Evildead were one of the many unfortunately short lived thrash metal bands to come from the late 80s but their debut album Annihilation of Civilization has garnered a cult following over the years.
United States of Anarchy is a fairly political album, as you would expect from the title, and touches upon many hot button issues including the Trump administration, political corruption, global warming and mass public outrage.
United States of Anarchy is an album that doesn’t feature many surprises, with the exception of the jazz intro to ‘No Difference’, which is a good thing for a comeback album. It’s a crossover thrash album meaning it features a number of short punk inspired songs that fit the thrash mould, it opts for quick punchy songs that deliver fast paced riffing and drumming and leave very little space to slow down between tracks.
The album features the majority of Evildead’s original lineup which makes it feel like a logical progression of the crossover thrash sound Evildead was developing before their initial breakup and the energy displayed then is in full view now. It feels like absolutely no time has passed between albums.
The omnipresence of stomping riffs and furious drumming from tracks like ‘Greenhouse’ make this album a reason to pray for venues to stay afloat long enough to see the triumphant return of live music; with a large amount of satisfied thrashers having patiently waited to scream “GREENHOUSE KEEPS THE HEAT IN”.
You could probably get the full experience of the album from listening to the lead single ‘The Descending’ and asking yourself whether or not another 30 minutes of it is worth your time and, in most cases it will be.
While United States of Anarchy is far from an innovative or diverse album it is an efficient one, it crams as many fast paced thrash riffs and anthems for the politically outraged in a short amount of time.
United States of Anarchy is available October 30th via Steamhammer.
