King's Evil is a venomous speed metal band hailing from Tokyo. Offering a post-
Metallica style of thrash riffing and combining it with the aggressive vocal attack of death metal, King's Evil manages to blend the two styles to make a molten brew. However, the group's first American release,
Deletion of Humanoise, is a mixed bag of heavy mayhem. A major problem lies in the way the band often relies on playing the riff at half the speed of the rest of the song. Where the drums and bass might be chugging along with a vengeful aggression, the guitar will lag behind with drawn-out riffs that drain the energy out of the material. This is a tactic often used by bands to emphasize the heaviness of the track, but in the hands of King's Evil it becomes a crutch that wears out its welcome. The vocals of Wataru Yamada are another issue, as they really do take away from the material. Although countless groups offer equally acidic vocals to deliver their material, this music would have seriously benefited from some better executed singing. There are some incredible riffs to be heard on almost every song, but they are carried with a generic death metal bark that tends to blend the songs together. The
Pantera-esque groove of "Punish With Death" is a nice change of pace, as is the stop-and-start riffing of "Core Dead." But due to the group's bad habits, it is hard to identify the positives of this album. There is an excellent thrash band hiding underneath the generic elements of its sound, but this is not the album that can showcase those talents. ~ Bradley Torreano