“The last album was pretty much 100-mile-an-hour thrash, extreme speed,” says Evile vocalist and guitarist Ol Drake about the band’s latest record, The Unknown, out now on Napalm Records. “We wanted to do the polar opposite this time, so it’s a lot more slower tempos, heavier stuff, more melodic. It’s a lot of fun.”
Not only did Evile slow down their classic thrashy tempos in favor of a doomy slow burn, but they also jettisoned the more general themes of death and destruction to focus on more personal subject matter in their lyrics for the first time.
“Usually, we write about our favorite films, or demons, or war, or some shit,” Ol Drake admits. “For this one, I looked inward to what I had been through. It has everything from depression, self-image, self-esteem, body dysmorphia. There’s a lot on here. When I started to try the vocals and lyrics for this album—because it’s a lot slower—the songs were a lot more open for the vocals, and the vocals were a lot more vulnerable, I guess,” he continues. “So as soon as you start singing about zombies or something, it just did not work well. The only things that worked well were real things, real-life problems, real issues. I just delved into what I knew and what I go through.”
The U.K.-based band are planning a tour in their home continent soon as well as a few local festivals, but most of their shows are happening next year. Like many bands dealing with the woes of post-COVID traveling, they hope to get back to the U.S. and Canada soon but are still working on a plan for that.
“We were going to come over last year, and with the cost, we were already in the red before even leaving the country, so we just couldn’t do it,” he says. “I’ve heard it’s the same thing for a lot of American bands; they’re having to cancel their European plans. It’s just really expensive at the moment.
As for what’s next for the band, Ol Drake assures us that more music will come, though he’s open about the fact that the band members also have lives, and there’s no guarantee how quickly the next record will happen.
“I have two kids and a family, and a lot of the time, my time is devoted to music, and sometimes I just want to not do it for a while, so maybe there might be a bit of a break. But I’m sure as soon as I come up with a new riff, I’ll be like, ‘OK cool, let’s go.’”
The Unknown is available directly through Evile themselves. Follow Evile on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok for future updates.
