Stephen
"Infected Nations" is the sophomore album of the British young thrash act that's released in 2009 under Earache. This is sadly, the last album with Mike Alexander who died while on tour just weeks after the release. Joel Graham replaced the spot to make sure the continuity of Evile's existence. Their debut, "Enter The Grave", was praised by fans as a great thrash album but also was criticized for being too close to the American Bay Area bands, and now "Infected Nations" answered the call by introducing a more original approach but still rooted to their influences, Sepultura, Metallica, and Testament.
The problem with this album is probably they're just too young and less-experienced to be experimenting with a high dose of original compositions, making most of the songs lack of something punchy, memorable, and potential to become classics. Out of 9 tracks presented here, I found three strong tracks : the title track with an explosive chorus and featured a smart combination of brutal and relaxing tempo; "Devoid of Thought", with a brutal rhythm and in a corridor of classic thrash riffage; and the peak of the album, "Time No More", an upbeat classic headbanging tune with a terrorizing riffs. Matt Drake's singing style is a cross of Max Cavalera and James Hetfield which made this album sounded close to early 90s Sepultura and Metallica.
Several potential songs that should have done better are the mid-tempo "Now Demolition", the 7-minutes piece of "Genocide", and the grinding "Plague To End All Plagues". The last two songs, in my opinion, are a wasteful effort. "Metamorphosis" actually has a good moment and lots of changing tempo, but somewhat I felt it's just too long and tends to be boring. The closing track is also a dull and skippable instrumental track. Bottom line, "Infected Nations" is still an enjoyable release but still far from essential. However, this album shows their bravery of inventing their own sound, probably the next album will be better.