EVILDEAD

track-list:
F.A.F.O.
Reverie
Raising Fresh Hell
Stupid On Parade
Subjugated Souls
Bathe In Fire
Poetic Omen
World Ov Rats
Fear Porn
LP Bonus Track:
The Death & Resurrection Show 2024

EvilDead are:
Phil Flores – lead vocals
Juan Garcia – rhythm/leadguitars
Albert Gonzales – rhythm/leadguitars
Karlos Medina – bass
Rob Alaniz – drums

It’s been four years since American thrash metal band EvilDead unleashed their comeback album ‘United States Of Anarchy’, much to the delight of their fans and the media.
Four years in which the world has changed in lots of respects, while EvilDead – solid as a rock – have held on to their typical strengths while at the same time developing their dynamic style in a controlled yet targeted manner.
The result is entitled ‘Toxic Grace’ and will be available from Steamhammer/SPV as of 24 May 2024 on CD, LP and for digital download.
To ease their fans’ wait for the album’s arrival, the two singles ‘Raising Fresh Hell’ and ‘Subjugated Souls’, including videos, will be released before the event.
Both are heavy metal statements by a band with a wealth of experience who have never lost the zest and energy of their early years.
Vocalist Phil Flores describes ‘Toxic Grace’ as an
“album featuring a wide range of different styles and sounds, from doom to melodic metal, from traditional heavy metal to our characteristic old-school thrash style.”
Guitarist Juan Garcia adds:
“We consciously focussed on the tempos and the consistent flow of all parts and riffs. We wanted the new songs to be powerful and not just fast for the sake of speed. I’m really proud of the new material.”
Garcia is referring to fast-paced EvilDead tracks such as ‘Reverie’, ‘Stupid On Parade’ and ‘Fear Porn’, which are powerful but never out of control.
In addition, the five band members Flores, Garcia, Albert Gonzales (guitar), Karlos Medina (bass) and Rob Alaniz (drums) illustrate on ‘Poetic Omen’ and ‘Bathe In Fire’ that EvilDead have once more explored the degree of heaviness of their songwriting in their tried and tested diverse manner.
Of course, ‘Toxic Grace’ also holds lots of new elements and surprises in store, as Juan Garcia reveals:
“‘Bathe In Fire’, just like ‘Stupid On Parade’, is not your typical EvilDead number, both have death metal influences with big musical contributions from Albert Gonzales. I feel that our bonus track ‘The Death And Resurrection Show’ is also a real surprise with its pounding industrial rock/metal influences and tribute to Killing Joke guitarist Kevin ‘Geordie’ Walker who passed away in November 2023. One of my new favourites is our single ‘Raising Fresh Hell’ with its catchy Accept references and really cool old-school guitar harmony section.”
The lyrics on ‘Toxic Grace’ are as political and socio-critical as ever.
Flores comments:
“It’s quite easy these days to take a pessimistic, cynical and sarcastic view of the world, when in fact you should hold on to your optimism. I prefer to write about the darker side of society, like on ‘Stupid On Parade’, which happens to be about one of my favourite radio talk shows that discussed things politicians were doing at the time. One of the presenters declared that it was a stupid parade in the true sense of the word. I felt that ‘Stupid On Parade’ was a cool song title, jotted it down and wrote lyrics about it.”
‘Toxic Grace’ is complemented by the awesome cover artwork courtesy of Dan Goldsworthy (Gloryhammer, Alestorm, among others), who not only translated the album title perfectly, but also most of the lyrics.
Garcia: “We wanted something different, but at the same time in true EvilDead style. Dan’s artwork is really dead on.”
Which is also an apt summary of the music on the album…