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Brazil’s Evilust has an interesting sound. While typically black-thrash, there’s a severely technically battering style that shows on the EP Into the Chaos even though its terribly thin production might otherwise deter one from indulging in it.

The music is really quite good, with the vocalist sounding a bit like Chuck Schuldiner, but not nearly as ‘easy’ with the delivery. It’s nothing that would kill the music for you, but it is a point of notice. The obvious earmarks of thrash are pretty much stamped all over this, and while the music does suffer from the disease of typicality and suspect production the general feel is one of enjoyable design. When I think of the horrible bands that pass my desk calling themselves thrash it makes me want to destroy my monitor and keyboard, so when something interesting (if not all that innovative) pops up like Evilust it makes me all the less violent.

These guys have the basic Exodus-meets-Cryptic Slaughter style that is showcased in tracks like “The Crown of Lust”. The drumming is pretty much the same pattern throughout the songs, but with such a good selection of guitar riffs over it it’s not too terrible. The riff in “Despite Your Faith” has Death literally spilling out of the scales and the groove-heavy mid-section is a highlight. The quality of the guitar riffs is the additional high point because, simply put, these tracks are damn good rage-out songs that true metalheads can destroy mirrors to.

Not bad at all; I hope to hear more from these guys when the production is higher and the music is stronger, but the former is the main ingredient that needs some fixing.
Aparthia, Evilust, Falling Leaves & Souls Demise
May 11, 2011
CHRIS
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Apatharia - Nostalgic Woods
Another one-man black ambient project, Apatharia is Canada’s attempted depressive answer to the current trend of atmospheric black metal. While Canada is known for putting out some of the better underground black metal (Frost Hammer comes to mind), this release is just on the ‘meh’ side of the spectrum.

Casually draped in otherworldly aura and ambience, Nostalgic Woods barely dims the lights with its repetitive droning that, while occasionally enchanting, doesn’t resound long enough to warrant a huge hurrah from me. I think this current thing has been done so often and with so little care that everything now seems to just run together to where it’s difficult to tell one band from another anymore. Sadly, these two tracks fall right into that wayward category. As I said, there are moments of slight brilliance and overall grasping of the concept behind the movement, but it just fails to shine in these songs. Badly mixed and primitive in both issuance and performance, Nostalgic Woods just falls flat.

Now, with that said, I went back and found the other three EP’s that Wintevith, main man behind Apatharia, issued in succession last year, and when I listened to one called Solitude in the Old Forest I found that EP much better in terms of what he may have been trying to capture here. It’s much stronger in both song structure and overall haunting resonance. Much of this music is repetitive, yes, but this EP stood out much more for me, especially the eerie sounds of what appears to be an unearthly wailing or something gliding over the second track. This guy has some talent and vision, but I had to go on what was sent to me.

So, my verdict is Nostalgic Woods isn’t all that memorable, but certainly don’t give up on Apatharia completely.   
Evilust - Into the Chaos
Release Date: April 21, 2010
Label: New House Records

TRACK LISTING:
1. Law  2. Into the Chaos  3. Aeon of Hate  4. The Crown of Lust  5. Despite Your Faith  6. A Chalice of Misery
-     Total playing time: 20:51
For a copy of Into the Chaos contact the band via their myspace (click on link above).
Release Date:  2010
Label: Depressive Illusions Records

TRACK LISTING:
1. Nostalgic Woods I  2. Nostalgic Woods II
-    Total playing time: 24:00
DOWNLOAD Nostalgic Woods from the band 's myspace page (click on link above).
Chicago metal has its small contingency of competent players, but we’ve always been rather small on the map. We have Trouble, Nachtmystium, Novembers’ Doom and Zoetrope rounding out the legends from these parts, while bands like Act of Destruction and Souls Demise are keeping the local scene going. After catching the band live opening for Destruction I was more than a little impressed with the musicianship on such a tight, fluid level. I grabbed one of the demos and gave it a listen in the comfort of my dungeon and have come to realize these guys are high energy metal that, while not exactly innovative or redesigning the genre, play some seriously enjoyable and stylish metal. 

As a bassist myself, I was most impressed with Jason Vycas and his Steve Harris approach to the bass; he simply shreds, no two ways about it. The rest of the band is as proficient as it gets in both demo form and in the live setting; they combine a sort of traditional metal feel with some of the speed and thrash elements found in bands like Nuclear Assault. After a couple of vocalist changes, Andre Almaraz does a fine job of bellowing through the tracks without coming off contrived or forced, so that’s a pretty good addition to the lineup. The drumming also finds a distinct niche and carves it effortlessly throughout, especially in “No Tomorrow”, which is my favorite track on the demo because it hangs on a slight technical side of metal without completely crossing over and polluting the water.

So is there anything completely new found in Souls Demise? No, there’s much of the same elemental metal music that has spanned the glorious decades, but it is engaging and interesting enough to warrant a listen because, simply put, it’s honest music that doesn’t rely on typicality for its own sake or through lack of ideas. It’s solid heavy metal by five local guys that dig what they’re doing. That’s always a plus.
Falling Leaves - Falling Leaves
Jordanian atmosphere has emerged in the form of Falling Leaves and its attempt at the resonating haunting that can be such music.

First, I was put off by the thunderstorm that has been a metal device since 1969 and overused to death, but I quickly find brief solace as the acoustic guitar simmers under a sincerely enchanting piece called “Silence”. I’m not sure it’s the definition of perfect, but it is quite encompassing in itself. When “All is Gone” slips into the senses it manages to hold me for a while, but the harshness of the vocal in the mid-section sort of throws off the mood for me. The music would have been fine with the clean vocal throughout, while seemingly part-and-parcel these days, because it fits the design of the intended music. At this part it gets too melodramatic for my tastes, and while it does retain some merit it simply seems to fall apart in both production and harsh singing. With “My Perfect Disease” the beauty is restored nicely, but the vocal comes off creepier than subduing with the dark register afforded. With a slightly higher tone I think this song might have gelled better, but then the harsh vocal pops in again and really destroys the mood for me again. The music is certainly a high point, but vocally it comes off as contrived and undervalued.

Fallen Leaves has some promise, but with a few adjustments in overall presentation and implementation I think there’s a real goal of greatness that can be achieved here - it’s just not there yet.
Souls Demise - Demo 2009
Release Date:  2009
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1. 2nd 2 None  2. No Tomorrow  3. Disappear   
-    Total playing time: 11:09
For a copy of Demo 2009 contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above).
Release Date:  May 25, 2010
Label: Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1. Silence  2. All is Gone  3. My Perfect Disease      
-    Total playing time: 16:11
For a copy of Falling Leaves contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above).
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