Comprising of the trio called Mantas (you should know who this geezer is), Demolition Man Tony Dolan and Antton (Anthony Lant) the band was originally called Prime Evil but saw fit to rearrange their name when it emerged another act was already called Prime Evil, after the Venom album of the same name.
A bit of research and a couple of tracks have appeared on the bands farcebook page and sound decent enough metal songs, being tuneful and reminiscent of later Venom. However this EP is more or less a stop gap before the release of a full length on the same label called “Hell To The Holy”, though a release date isn’t given apart from 2011 sometime. The EP contains four cover songs and two of their own songs. The covers pay homage to old heavy metal from the 70s and start with “Exciter” (Judas Priest) and immediately the guitar sound adopted is a little stranger to what I expected. The version is a little dirtier but honestly executed with no messing about with the structure, though the high pitch vocal at the end is missing, a facet of the song that is quintessential Priest. “Motorhead” by Motorhead fits better with their sound and has a decent lead break without making it clean or too clinical. “Reptile” is the first of the bands own compositions and has a good beat with the snare and riff creating a groove metal feel to the song. I’m not convinced the half blast works as the lyrics are delivered in typical monosyllabic form so that it is easy to digest the song.
“Gods Of Thunder” (Kiss) is next and is much heavier than the original classic but not as bad as say Six Feet Under destroying older songs with their sound though. The version works fine if a little passionless overall before the final cover of AC/DC’s “Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be”. Again this is a great choice of cover but I felt it doesn’t work with the throaty vocals instead of the DC sleaze and swagger. However I’m sure if and when I check the band out live I will be in full vocal performance if it’s played in their set. Closing the album is the title track and second of the bands own songs and again there is groove melody in a vein similar to Black Label Society or the slower side of Pantera. As with all EP’s the cover songs can often override the bands own songs and I’m afraid that disease has hit this EP, which is not to say the two new songs are poor, far from it, but when sat next to such iconic metal tunes of yesteryear you’re mind drifts to those albums rekindling vivid memories of times long past.
http://mpireofevil.tripod.com
Martin Harris
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