Evulsion – Spiritual Putrefaction

I was interested to hear this album for a while, not only because it is the brainchild of YouTube guitarist extraordinaire Elena Verrier, showing her original music rather than covers for the first time, but also because it features one of my favourite drummers of all time, former Seven Spires and current Testament drummer, blast beat overlord Chris Dovas! If you don’t know what Chris is capable of, I strongly advise you check out the latest albums from Seven Spires or his solo work, or better yet, just dive into Evulsion!

Now I know what the skeptical voices might say. Being a YouTube cover guitarist isn’t a big deal. And from the old-school metalhead’s perspective, I can see that. But what Elena proves is that, regardless of the platform, presentation or approach to building an audience, it is the skill and creativity that always makes a musician. Elena’s covers are primarily focused around traditional death and black metal, featuring bands like Death, Nile or Necrophagist. If that tells you anything, it is that she is a phenomenal guitar player when it comes to technical proficiency.

But what about creativity? Does she handle writing her own music as well as she does justice to others? The simple answer is yes. Evulsion is an ode to everything that’s great about old-school death metal. Think of it as taking a bunch of riffs from Death, Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus, throwing them in a blender, messing up the time signatures, and letting nature take its course. It is disgusting, violent, chaotic and unpredictable. The riffs are gnarly, vicious and snappy. Each song is an ongoing maelstrom of chugging, tremolo picking and furious guitar runs slapped over odd-constantly shifting time signatures. But in its chaotic nature, it is not disorganized or meandering. It rather feels like you’re being pummeled by a very skilled bully. You’re being thrown around but he knows exactly what he’s doing. And after a couple of spins you start getting used to it. And by that what I mean is that repeated listens will allow you to experience the album in a more coherent and involved way.

Evulsion – Decimation

The drums are equally hectic. Bombardments of blast beats are intertwined with road trips through the entire drum kit, intricate cymbal play and kick patterns as well as some properly headbang inducing grooves. Dovas can switch between techniques, tempos and various levels of intensity with great ease and fluidity. More than just being a beast of a drummer, it’s always his versatility and fluidity in playing that makes him stand out among death metal drummers.

There’s a strong element of slamming death metal as well, that strikes at unexpected moments, making the songs more violent and surprising. But there are also more sophisticated moments of guitar noodling, groove and evil melodic lines or ominous chord progressions. This makes Evulsion more than just brutal, adding a suspenseful effect and clever moments of tension and release.

The guitar solos display Elena‘s skill to the fullest. They are mad, furious feats of shredding, tapping and sweeping in all the glorious forms of fast, technical playing, but not without a dash of melodic value! The bass is also very satisfying. It sounds more fluid than I’d normally expect in this style of death metal, and I feel like that’s a part of what makes the songs come across as more fluid and cohesive, rather than just clunky chunks of primitive violence (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

The vocals however, are exactly what you’d expect from this genre. They are dirty, mid-range growls with ONE tone and the accuracy of pronunciation of a cave troll with its mouth full. And that’s a good thing. Cos if you can tell what the vocalist is saying, is it even death metal?

There’s probably more details I could dive into, but the main takeaway is that Evulsion‘s debut record, “Spiritual Putrefaction” has one job to do and it does it exceptionally well. It slaps!

Track List:

1. 1. Decimation (03:59)
   2. Spiritual Putrefaction (04:30)
   3. Grazed by Death (03:48)
   4. Downpour of Insight (06:37)
   5. Soil’s Cold Truth (04:33)
   6. Excuse to Kill (05:09)
   7. Mangled Reality (03:41)
   8. Under Tons of Marble (05:19)
   9. Refined Torture (06:34)