''Hell Unleashed'' is the fifth studio album by British

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Evile Evile are an English thrash metal band from Huddersfield, formed in 2004. They have experienced numerous line-up changes over the years, with drummer Ben Carter being the only member of the original line-up to have stayed consistently. The curr ...

, released on 30 April 2021 by

Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label l ...

. It is the band's first studio album since ''

Skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...

'' (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.Metal Forces. (2021
'EVILE Issue Behind-The-Scenes Footage From Making Of 'Hell Unleashed' Music Video'
''

Metal Forces ''Metal Forces'' is a British publication founded in 1983 which promotes the music genres heavy metal and hard rock. ''Metal Forces'' was well known for its coverage of unsigned bands through its ''Demolition'' feature and championed the likes of ...

'', 15 February 2021. Accessed: 6 March 2021.

Background

In 2013, Ol Drake left Evile and released his debut solo album, ''Old Rake'', in 2015, before subsequently re-joining in 2018.Hobson, R. (2020
'Evile: the kings of UK thrash come back from the dead'
''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'', 4 December. Accessed: 6 March 2021.BraveWords. (2021
'Evile Return with Hell Unleashed Album; Title Track Music Video Streaming'
''

Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music from an internationa ...

'', 3 February. Accessed: 6 March 2021. The band announced Matt Drake's departure in August 2020, the latter citing family commitments and recurring health setbacks as reasons for leaving.Stojanovic, A. (2020
'Matt Drake Posts Statement Regarding Departure from Evile'
''www.metalmasterkingdom.com'', 14 August. Accessed: 6 March 2021. 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 Charles Schuldiner (born May 13, 1967 – December 13, 2001) was an American musician. He founded the death metal band Death in 1983, in which he was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter and only consistent member until his death in ...

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

as "one of isheroes". 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 Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. the band was a major force in the groove metal, thra ...

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 Russ Russell is a British record producer, sound engineer, mixer, mastering engineer, musician and writer. He has worked all over the world and now is mostly based at Parlour Studios in the UK. He was also the guitarist in the psychedelic band ...

Reception

The title track is the first single,MetalSucks
'Evile Return With New Album and Single'
'' MetalSucks'', 3 February 2021. Accessed: 3 March 2021 unveiled on 3 February 2021 alongside the official music video, directed by James Mansell. The follow-up to this was the second single and video for "Gore", also directed by James Mansell.DIstorted Sound
"Evile release new music video for 'Gore
''Distorted Sound'', 18 March 2021. Accessed: 10 May 2021 The third and final single/video was for the song "The Thing (1982)".MetalSucks
'Evile Get Retro with "The Thing (1982)"'
'' MetalSucks'', 27 April 2021. Accessed: 10 May 2021 The album was released on 30 April 2021 via

Track listing

The track listing was unveiled in February 2021Blabbermouth. (2021
'EVILE To Release New Album 'Hell Unleashed' In April'
''

Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in Octob ...

'', 3 February. Accessed: 6 March 2021..

Personnel

Band members

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

Additional

Michael Whelan Michael Whelan (born 29 June 1950) is an American artist of imaginative realism. For more than 30 years, he worked as an illustrator, specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art. Since the mid-1990s, he has pursued a fine art career, ...

– cover artwork *

Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) was a French artist, as a printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravin ...

– CD/vinyl booklet images *

Brian Posehn Brian Edmund Posehn (; born July 6, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician, and writer. After numerous appearances as a television guest star, Posehn acquired his first major recurring role in HBO's '' Mr. Show wi ...

– backing vocals * Chris Clancy – producer * Ol Drake – co-producer * Maria de Lacruz Balcells – booklet sketches

Charts

Notes

References

{{Evile 2021 albums Evile albums Death metal albums by English artists