Live-Metal.Net - Interviews: Evile

Guitarist Ol Drake discusses the band's new album, Five Serpent's Teeth with Live-Metal.net

October 4, 2011

Are you Skeptical about Metallica’s collaboration with Lou Reed? Or maybe as great of an album as Death Magnetic was, you thought it was a tad overrated? Do you long for the days of Master of Puppets or … And Justice for All? Sure, you always could take a trip down memory lane by spinning those albums, or you could try listening to U.K. thrashers Evile. Hailed by many as one of the “New Big Four” of thrash metal, Evile—led by brothers Matt (rhythm guitarist/vocalist) and Ol Drake (guitarist)—recapture the glory of those classic albums while also taking thrash forward into the 21st century.

The Metallica comparisons have followed this band since its released its debut album, Enter the Grave (2007) (review). Whether intentional or not, they seem to embrace it. Evile also shares an unfortunate tragedy with Metallica. Bass player Mike Alexander passed away in 2009 due to illness, but like Metallica, the band forged onward.

Evile's 2009 album, Infected Nations, was one of Live-Metal.net’s top releases of the year (review), establishing the band as a true force to be reckoned with. Now they’re back with their third album, Five Serpent’s Teeth (Oct. 18) and the daunting task of topping their critically acclaimed previous effort. Judging from the first single, “Cult,” and our early review (read here), they seem up to the task. Weeks before the U.S. release of Five Serpent’s Teeth, Live-Metal.net’s Jeff Maki talked with Ol Drake about details of the new album, including the lyrics, songs, anger, aggression and comparisons to “you know who.”

So, Metallica fans, are you ready to join Evile’s “cult?”

Live-Metal.net: What’s up Ol? This is Jeff Maki of Live-Metal.net. We actually talked while the band was touring the U.S with Bonded by Blood last year (read interview here). So anyway, it’s good to talk to you again. First off, congratulations on album number three, Five Serpent’s Teeth. I just listened to the album, and I think it’s great. I have some thoughts, but I’ll get to that in a moment.

Ol Drake: Thank you, really glad you enjoyed it! We poured our hearts and souls into it for the last two years. It’s been a grueling time, and the album is pretty much an amalgamation of everything that's happened to us. It’s us starting to take things a bit more seriously as a career and wanting to make a living out of what we love.

I can never fully answer this for one main reason; it’s Matt's concept. All I do know is it’s a literary reference from a sci-fi novel by Alfred Bester called The Demolished Man, which was also the basis of Infected Nations’ “Now Demolition.” Matt doesn’t like how readily available information is in this modern age, so he wants to keep an air of mystery to things and leave it open to interpretation by the listener. I do know it is not technically about “serpents.”

Being that Infected Nations was such a critically acclaimed album and popular with fans, how much added pressure did that add for the recording of Five Serpent’s Teeth?

I think there’s always pressure. We’ve been hailed with some amazing and mind-blowing quotes. We don’t let any of it go to our heads. If we take the positive stuff on board, you build yourself up to care too much when you hear something negative, so in that respect we ignored the pressure. Nothing can come of feeling pressure when you’re doing something you love and which comes out naturally. We like to do what we want, and the day we start to worry what people will think will be the day we don’t enjoy it anymore. Limiting ourselves to certain ideals is boring for an artist.

In our previous interview, you had mentioned that the songs for this album were turning out “more aggressive and angrier” due to what the band has been through. Now that the album is released, do you think this is the case compared to the first two albums, and why?

There’s definitely a lot of anger in here. You just have to listen to “In Dreams of Terror” and “Origin of Oblivion” to hear that. The anger and aggression isn’t just in the speed and the technical stuff, it’s also in the fact that it’s more to the point. We didn't want to waste time in odd time signatures and wacky experimental stuff. We just wanted to get straight to it; huge riffs, big vocal melodies, pounding drums and shredding guitars. People go and see Dream Theater if they want the stuff you stand there and think about. We want to play music that gives us that fix of getting our frustrations and anger out, and it’s the greatest feeling to see that in the crowd, as well. In comparison to the first two albums, I think we're a lot more comfortable in this style. It fits us too well at this moment in time, and it just happens to be more aggressive and straight to the point.

The first single and video for the album is “Cult.” It’s an awesome song by the way, one of the best of the album. So is this song meant as a rallying cry for fans of Evile? If so, what exactly is involved and what goes on in the Evile “Cult?”

The initial intention of “Cult” as a song was to write a song that punched you right in the face, picked you up and didn't let you down until it’s done. People love riffs. I love riffs, so we created a song that was just focused on the riff. Again, a concept of Matt’s which is quite vague, but the matter of joining Evile’s “Cult” just happened whether we liked it or not. It was never an intention to think, “Hey, I know, let’s call a song 'Cult' so people can rally around Evile!”

The video is pretty unique for “Cult.” Just tell us the short story behind the concept and effects for the video.

To put it simply, we didn't want another typical “metal video.” We were sick of seeing the same old stuff in music videos, and we wanted to try something new and interesting to the eye. We went through many briefs for videos, but this was the one that stood out. (Director) Ramy (Elgamal) did an amazing job. The video needed a propaganda feel to it, mixed in with slight references to it being the first track off Five Serpent's Teeth. Ramy suggested the serpents in between shots, and they worked really well. Again without Matt’s guarded knowledge on the song subject, it’s hard to pin down (laughs).

