UMUR
"Evil Power" is the 4th full-length studio album by US, Chicago based metal act Lair of the Minotaur. The album was released through The Grind-House Records in April 2010. It´s the successor to "War Metal Battle Master" from 2008 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Donald James Barraca has been replaced by Nate Olp. The remaining part of the lineup are vocalist/guitarist Steven Rathbone and drummer Chris Wozniak.
Lair of the Minotaur have always played a difficult to label extreme metal style. A music style which features traits from thrash metal, sludge metal, doom metal, traditional heavy metal, and even the odd death and black metal influenced moment. So the band´s sound is not easy to describe and that trend continues on "Evil Power" which is another slice of difficult to label hard edged metal. The sound production is loud, raw, and filthy. An organic sound which provide the music with an authentic almost "live in the studio" atmosphere. That´s not surprising if you´re familiar with the preceding studio releases by the band, which also feature some pretty raw production jobs, but the organic rawness of the sound production goes perfectly hand in hand with the savage nature of the material. Lair of the Minotaur are obviously very conscious about the sound production and what it means for the presentation of their material (not surprisingly Sanford Parker and Scott Hull have worked on the recording and mixing of the album).
With songtitles like "Riders of Skullhammer, We Ride the Night", "Let's Kill These Motherfuckers", and "Death March of the Conquerors", you just know these guys mean business, and that´s exactly how they come off. Filthy, raw, and primal heavy metal with the volume turned to maximum. Not all tracks on the album are equally remarkable, but "Evil Power" is overall a good quality release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.