UMUR
"Toxic Grace" is the fourth full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Evildead. The album was released through Steamhammer in May 2024. It´s the successor to "United States of Anarchy" from October 2020, which was Evildead´s comeback after reuniting a second time in 2016. Evildead formed in 1987 and released an EP and two full-length studio albums before disbanding in 1995. They had a reunion in 2008 which lasted until 2012 before disbanding again (this period spawned only one recording from the band in the 2011 "Blasphemy Divine" single). The quintet lineup who recorded "United States of Anarchy" is intact on "Toxic Grace".
The material featured on the ten tracks, 40:39 minutes long album is a continuation of the classic US thrash metal sound of the direct predecessor, performed by seasoned scene veterans. If I should make a direct comparison to another contemporary act it would be Death Angel, but Evildead are generally a bit harder edged. But it´s in that ballpark Evildead operate. To my ears the sound production is a bit sterile this time around and especially the drums feature a flat and clicky sound, which doesn´t suit the otherwise powerful music, but other than that "Toxic Grace" is a well produced release, featuring both sharp and powerful sounding guitar riffs, blistering leads, and raw thrash metal vocals.
Other than the cover of "The Death & Resurrection Show 2024" by Killing Joke, Evildead won´t surprise longtime fans with the material featured on "Toxic Grace". It´s solid US thrash metal (both fast-paced and mid-paced) with nods towards traditional heavy metal and it´s ultimately relatively formulaic. That doesn´t mean it´s bad...far from it. It just doesn´t step outside the boundaries of the genre. This is good quality US thrash metal and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.