the mix.
With the original material included being a bit of a letdown for anyone wanting to hear more originals, and the audio quality that takes too many liberties from the early audio qualities of the Heavy Metal sound, the release sadly doesn't get off to a good start from the moment the music kicks in. Admittedly, the covers are actually pretty good and show the band's abilities decently, as well as sound really close to the originals. This is why the vocals are different quite often as well. The Judas Priest track "Exciter" sounds like that early signature Heavy Metal sound the band had and captures the energetic vocal performance well in the original version, whereas "Motörhead" comes through with that grittier sound and more abrasive attitude to the music and vocals that would make you think Motörhead themselves were involved in the recording of the track. There's also the Kiss song "God of Thunder" which, in this cover, does have a bit of a more Black Metal ritualistic sound to it with deeper, rhaspier harmonized vocals, all leading up to the final cover track, AC/DC's "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be." This song isn't too bad, but the energy the band usually has to their music is just not there, leaving this to sound like a watered down version a local cover band may do. But of all these songs, only one really seems to reflect the sound of Mpire of Evil's original material, and the rest just make you wish you were listening to the originals instead.
The only other thing to discuss here is the Venom-tinged originals. "Reptile" has actually been on the band's Facebook for a bit, so if you've known about this new group for a while, chances are good you've already heard it. If not, you can always head over there and check out this track, as well as two others that for some reason didn't make the cut. This original composition finds the guitar's distortion to not be as loud, and the bass shines through a little better as well, giving listeners a strong dose of vintage Venom done right. The energy behind the song is exhillerating, especially in the vocals for the chorus which will have you instinctively shouting the song's title along with the music from your very first listen. The second is the title track, "Creatures of the Black," which is a little more early Heavy Metal with first generation Black Metal then the more modern Venom sound of "Reptile." This song's darker, heavier, and slower pace sets up a more hopeless atmosphere to the track that comes off genuinely crushing and enjoyable. The contrast in energy between the two originals are pretty dynmanic, and it works to show off what the band has in store for this group as far as their original compositions go, bracing the listener well.
But, in the end, Creatures of the Black really just comes off a huge let down. The members of this group are beyond talented and have a strong lineage behind each one of them. You simply mention Venom, and any true fan of Metal will immediately know who you're talking about. So when you approach this EP and expect to hear what the band has in store for you, it's almost impossible to not get ticked off at a collection of cover songs and two originals, one readily available to stream on-line. It feels like the members really just wasted their talent here andmissed a good opportunity to get their name out there a little better then the generic EP route of cover songs and b-sides. As a fan of the early Venom sound, and a man who has been stoked about this group for a while, Creatures of the Black by Mpire of Evil came off more as a cheap tactic to put material out there and market off the band's lineage and immensely loyal fanbase. Unless you're a collector, Creatures of the Black could really be overlooked outside maybe the cost of an MP3 for the title track.
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