Against Evil - All Hail the King

Review by Alex Ensign

After IRONFLAME and MEGORA, the young label Doc Gator Records has chosen AGAINST EVIL, an Indian band for its third coup, and as with the first two releases, the Swiss once again have a damn sure taste. Because even without exotic bonus AGAINST EVIL know how to convince with their mix of Speed-/Thrash-/Power- and traditional Metal . The band was only formed four years ago. Already on their debut EP "Fatal Assault", which is included as a bonus CD on this release, the quartet sounds remarkably mature. These five songs plus intro alone justify the purchase of this package. The four youngsters haven't quite found their style yet and jump between wild speed metal numbers ('Speedbreaker', 'Wings Of Steel') and epic power metal anthems ('The Enemy Within', 'Bulletproof', 'War Hero') back and forth, but that certain something is already clearly noticeable.

On the debut album "All Hail The King", which was previously only available as an in-house production in India and South America, AGAINST EVIL's trademarks come even more to the fore. First there is the great guitar work by Shasank (lead) and Sravan (rhythm). On the thrasher 'Sentenced To Death', the two are supported with a solo by none other than Jeff Loomis (Arch Enemy, ex-Nevermore), which was also optically recorded in a video clip. Jeff's shredding doesn't even fit perfectly with the sound of AGAINST EVIL, who primarily pay attention to a sophisticated melody in their leads, as the opener 'The Army Of Four' impressively shows. Siri's (vocals/bass) voice is also very pleasant, and he knows how to use it both rough and harmonious. He is supported in some passages by Sravan or gang shouts from the entire band. When it comes to songwriting, the Indians are very variable and sometimes throw in a catchy mid-tempo number with 'Bad Luck'. However, they look best on neck breakers like 'We Won't Stop' or anthems like 'Gods Of Metal'.
All in all, "All Hail The King" is a highly interesting iron for both speed/thrash and power metallers!