Illwill - Evilution
I can’t begin to express how great it feels to type “New Renaissance” again! It’s been way too long, and I’m very excited to see that the label that released At War, Indestroy and Wehrmacht (to name just a very few) has returned! And what an all star line up Illwill possesses: Snowy Shaw and Andy LaRocque from the King Diamond band, Sharlee D’Angelo from Mercyful Fate, and Jonas Dahlstrom from Memento Mori. Here’s an odd thing, though: on most of the press clippings that came with this CD, there were comparisons to Mercyful Fate and King Diamond, all of which praised the music, but seemed to not appreciate King’s admittedly unique vocal style. That doesn’t exactly sit well with me, and makes it seem as if the members of Illwill have some issues with the King, and I can’t see how that could be possible. Okay, that mentioned, I guess I’ll get to the actual review. The music covers a huge range. I was tempted to say “impressive,” but some of it, vast though it is, is anything but impressive. When they stick to the more traditional Metal styles, like semi-early Judas Priest, or maybe Balls to the Wall era Accept, then this can’t be beat (well, except by the bands that they’re emulating). Jonas’ vocals expertly cover the same range as the music, effortlessly moving from Halford’s wails to Udo’s throaty rasp. But then there are the parts added to prove how “modern” Illwill is. The “Industrial” bits, the Machinehead “groove,” the overdriving of the normally ass kicking vocals, and then the “sweet” choruses that follow. We don’t need or want this “modern” bullshit, guys! And we really don’t want 7 minutes of chanted “Sleep, Eat, Work!” as an unlisted “bonus headache track.” There is some awesome stuff on here, and it’s certainly well worth checking out. But there is nearly as much that tries too hard to be “fresh” and ends up being fresh shit. And it’s not isolated by song. There are at least some parts in every song that are unbelievable. And then in some of the cuts, there is the aforementioned fresh shit. I think that I’ll chalk this up to the guys trying too hard to make sure that they appeal to the newer listeners. If they can figure out what to concentrate on, and what to eliminate, the next album could very easily be perfect. And as is, this one is hardly bad, but it certainly has some bad moments.
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