Evilcult - Triumph of Evil (2025)

Evilcult is another band that has continued to evolve its sound alongside the other blackened speed/thrash hopefuls across the globe and wound up one the most promising acts in that field, keeping things fierce and fun while ramping up the musicianship. Triumph of Evil is an album that emphasizes a lot of pure heavy metal influence and melody while it maintains that speed metal substrate and the harsher vocals of Lucas 'From Hell', which have more of a death metal grunt to them than a lot of other comparable acts. The result comes across much like the Germans Cruel Force on their latest, which completely blew away their earlier material that was a cruder black/thrash style also. The Brazilians live or die off their blazing guitar work, and they're far from the graveyard in that regard.

This thing is like a tapestry of classic, melodic, licks which create atmosphere wherever they're integrated against the most driving rhythm section. Sure, many of the basic rhythms driving them are pretty typical for the genre, they don't go in any unusual or dissonant directions, but they always perfectly set up the exhibitions of NWOBHM-laced harmonies and other tremolo picked melodies which remind me of the more melodic direction bands like Running Wild took in the later 80s, which I happen to love. Leads are in general very good, tunes like "Midnight Ritual" and the title track leading the charge. The drums snap and gallop along while the bass pumps out a foundation, and the guitars stay airier and drifting about the fray in their eternal dance. The abusive vocals are an awesome contrast to such brighter music, I'd use Nite as a reference only these Brazilians are playing busier, more complex material, and the vocals are more multi-dimensional, which some more raving, loose lines to accompany the grunts.

The one part I wasn't thrilled with are the little falsetto screams which they use to often end verse lines,  this is just a cliche I've grown a little tired with this niche of bands, and while they work occasionally, they are the weakest part of the songwriting and execution here. Thankfully, there aren't enough of them to sour the experience more than a fraction. Triumph of Evil is well-produced, memorable, shakes things up with just enough variety (like the slower "Waves of Agony"), incorporates a light use of synths to great effect, and maintains a high level of consistency, with tail ender tracks like "Warrior of Doom" or "Nosferatu" hitting just as hard as not harder as the opening volleys, the latter with some barbaric guest vocals and lead from Armando Exekutor as well as some dope bass lines deep in the bridge. The lyrics all have the usual Satanic or horror cliche lyrics, but I'm not complaining because it all fits perfectly with the performances. As with Cruel Force, this is a 'next step' sort of record, more matured songwriting, fewer blemishes and one I'll be returning to for a long time.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://evilcult.bandcamp.com/music