Lyrically speaking, what is the story or meaning behind “Centurion?”

"Centurion" was a song dedication to the U.K.’s Bloodstock Festival. We possibly would not be doing what we’re doing now if it wasn’t for them. They put us on to headline the second stage in 2006 at which Earache Records saw us and decided to sign us to the label. We’ve played there multiple times now and get on with them great. We just felt a song about warriors, battles and war was fitting to Bloodstock!

“In Memoriam” is a tribute to bassist Mike Alexander, right? I have to say, this is also one of the best tracks here. Did you want to write a tribute to him specifically for this album, or did it just turn out to be this song?

The story behind “In Memoriam” is a complicated one. Years ago, Matt had always had a clean guitar part he always played. Whenever he played it, I’d start playing along in harmony for fun and to annoy him. That part just became part of our DNA, but whenever we played it, we agreed we’d never be able to fit that into a song. Soon after Mike passed away and we were looking forward in terms of Evile, it made perfect sense to revisit the guitar part as it was quite appropriate to how we felt. Months and months passed playing around with it while we were going through what we went through, and I grew into the song with the working title “In Memoriam” as it was because of Mike’s passing that this song was being created. The more time went on, the working title just seemed to fit perfectly. While on the road in the U.S., I was sitting there listening to the recording of it and started to hum along and the lyrics came out, describing how I felt about losing Mike and everything that comes with that. My personal aim from then on was to commemorate Mike with this song, but write it for anyone who has ever lost anyone very close to them.

I’d love to play it, but it has to be right. When you have 500 metalheads screaming for the most aggressive songs they can think, they may not want to stand through five minutes of that. We don’t want them to think they have to, as well, for the obvious reasons. Mike loved the fast shit anyway (laughs).

The new album is certainly heavy and thrashy enough, but I also hear some traditional or classic metal influence on there, as well. Would you say this is accurate and was this intentionally done to try and mix things up a bit?

I’m not sure to what extent that is intentional, but I have a feeling that’s due to (bassist) Joel (Graham)’s contribution to the band. It was the first time we had worked with a bass player with a different style and outlook. Joel grew up with thrash since he was a kid, but his musical, and playing backgrounds are rooted in classic rock and metal. He has a Trouble tattoo for Dime’s sake (see what I did there?). Whenever Joel put in musical input, it would always be interesting as it was so out of the ordinary to us. We do try to mix things up a bit, though. We want to keep ourselves on our toes and experiment. We don’t want to release the same album over and over.

Is it just me or do Matt’s vocals sound even “cleaner” on the new material? Is this intentional, as well, or just a product of him becoming a better singer altogether?

It’s intentional but in the sense that he’s been learning. For Infected Nations, he started taking lessons, because up to then he would blow his voice every night; you literally couldn't talk to him and it was damaging him. He didn’t learn as much by Infected Nations as he did for Five Serpent’s Teeth, and I think it shows. He just wants to be more of a “singer” than a “shouter.” Vocal melodies and hooks add a whole new level to songs, and I love it.

I’m sure that you guys get sick and tired of the Metallica comparisons, but do you think this benefits the band, ultimately hurts the band, or both? And why?

Either way, I don't mind. We’ve been compared to them since we started, and what better band to be compared to than the biggest metal band? We grew up with them and their style, and (that) approach is in our DNA. I purposely didn’t listen to much music for the two years this album was written just to ensure no “influences” seeped in, but that kind of metal is just imprinted on my, and our DNA, like I said.

What if I told you that I think songs from Five Serpent’s Teeth, like “Eternal Empire,” has some shades of “Disposable Heroes,” or that “Long Live the New Flesh” has some shades of “Dyer’s Eve?”

I’d say cool, they are great songs (laughs). Like I said, we grew up with it. If you grow up learning how to hold a fork to eat it, you’re not suddenly going to start using a fork by throwing it at the wall— it won’t get the food in.

With “The Big Four” going strong right now and Megadeth and Anthrax releasing new albums, thrash is at the forefront in heavy metal. Do you think you are striking with this album while “the iron is hot?” Of course, you had no idea all of this thrash resurgence was going to happen when you started the band, right?

We started many years ago just for the hell of it—thrash just happened to be noticed again. I think rock music will always stay strong whether or not the media covers it. We’re not trying to ride off something popular—this is what we love and what we do. If magazines stop caring in a year ,we’ll still do it.

Outline Evile’s upcoming touring plans for us. When can we expect the band here in the U.S., and who might you be touring with here?

We’re about to hit the road in the U.K., then we’re looking at booking a tour throughout Europe and Scandinavia. From then on, it is simply get to as many places as possible—USA, Canada, Mexico, South America, Japan, China, Russia. Anywhere who will have us. The ONLY problem is, we need a presence in these places, and sales, so booking agents know the band have pull. So us new bands NEED OUR FANS SUPPORT. And yes, buying an album does more than just profit the label and the band.

If nothing is outlined yet for the U.S., what bands would be your personal choices to open up or to tour with?

Warbringer! We love those guys. Me and John have an ongoing rivalry via Street Fighter 2. I'm always Ryu and he’s always Blanka.

Not just Evile, but all new bands. We need the support. We need people to spread the word, buy our music, come to the shows and rock with us, help us pay to get to the next gig (laughs) and just generally support what you love.