Evocation - Illusions of Grandeur (2012)

Long primed as one of the flag-bearers for the current crop of retro Swedish death metallers, Evocation have maintained a reasonably high profile since they re-emerged from the underground in the 21st century.
Up to this point, I've enjoyed all their studio efforts, in particular Tales from the Tomb in 2007, and had every expectation of lavishing praise upon this latest full-length. For some reason, though, this record just isn't sinking in with me, perhaps because, for the first time, Evocation don't sound so much like a fresh take on an old feel, rather than a smattering of ingredients from other, prevalent Swedish acts, and I was constantly feeling distracted with where I had heard this or that riff sequence, or one quite like it...

Don't get me wrong, they've not become a group of plagiarists or precise clones, but so much of the song process here reminds me heavily of their contemporaries Amon Amarth, that with the exception of the more rasped edge to the vocals, I almost though I was experiencing a pseudo-sequel to Twilight of the Thunder God. One of the tunes even guests Johan Hegg. Largely built on slower, driving guitar patterns threaded with somber, mug smashing melodies, pieces like the titular opener reek of those familiar, frothing waves. There are also lots of picking sequences which recall the late At the Gates, particularly in the bridging riffs of "Well of Despair" or the escalation through "Perception of Reality". I'd also add Hypocrisy to the list of influences, especially their late 80s/early 90s phase, with those floods of melodic-imbued, simple chord structures that steer the drama of the bloodied vocals. I suppose, to some degree, these similarities were always present in Evocation's earlier records, but here they seem to have crowded the spotlight, and thus Illusions is a work of diminished distinction.

Not to say that the album doesn't have a few highlights in terms of brighter, memorable riffs, but they seem to be seated amongst a slew of average neighbors which serve little more than to bludgeon along and fill space. The mix of the record is both bold and laid back, another factor reminding me of Amon Amarth, and this is a contributor to how the songs tend to 'march along', but never explode. The vocals were never the most unique element of Evocation's style, but here they border on annoying predictability, subdued as they strive to match up over the beats. Guitar tone and drums have a higher end production, but nothing you haven't heard before from various of their countrymen over the last decade. You get a good bass level, and the songs are reined in at around 3-4 minutes, with little fatty excess to bore the listener, but ultimately Illusions of Grandeur does not feel so inspired as even its more divisive predecessors Apocalyptic and Dead Calm Chaos, and hopefully next time they'll grasp at some broader, exciting dynamics. Not bad, just not on par the other records.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.evocation.se/

Evocation - Apocalyptic (2010)

Constant exposure to such a vast wealth of Swedish death metal, both old and new, serves as a double edged sword. It's clearly one of the most redundant sub-genres of the style, with a clear excess of players in the field hammering out the same riffs, the same tones and the same overall atmosphere to the point that the connoisseur's tastes are soured beyond repair. On the other hand, hearing so much of this approach in the past few years certainly goes a long way towards separating the chaff from the wheat, and as Evocation have already proven with their prior albums Tales from the Tomb and Dead Calm Chaos, they are not a band to be trifled with: something more than your run of the mill, competent practitioner of the form, but still being eluded triumphant overture that will elevate them into the pick of the litter.

For sure, Apocalyptic is one of the better of this sort of offering I've heard in recent month, for Evocation do not merely rehash endless riffs from Entombed, At the Gates, Dismember, and so forth. They actually attempt to assert some of their own individuality to the proceedings, and this is often manifest by an enhanced attention to the underlying melody that complements the burgeoning brutality of that pure Swedish crunch. This is evident in "Sweet Obsession", the rather sultry opener that runs you through with a rare glimpse at beauty, and to a lesser extent "Reunion in War", "Murder in Passion", "Curse on the Creature" and "Psychosis Warfare", some of which seem to bear an influence of slightly more obscure bands Eucharist, Unanimated, Centinex and Utumno. These are measured off against the more expected, grisly brutality of "We Are Unified Insane", "Infamy", "Parasites", and the triumphant grooves of "It Is All Your Fault", which is perhaps one of the best of this lot.

