Artist: Evocation
Title: Apocalyptic
Type: Album
Label: Cyclone Empire

The return of the Swedish old school kings, Evocation, is always a cause for celebration. Not for them the endless rehash of old Entombed riffs, or Dismember B-sides. No, for while Evocation clearly inhabit the same aural space as their countrymen, they aren't mere copyists without any ideas of their own. “Tales from the Tomb” and “Dead Calm Chaos” were both excellent albums in their own light, but Apocalyptic not only builds on the foundations of these platters, but brings whole new dimensions to the Evocation sound.

Of course, the buzz-saw guitar tone is still present, with the ever-ragged sound of the axe forming the background to the music, with the relentless battery of the drums clattering away in the back like the chattering of distant artillery fire. From the opening few bars of formidable start track, “Sweet Obsession”, the increased melodic content (including a tasty guitar solo, no less) is evident, a theme which continues throughout the album. Combining the Stockholm production values, with infectious, dark melodies, Evocation have added an extra layer of complexity and sophistication to their already formidable sound. They manage to produce this without any compromise whatsoever in terms of the heaviness of the sound or the darkness of the atmosphere they create. With songs like the brooding “It Is All Your Fault”, Evocation show they can bring a swinging groove along with the razor attack of the scything guitars. The generally mid tempo music throughout the album has plenty of variety and dynamism to differentiate one track from the next, and as mentioned earlier, the lead guitars have been brought into the foreground more than ever before, knocking out quality solo after quality solo. Vocally, Thomas Josefsson produces a career highlight with his rasping, abrasive delivery. The venom of his singing is almost physical in terms of the sheer breath taking power of his screaming.

As an evolution of an established sound, Apocalyptic is just about perfect: it manages to continue in a similar vein to earlier albums, while producing just enough change to make it an album worth picking up. The effortless combination of dark melody and fist-clenching brutality means that Evocation have again proved themselves to be the undisputed kings of Swedish death metal. Essential listening for any fan of the all things death metal.

http://www.myspace.com/evocationswe