TOXIC HOLOCAUST

Evil Never Dies

Relapse
rating icon 7.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Evil Never Dies
02. War Is Hell
03. Enemy of Jesus
04. Damned to Fire
05. Exxxecutioner
06. 666
07. Summon the Beast
08. Demise
09. Warfare
10. Dead to the World
11. Fallout
12. Atomik Destructor


Relapse struck gold with the signing of TOXIC HOLOCAUST. Other labels have got to be kicking themselves for missing the chance to do so. Joel Grind is a one-man wrecking crew, as the masses found out with the release of 2008's "An Overdose of Death". You can talk about the new breed of old-school thrashers all you want, but Grind has truly worn the early years' blend of punk attitude (DISCHARGE anyone?) and unbridled, speed killing thrash on his denim sleeve. With the re-releases of 2005's "Hell on Earth" and 2003's "Evil Never Dies" (the album we discuss here),folks that inhaled the poisonous fumes of "An Overdose of Death" will fully appreciate the asphyxiating qualities of the even rawer/dirtier older material, although those creeping around the underground have already had their fill of it.

If you're interested in seeking out an album like "Evil Never Dies" because you're curious as to how Grind has progressed over the years, you'll find that he hasn't. And that's not a bad thing by any means. What he did with "An Overdose of Death" by keeping it short and simple, mining territory previously held by the German and American masters, he was already doing on both "Evil Never Dies" and "Hell on Earth". In fact, a song like "War is Hell", which appeared on "An Overdose of Death", was taken from "Evil Never Dies" and the two versions are essentially the same. It's all about the riffs on all of his albums and those riffs burn hot and cut with all the surgical precision of a chainsaw. Great riffs never get old and Grind has made a career out of writing them. Though a song such as "Summon the Beast" rides a medium tempo and stretches a bit longer, "Evil Never Dies" is basically a collection of quick strikes that induce immediate head banging, as a blackened nugget like "Warfare" demonstrates.

Grab one, grab two, grab as many releases from TOXIC HOLOCAUST as you'd like and you will come away with a great deal of satisfaction. It's a simple formula that works and unless you want something that hasn't been done before in the field of thrash metal, "Evil Never Dies" is just the fix you need.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).