Hell Unleashed

Hell Unleashed is the fifth studio album by British thrash metal band Evile, released on 30 April 2021 by Napalm Records. It is the band's first studio album since Skull (2013), making it their longest gap between studio albums to date. It also marks the first album to feature Adam Smith, who replaced original lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matt Drake, and the first to feature lead guitarist Ol Drake on vocal duties.[6]

Hell Unleashed
Studio album by
Evile
Released30 April 2021 (2021-04-30)
StudioBackstage Studios, Derbyshire, England
Genre
Length41:40
LabelNapalm
ProducerChris Clancy
Evile chronology
Skull
(2013)		 Hell Unleashed
(2021)		 The Unknown
(2023)
Singles from Hell Unleashed
  1. "Hell Unleashed"
    Released: 3 February 2021
  2. "Gore"
    Released: 18 March 2021
  3. "The Thing (1982)"
    Released: 27 April 2021
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Kerrang![1]
Man of Much Metal[2]
Rock Sins[3]
Metal Hammer[4]
Distorted Sound[5]

Background

In 2013, Ol Drake left Evile and released his debut solo album, Old Rake, in 2015, before subsequently re-joining in 2018.[7][8] The band announced Matt Drake's departure in August 2020, the latter citing family commitments and recurring health setbacks as reasons for leaving.[9] Ol replaced Matt on vocal duties, whilst Adam Smith, guitarist and vocalist of RipTide, joined as the new rhythm guitarist. Wanting to keep familiar faces in the band, Ol said taking on vocal duties "made sense" to him. He cited Chuck Schuldiner of Death as "one of [his] heroes". In December 2020, Evile announced the recording of a new studio album; the first in seven years.

Writing

Ol describes Evile's writing style as "more aggressive" in comparison to Evile's previous outings, citing Sepultura and the death metal genre as influences. The band had not written any new material since 2013, which Ol described as "old" and not the approach the band "wanted to go for this time around". In part, the latter is why they chose to collaborate with Chris Clancy instead of long-term Evile producer Russ Russell.[7]

"Evile basically hadn't done anything since 2013. I figured I'd get on with writing for the record and we had our ideas set out by June 2019".

— Ol Drake, December 2020.[7]

Reception

The title track is the first single,[10] unveiled on 3 February 2021 alongside the official music video, directed by James Mansell.[8] The follow-up to this was the second single and video for "Gore", also directed by James Mansell.[11] The third and final single/video was for the song "The Thing (1982)".[12] The album was released on 30 April 2021 via Napalm Records.[6]

Track listing

The track listing was unveiled in February 2021[13][N 1].

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Paralysed"Ol Drake, Karl Gary Smith, Ben Carter5:03
2."Gore" (featuring Brian Posehn)Ol Drake, Matt Drake, Karl Gary Smith4:48
3."Incarcerated"Ol Drake, Matt Drake6:16
4."War of Attrition"Ol Drake, Ben Carter4:25
5."Disorder"Ol Drake4:57
6."The Thing (1982)"Ol Drake4:54
7."Zombie Apocalypse" (Mortician cover)Will Rahmer, Roger Beaujard2:30
8."Control from Above"Ol Drake4:50
9."Hell Unleashed"Ol Drake, Ben Carter3:57
Total length:41:40

Personnel

Band members
  • Ol Drake – lead vocals, lead guitar
  • Ben Carter – drums
  • Joel Graham – bass
  • Adam Smith – rhythm guitar

Additional

Charts
Chart performance for Hell Unleashed
Chart (2021) Peak
position
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[14] 5
Scottish Albums (OCC)[15] 53

Notes
  1. This is Evile's first studio album to feature a cover song.[8]
  2. Whelan previously collaborated with the band for Infected Nations.[8]

References
  1. "Album review: Evile – Hell Unleashed". 30 April 2021.
  2. "Evile – Hell Unleashed – Album Review". 23 April 2021.
  3. "Evile - Hell Unleashed". 30 April 2021.
  4. "Evile's Hell Unleashed: Rebooted Brit thrashers blast away the cobwebs". 26 April 2021.
  5. "ALBUM REVIEW: Hell Unleashed - Evile". 28 April 2021.
  6. Metal Forces. (2021) 'EVILE Issue Behind-The-Scenes Footage From Making Of 'Hell Unleashed' Music Video', Metal Forces, 15 February 2021. Accessed: 6 March 2021.
  7. Hobson, R. (2020) 'Evile: the kings of UK thrash come back from the dead', Metal Hammer, 4 December. Accessed: 6 March 2021.
  8. BraveWords. (2021) 'Evile Return with Hell Unleashed Album; Title Track Music Video Streaming', Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, 3 February. Accessed: 6 March 2021.
  9. Stojanovic, A. (2020) 'Matt Drake Posts Statement Regarding Departure from Evile', www.metalmasterkingdom.com, 14 August. Accessed: 6 March 2021.
  10. MetalSucks. 'Evile Return With New Album and Single', MetalSucks, 3 February 2021. Accessed: 3 March 2021
  11. DIstorted Sound. "Evile release new music video for 'Gore'", Distorted Sound, 18 March 2021. Accessed: 10 May 2021
  12. MetalSucks. 'Evile Get Retro with "The Thing (1982)"', MetalSucks, 27 April 2021. Accessed: 10 May 2021
  13. Blabbermouth. (2021) 'EVILE To Release New Album 'Hell Unleashed' In April', Blabbermouth.net, 3 February. Accessed: 6 March 2021.
  14. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  15. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
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