'Master Of Puppets'; 'Among The Living'; 'Reign In Blood' - all seminal thrash albums that propelled their respective bands to superstardom. All were also those bands' third albums. As Britain's brightest thrash hopes Evile prepare to release their third album with 'Five Serpent's Teeth', are they about to follow in their heroes' footsteps?

Of course, that isn't an entirely fair question as back in '86/'87 thrash metal was nothing short of a revolution. Today, it could be argued it's another form of 'retro' rock. Still, with the 'Enter the Grave' and 'Infected Nations' albums, Evile have so far proved themselves to be amongst the very best of the new wave of thrash bands, and are finely poised to make that next step up. 'Five Serpent's Teeth', I'm pleased to say, bears all the quality required to make that step. With this album, Evile have broadened their horizons and matured, whilst still keeping their feet firmly in their thrash roots.

That maturity is displayed in tracks like 'Five Serpent's Teeth', 'Xaraya' and the outstanding 'Eternal Empire' where complex arrangements and twisting tempo changes combine with Evile's pummelling heaviness to great effect. There's more riffs in these songs than some bands manage on a whole album! 'Cult', currently doing the rounds as a download single, is a big, bold anthem that provides one of the album's many other highlights, whilst 'Descent Into Madness' and 'Origin Of Oblivion' prove that Evile can still conjure up moments of pure thrash when required. On the excellent 'In Dreams Of Terror', the band combines those complex arrangements with some truly intense speed riffing that brings German thrash legends Destruction to mind.

Perhaps the biggest progression with this album is 'In Memoriam', which sees Evile move into the realm of the 'Fade To Black' style 'thrash ballad'. Of course, it's a dedication to the late Mike Alexander, and is another real highlight of the album.

Not surprisingly, there's a big influence of the original thrash big hitters coursing through the veins of 'Five Serpent's Teeth', with Testament springing to mind on more than one occasion, but it's the influence of Metallica that looms largest with perhaps the 'Justice/Black' album being the closest reference points. Matt Drake's vocals are also veering more towards the style of James Hetfield than ever before, there's a couple of lines in 'Eternal Empire' that sound extremely close to 'Wherever I May Roam', and 'Centurion' sounds particularly Metallica-esque.

'Five Serpent's Teeth' isn't a 'Master Of Puppets' or a 'Reign In Blood'. Is it, however, Evile's finest album to date and proves that in the world of thrash Metal in 2011, Evile are up there with the best of the new breed, not just in the UK, but worldwide. With the maturity displayed on this album and the new territories explored, together with the fine musicianship and songwriting skills on offer, who's to say Evile won't produce a 'Master Of Puppets' with album number 4 or 5? They're certainly on the right track.  Right now however I'd give this album four out of five serpent's teeth.

 http://www.evile.co.uk/splash.html