They may have been thrashing it up for quarter of a century, but it has taken them a long five years to rip it up again with album number three. Much like their earlier two records, Pulses of Pleasure and Feed me Violence, the Belgian quartet once more embrace full speed metal whilst also slowing it down on occasion to bring a more balanced release. It is an aggressive yet melodic record with big choruses, strong guitar work and rock steady rhythm section that supply a solid foundation for the fret assault of vocalist and guitarist Joe and his partner in crime, Max.
Shattering Reflection starts with the frantic “Hissing in Crescendo,” a fast and furious blend of thrash and power metal that gets the heart pumping and will certainly get the circle pits moving. Reminiscent of those Irish scallywags Gama Bomb, the high-pitched vocals are not going to be to everyone’s tastes but if you want your metal insanely fast, then Evil Invaders should be on your radar. There’s opportunity to fist pump, head bang and race around like a loon all wrapped up in the first frenetic four minutes.
This is an album that crams in elements of about every decent metal genre. The classic heavy metal sound of bands like Metal Church and Armored Saint come to the fore on tracks like “Die for Me,” which brings anthemic qualities, whilst “Sledgehammer Justice” explodes in a fireball of melting thrash metal, the eruption of blistering drumming and crazed solos screaming above a bank of chugging riffage. Echoes of Megadeth are amongst the bands that you’ll spot in this beauty.
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Whilst Evil Invaders may be at their best when going full speed, there is plenty of other quality to enjoy throughout the album. Crafting a metal anthem is not easy and the band take it deeper and darker with the slower, melodic, and impressive “In Deepest Black.” This is a track that certainly stirred a few older school fans of the band recently on the thrash metal social media forum The Thrash Metal Album of the Fortnight Club, splitting opinion evenly. Add in the mid-tempo of “Forgotten Memories” which is another slower, brooding piece and you’ll see wider influences of the legends of metal – listen carefully and there’s bits of Priest, Maiden, Sabbath, and Dio tucked neatly into the track.
At times you’ll think this is all a bit maniacal, almost uncontrollable up-tempo metal but Evil Invaders have moved forward several steps since 2017 and the compositions prove this. Check out the atmospheric opening segment of “Realm of Darkness” which segues into another thrashing piece of goodness. And finally, linger long over the concluding song “The Circle’ which channels the inner King Diamond as well as drawing deep from the classic traditional metal well of bands like Cirith Ungol and Night Demon. It is a blistering finish to an album that is excellently bookended.
There is plenty to reignite the appetite for the band. These songs should work well in the live arena, so fingers crossed that the Eurostar could bring Joe, Senne Jacobs, Max and Joeri across the channel soon.
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Shattering Reflection is out on April 1st
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