All of this is handled with precision and a professional solidarity to rival the legends of the genre, and in truth, Evocation may damn well deserve a trace of recognition hovering just below the bigger names (they've been around since 1991, just took a very long vacation for over a decade). I found the album to be a mild improvement over its predecessor Dead Calm Chaos, and sitting parallel to the 2007 full-length debut, with enough memorable material to render it obvious that time and effort were evoked here beyond the mere twiddling of knobs and simple carbon cloning of the classic guitar tone, which is obviously the most noted characteristic of the country's scene and the thousands of bands worldwide who aspire to copy it. If only more would take a page from Evocation's notebook, because this is one of the bands that prove there might be something left to explore in this tired, sagging schematic, without abandoning the fundamentals to oblivion.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

http://www.evocation.se/

Evocation - Tales from the Tomb (2007)

Somewhere along the line, after the members matured and found they still shared the passion for Swedish death metal that they once excelled in for their 90s demos, Evocation got its shit together and decided that the time was right for another foray into not-fame and not-fortune that was the extreme music business. Perhaps the wave of nostalgia for the form that had been rearing itself in the 21st century had something to do with the decision, perhaps the band just took a listen to their early goddamn demos and recognized all the years they had thrown away, but it makes no difference. Their Evocation compilation had been released a few years before, and a 3-song demo of new material, and it was well beyond the hour to release the first, proper Evocation full-length: Tales from the Tomb.

Though it was 15 years since the band had dropped the original pair of demos in 1992, there is just not much that has changed here. It's still pure old school Swedish death from the pens of Dismember, Entombed, Grave, and Unleashed, with the thick and punishing guitar tone infused with big grooves, leaden dirt-nap melodies and the bruised, bloody throat of Thomas Josefsson, who sounds a little more caustic and snarling than a Lars-Goran Petrov. The album includes all three tracks from the 2006 demo, and a wealth more, including a rather obvious cover song. The cover and logo are excellent, which is not a surprise since the band tapped luminaries Kristian Wahlin and Dan Seagrave to create something just as memorable as many classic albums of the 90s. Whether Tales from the Tomb itself should be counted as a 'classic' of retrospective death metal is unclear. They weren't the first, but as they were formed in 1991 and already issuing good music a year after, do they really count as 'retro'? Perhaps only in the perspective of releasing actual albums so far beyond the fact.

But surely this is a damned good time if you've any love for the style at all. The swift decay of the "Eternal Lie" intro is breached by the forceful walls of melodic weaving that inaugurate "The Dead", a faster piece with a strong, haunting element to the bridge guitars and bass. "Chronic Hell" opens with an immediately catchy storm of melody at a mid pace, before the playful morbid saturation of the verse, and a similar accessibility can be found in the flesh carving "Breed", the creepy old school crushing ritual of "Blessed Upon the Altar", the dance party Entombed groove of "Phase of Fear" and the fairly catchy, uplifting melodic death metal insurgency of "From Menace to Mayhem". The band do re-create one of their early demo tracks, "Veils Were Blown", streamlining it with the remainder of the album, so you can clearly see how little they've changed outside of the production. "But Life Goes On" might seem like a redundant choice for a cover tune, since some would argue that Evocation is merely an Entombed cover band of sorts, but they handle it well and the raspier vocals seem like at least a small alteration.

It pains me to reiterate the point through so many critiques, but how you feel about Tales from the Tomb really depends on your level of hostility towards derivations on a theme. If you pine at the aural maw for further interpretations of records like Left Hand Path, Clandestine, You'll Never See... or Like an Everflowing Stream, and cannot get enough of this, then Evocation has your punchcard to paradise, and are quite good songwriters themselves to boot. There are no disillusions about the intention here, this is an attempt to rekindle the morbid atmospheres once produced in the genre from that particular geographic locality, and a successful one. It may not tear one's face off as wonderfully as (ex-Centinex) Demonical's debut Servants of the Unlight from the same year, but its a great back-up and quite consistent and entertaining throughout.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (I too heard distant explosions)

http://www.evocation.se/

Evocation - Evocation (2004)

Contrary to what some might think, Evocation is actually not just another in an endless sequence of Swedish death metal throwbacks. The band was initially formed in 1991, and produced two excellent demo tapes in 1992, garnering much label interest before they imploded for personal reasons. Thus, the Evocation compilation released through the defunct Breath of Night records in 2004 is a treat, because for most of us, it's the first time we get to hear this material in a convenient form; and once you have, you will realize just how much damned potential was lost over the years, though thankfully having returned to us in the past decade.

