siLLy puPPy Although heavy metal in India has been around since the late 80s with bands like Millennium and M.A.I.D.S. amongst the first to capture the glory of European and American heavier forms of rock, the nation has more often embraced the more popular bands that came before from other regions of the world with a particular love for classic 80s metal styles of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and the early thrash metal scene. Despite some cities experiencing more interest than others, some major cities like Visakhapatnam which sits on India’s east coast and has a population of over 5 million has not seen any metal at all until this band AGAINST EVIL formed in 2014 by Siri Sri (vocals, bass), Sravan (vocals, rhythm guitar), Shasank (lead guitar) and Noble John (drums).

After forming AGAINST EVIL worked on its first EP titled FATAL ASSAULT which came out the following year in 2015 and immediately struck a nerve within its homeland with a nice retro style blend of Maiden, Priest, early Metallica and 80s Megadeth. The band has experienced considerable success touring around the country as India seems to be going through a huge growth in interest in metal but as it stands AGAINST EVIL is the only game in town in its native city also known as Vizag. The band has released this debut EP and the following “All Hail The King” in 2018 and continues to build a more power metal heft on its traditional metal beginnings which is nicely heard on FATAL ASSAULT.

While only five tracks that add up to over 21 minutes, FATAL ASSAULT is a veritable time machine back to the late 80s that evokes the classic epic metal calls of bands like Manilla Road and Brocas Helm with riffs borrowed from Maiden, Priest, “Rust In Peace” era Megadeath and early thrashy Metallica all mixed together and polished up for the 21st century. The band has been literally following the playbook of classic bands by dressing the part, releasing videos and checking off every box until they pass the authentic retro test and with FATAL ASSAULT, AGAINST EVIL has come out of the gate ahead of the pack with well crafted heavy metal tracks that take you back to 1989.

Despite emerging in an ancient historical city on the coast of India, there is nothing remotely subcontinental about AGAINST EVIL as they have adopted the aesthetics and sound styles of their English speaking influences to a T. The musicians are all excellent at delivering these six tracks. The EP starts of with a beautiful acoustic intro that provides those beautiful guitar harmonies much like Metallica, Annihilator and many others did in the day before erupting into the bombastic metal heft of “The Enemy Within” with delivers an energetic stampede of dual guitar energy with bass, drums and well crafted vocal lines that deliver a veritable slice of melodic 80s metal at its best.

Everything is really excellent on this debut however what AGAINST EVIL lacks is any sort of original stamp. This is hero worship all the way and no matter how well performed it just seems like nothing more than a tribute band on many levels however when taken into consideration that the classic bands whose sounds are represented here probably don’t make it to India too often on their respective tours, there is clearly a demand for similar sounding music just as there is in many regions of the world so i can’t fault the band for cashing in on a demand for the classic retro sounds that were never as prevalent in India as they were in the US, Canada and Europe. If you’re looking for perfectly performed retro 80s metal, it doesn’t get much more authentic than AGAINST EVIL however i do wish there was a bit more of an attempt to add a bit of original flavor.