* En anglais uniquement
Huddersfield, England's
Evile are a death and thrash metal outfit whose ever evolving lineup includes drummer
Ben Carter as its only constant member. Their sound proudly recalls the vintage thrash metal sound of the late 1980s and early 1990s, though their music, as showcased on albums such as 2007's
Enter the Grave and 2011's
Five Serpent's Teeth makes room for contemporary instrumental innovations and production techniques. After 2015's
Skull, the band underwent several key personnel changes. They continued to tour, but didn't release another album until 2021's
Hell Unleashed.
Evile was founded in 2004 by siblings
Matt (vocals, rhythm guitar) and
Ol Drake (lead guitar), with bassist Mike Alexander (bass), and drummer
Ben Carter. After woodshedding for a few months, recorded a self-produced demo EP entitled All Hallows Eve that year. Several more demos followed. After being voted the U.K.'s best unsigned act by readers of Terrorizer magazine,
Evile were quickly snapped up by Earache Records and released their debut long-player,
Enter the Grave, in the fall of 2007. They followed this by supporting
Megadeth on the European leg of the latter's 2008 tour.
During this period the band went from strength to strength, and saw their track "Thrasher" included in the soundtrack for the video game Rock Band. Before a European tour supporting
Satyricon, guitarist
Ol Drake collapsed and fractured his jaw. The band had to cancel further live commitments.
Evile issued their sophomore album, Infected Nations, in September 2009. During their European tour in October, tragedy struck when Alexander suddenly died from a pulmonary embolism. The band held two memorial nights for Alexander in Leeds and London, then spent months auditioning for replacements. In December,
Evile announced that former
Rise to Addiction bassist Joel Graham had been hired.
Five Serpent's Teeth was released in 2011. It featured the track "In Memoriam," dedicated to Alexander. The set received critical acclaim and registered on the metal album charts thanks in no small part to the video singles for "Eternal Empire," and "Cult." They undertook a 15-date headline tour of the U.K. with label-mates
Savage Messiah. Upon their return, Kerrang! asked
Evile to cover a
Nirvana song as part of the magazine's 20th anniversary tribute to the release of the grunge masters' historic
Nevermind album.
Evile chose "Lounge Act."
In October, the band was featured in a Live Session on BBC Radio 1's Rock Show with Daniel P. Carter. In November, they announced a 24-date headlining tour of Europe with Portrait and
Dr. Living Dead supporting. In March of 2012, lead guitarist
Ol Drake was nominated for the "Dimebag Darrell Shredder" Award as part of Metal Hammer's Golden Gods Awards.
In May 2013,
Evile issued
Skull, their fourth long-player. Produced by
Russ Russell, the set included nine originals as well as bonus cuts and alternate takes on subsequent special editions. It would be their last studio recorded outing for seven years.
In August,
Ol Drake announced his departure from the band he co-founded. Though they hired ex-
Fallen Fate axeman Piers Donno-Fuller to replace him; he ended up leaving in 2016 due to "previous commitments" though they were already working on an album. That April,
Ol Drake announced he was rejoining
Evile. Though they continued to tour, they didn't issue a follow-up album.
In August of 2020,
Evile announced that lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist
Matt Drake had left the band some time before but wouldn't say exactly when. Adam Smith of RipTide hired on as rhythm guitarist while
Ol Drake took over the lead vocal chores in addition to playing lead guitar.
In September 2020, the band signed with Napalm Records and began recording their long-awaited fifth album with producer
Chris Clancy. Released as
Hell Unleashed in April 2021, it was preceded by the singles "Gore," and "The Thing (1982)" and upon release included the title track as a third single. The nine-song set also featured a reading of
Mortician's "Zombie Apocalypse"; marking the first time
Evile had covered a song on one of their releases. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia & Thom Jurek