EP review – EVILYN STRANGE ‘Evilution’

A few years back, I reviewed Evilyn Strange’s impressive debut album ‘Mourning Phoebe’ – a release that also ended up on my “Best of…2013” list. Now the band is back with an EP that is absolutely glorious: heavy enough to make your bones rumble, with a rich and deep sound, and a dark-tinged mood that brings out a lot of power and passion. There is guitar work here that sizzles, burns, soars. There are vocals and melodies that are arena-shakingly huge and piercingly emotional. The end result: a release that is well-crafted and deliciously tasty from start to finish.

‘Evilution’ has a strong hard rock and metal vibe, but is still melodic enough to provide lots of glow and shimmer. The first track ‘Let It Rain’ is a great example of Evilyn Strange’s sound on this EP: it is heavy and rowdy with speeding drums barreling into you, and also has plenty of swagger, a fierce energy, and some killer guitar.

Next up is the earth-shakingly heavy and dark ‘Invisible Man’, followed by ‘Storm Clouds’ – a track that’ll knock the breath right out of your chest: careening guitars, turbo-charged drums, and a thumping pulse that will shake up your innards and jump start your heart, should you need it.

The final two tracks are two of my favourites on this EP. ‘Never’ slows things down just a bit with a powerful vibe, a twang in the guitars, and some heart-piercing emotion packed into both the music and the lyrics. Meanwhile, ‘Stay’ is a tune that just glows: it is beautiful, wistful, and hopeful at the same time, with the vocals adding a strain of aching darkness to the tune. It’s a beautiful track, and a fantastic way to close out this impressive release.

Evilyn Strange has put together five wickedly well-crafted tunes on this EP, and the strength of the lyrics and the musicianship really sets the band apart. ‘Evilution’ is set for release March 7, and you can pre-order the EP at Amazon. If you’re into well-made and original heavy and hard rock, then you should definitely check out this EP.

Evilyn Strange’s official website / Facebook / Twitter / ReverbNation / Spotify

Lineup:

• Phillip: vocals
• Mikael: guitars
• The Ghost: drums/ keyboards

Track-list:

1. Let It Rain
2. Invisible Man
3. Storm Clouds
4. Never
5. Stay