Envenomed - Evil Unseen

Envenomed

Evil Unseen

by Matt Coe at 21 July 2014, 11:04 AM

Melbourne, Australia’s ENVENOMED (you can’t get more Metal than that name) started in 2005, working their way through the ranks in terms of lineup changes, stylistic development, and eventually releasing their first self-titled EP in 2009. In the interim between that release and this current full-length record, in 2012 the group released a single for “Global Deception” – which happens to appear as the last track here. The quartet perform in a Melodic Thrash platform – opening up a lot of dynamics in terms of their abilities and songwriting horizons.

After the opening 54 second intro, it’s obvious this quartet have a militant, together as one spirit when it comes to their style. A sonic assault hits on “Will of Man” – triplets abound, back and forth vocals travel during the verses as the rhythm section shifts between speed overdrive and a comfortable, groove-oriented mid-tempo. As guitarists Anthony Mavrikis and Brendan Farrugia trade off shredding lead breaks and then join together for some memorable melodic harmonies.

And so we go through the rest of this 12 track effort – engaging often with superior hooks, an evil melodic vocal approach, and definite attention to keeping the stop/ start action tight as possible. ENVENOMED feel just as comfortable tackling a more traditional, galloping meets power avenue on “Spoils of Victory” as they do the METALLICA / ICED EARTH tribal stomp action for “Disobey the Beast” – beyond the normal Thrash numbers you come to expect like “Burn the Sun” or “Mechanical Enemy”.

Anthony’s main delivery has a lot of Joey Belladonna inflection, if channeled through a little bit of HEATHEN/ TESTAMENT filters. I love the crunchy guitar tones, clear drum punch and overall strong production – as “Evil Unseen” could stand toe to toe against most of the major Melodic Thrash product hitting the market these days. Favorites vary depending on the day, but I currently dig the cultural elements and incredible speedy break for “The Shadowland” and jackhammer riffs for closer “Global Deception”.

Those who favor a cleaner vocalist with gang-oriented background support, twin guitars and lightning fast tempo changes should go gangbusters over ENVENOMED. Killer stuff here, folks.