EVILE 'Enter the Grave' (Earache) RATING: 7.5/10 Buy now

By JEFF MAKI

Yet another formidable band has emerged amid the recent thrash metal revival. The UK's Evile plays thrash like it's the early '80s, armed with a vocalist who worships Tom Araya and James Hetfield, and an album that is the heir apparent to Metallica's Kill 'Em All. With searing solos and riffs molded to perfection, Enter the Grave is the bastard son of Metallica and Slayer. The promo CD indicates Evile is “the return of heads down, no nonsense thrash metal,” and that is an accurate description. Hell, Enter the Grave was even produced by a familiar--if not legendary--name in metal, Fleming Rasmussen, who was responsible for Metallica's Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets.

Evile wakes up the dead with a fistful of metal on thrashers like the opening title track, get caught in the mosh on the circle-pit anthem “Thrasher” and usher in the new order of thrash metal with relentless speed and shouted choruses on “Man Against Machine” and “Bathe In Blood.” These 10 tracks show no mercy and once again prove there is no life 'till leather.

Bands like Evile, Skeletonwitch, Municipal Waste and others are putting thrash metal back on the radar. Truthfully, the subgenre never really went away; it just has been dormant for some time. Many of the original thrash metal bands are still together, in fact, but have evolved or changed their style in the last decade. Evile aren't doing anything original, but they are helping to expose this great form of metal to a new generation of fans, fans that have endured the endless number of noisecore and chaotic-sounding bands the labels have trotted out in recent years. It's time to get back to the roots and discover what lies beneath the remains. Evile is a good place to start.