siLLy puPPy Latin America has been a hot bed for metal acts ever since Sepultura ferociously demanded respect from the world at large and since then nations like Chile and Bolivia have seen a highly unusual number of metalheads per capita. Mexico too has been quite fertile in the metal department but very few of these bands have made it to the international spotlight however a few like The Chasm, Cenotaph and Shub Niggurath have enjoyed a bit of success. EVILHEART is yet another band which comes from Culiacan in the Mexican state of Sinaloa situated on the Gulf of California. This blackened death metal band began in 1999 and released its first demo “Summoned To War” two years later.

After a major lineup change EVILHEART returned in 2004 to release its debut DARK IN GLORY which found them touring internationally with bands like Dimmu Borgir, Amon Amarth, Deicide, Malevolent Creation, Asesino, Cellador, Behemoth and Sothis. While planted firmly in Latin America, EVILHEART wisely joined the world by using English as its lingua franca for its albums and sounds like it easily could’ve emerged from the US, Canada or Europe. The band employs an aggressive blackened death metal style that takes cues from fellow countrymen The Chasm, Repvblika and Abominate but if you ask me the band sounds like a blackened version of Amon Amarth at times with its melodic death metal technicalities as well as incorporating some galloping thrash metal riffs from time to time.

DARK IN GLORY hosts nine well produced tracks that finds EVILHEART quite the seasoned extreme metal band for a mere debut. The tracks vary enough to keep the album interesting and the band crafted a great mix of softer acoustic parts with the heavier bombast of the epic metal that employs thrash metal, death metal with blackened themes and overtones. The vocals are somewhere in between raspy black metal bleakness and anthemic death metal growls. The guitar riffs engage in thrashy attacks, death metal bombast along with melodic sweeping solos that add melodic flavors to an otherwise brutal (for the most part) attack of guitars, bass and drums. The musicians are all extremely dynamic and play well together and the production is absolutely perfect in maintaining that balance between raw filthy metal and a polished professional experience.

The best part of DARK IN GLORY is the mature compositions where the band has crafted tracks that tackle different parts that range in dynamics, tempos and even a few time signature deviations. This is really top notch metal although the band does suffer from not crafting a unique enough identity to stand out from the burgeoning packs. Despite that though the album is exhilarating and played extremely well. For a debut this is quite impressive and it beckons me to explore the following two albums that were released before the band called it quits in 2019. Totally checking this band out just out of curiosity and although i can’t say EVILHEART qualifies for the top ranks of the extreme metal world, i have to admit that this album is much better than i was expecting. Excellent musical approach, perfectly executed and a nice tension between melodic punch and thundering metal madness.