It's no secret that Evocation have the 'Swedish' sound. You could compare them to Grave, Entombed, Dismember and Unleashed, four of the bands ultimately responsible for the tone and songwriting that would influence hundreds of imitators, still to this day. But Evocation had a leg up even on most of the underground competitors back in the 90s, because they wrote great, crushing tracks that were fairly easy to access for newcomers to extreme metal. The chunky guitar tones, dire and bludgeoning vocals from these demos were rendered wonderfully in the studio, and the material is comparable if not superior to many others in that 'second wave' of Swedish death.

The Ancient Gate demo opens with an acoustic passage "A Wind Has Risen" which is set against, you guessed it, the sample of air currents blowing, one of the most widely used aesthetics in all established metal intros. "Through the Darkened Peril" peril takes off with a slew of thick chords that immediately conjure the Left Hand Path atmosphere, if a little less caustic. The band shifts from a grooving rhythm to a faster forward thrust and then some very early Entombed-like, escalating leads before the breakdown. "The Ancient Gate" is packed with somber melodies and crushing, rock grooves which better reflect Clandestine or the later Wolverine Blues. A weighted bass line opts into the blasting, chugged force and melody of "Desolate Spirits" before tearing the listener's head off with a ripping thrash/death force in the verses. Overall, this demo is the far better sounding of the two, with a production that must have been the envy of most unsigned acts of the period.

The second demo included is the Promo 1992, which has a slightly less impressive studio sound. The quality of the songs is comparable, they just don't seem so professionally mixed. "On a Journey to Heaven" crashes and collapses upon a rippling stream of eerie melody, before the minute mark where the band goes all out to bludgeon the fuck out of you with intense force, after which they weave in a great melody line and a truly grisly old school break. "Where the Headstones Shine" rages into an acoustic segue, then lurches into a melodic death/doom section before a keyboard heralds a blasting to come. I felt like this song might have suffered from too many transitions for its own good, but the individual riffs were quite strong. "Veils Were Blown" is less centric towards its melodies, and more about the pure, thrusting death metal, and the closer "Spiritual Affinity" is the best song on the demo, with great drums and amazing, flesh shredding riffs that climax in excellent leads that rally together the sepulchral atmosphere.

As collections go, this is the sort that is hard to beat. You get two superb demos in one simple package, and a chance to explore the back history of one of the genre's best, most understated bands. The only real flaw with Evocation is that they're just not all that original, since several other Swedish bands had already penetrated the market and this one would merely have been sweeping up the debris. But if you're a diehard for this specific sound, they are easily one of the best at actually writing songs that will stick with you to give you a full blast of Left Hand Path or Clandestine worship that is good enough that you'd occasionally listen to it other than those huge, original statements. In fact, despite its age, the music here is as well composed as their two studio albums from the 21st century, with the exception of 1-2 tracks that could have been better organized.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.evocation.se/

Evocation - Dead Calm Chaos (2008)

Last year's Tales from the Tomb was an eye-opening, excellent debut from this new Swedish band. Combining the raw death metal of countrymen Dismember, Entombed and At the Gates with a more melodic, simplistic edge, they stand out among even their present peers like Bloodbath. Not quite a 'retro' band but adapting this genre into something of their own. The melodic elements to the band may slightly reflect some of the members' earlier moments in Cemetary, an obscure comparison but effective none the less.

Dead Calm Chaos opens up with the somber, driving "Silent Sleep", which is decent but far from the crown jewel here. "Boundead" is a great song with a simple, weaving death lead interspersed with sections of layered groove. The title track just pummels you with its mid pace and melodic breaks. "Truth Will Come Clear" is a track that will appeal to just about any melodic Swedish death metal fan, one could compare it with early tracks of In Flames or Dark Tranquillity. Two of my favorite tracks are the aggressive "Protected by What Gods", which will appeal to the Amon Amarth sect. And "Antidote", another great track.

How does the album stack up with its predecessor? I'm going to say that I enjoyed Tales of the Tomb slightly more than this, believe it or not. But this sophomore album is a worthy successor, nicked only by a slightly too wide angle in the songwriting. It still kicks ass, it's still better than almost any melodic death metal you'll hear coming out of the rest of the world. So you know what to do.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.evocation.se/