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Rating: It's somewhat of an ancestral call that consistently brings me back to heavy metal, a genre that is gradually fading from my musical horizon. It's mainly the desire to discover some worthy presence in this field after having worn out all the albums of bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, and so on.
This call led me to "Evil is forever," the second release by the Swedish band Astral Doors, which came out in 2005, two years after their excellent debut "Of the son and the father." That album was appreciated not so much for originality (few bands today in heavy metal can be said to be original) but for straightforward tracks, with no frills, particularly due to the singer Patrik Johansson's voice, which some critics have likened in tone to Ronnie James Dio. Driven by curiosity, I went on to seek out this second work, with a deplorable cover but content that is still positive (at least in part).
A recurring phrase when discussing this genre: don't expect various types of experimentation and nothing transcendental. "Evil is forever" is metal in its purest and simplest form. The length of the tracks already suggests everything. Overall, this second chapter of the band is less homogeneous and convincing than the debut, even though the group maintained the same lineup and has also navigated the dense underworld of music labels. In fact, in "Evil is forever", alongside well-made tracks like the initial "Bride of Christ" or the duo "Pull the Break" and "Fear in Their Eyes", there are others that go unnoticed, trying not to fall off the wire of predictability.
Among the rollercoasters of an album that never finds a consistent level of quality, emerges a band still cohesive, aware of their own limits. It's in this characteristic their strength lies: they don't try to overdo it to avoid falling into compositions outside their schemas or unsuited to their style. In fact, although tracks like "Lionheart", "The Flame", and "Path to Delirium" are just good examples of heavy metal, they fit beautifully within the album, straightforward and graspable from the start.
"Evil is forever" is the second creation of a band that will probably not mark any turning point in the genre and won't reach the heights of the great masters, but at least it deserves some attention.
1. "Bride Of Christ" (3:41)
2. "Time To Rock" (4:05)
3. "Evil Is Forever" (5:25)
4. "Lionheart" (5:09)
5. "Praise The Bones" (3:34)
6. "Pull The Break" (3:42)
7. "Fear In Their Eyes" (4:54)
8. "Stalingrad" (4:23)
9. "From The Cradle To The Grave" (3:56)
10. "The Flame" (3:38)
11. "Path To Delirium" (6:55)
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By Hellring
Finally, someone who doesn’t skin your balls with formidable high notes and stuff like that, but brings passion and is remembered for a different voice.
Astral Doors focused on simplicity, stripping down the concept of heavy metal: aggressive riffs, well-placed solos executed with diligence, then the singer takes care of the rest.
