METAL gods Evile have been on an emotional rollercoaster over the past nine months.
As the Huddersfield band set off on a European tour last September they were full of hope their new album Infected Nations would see them rise to fame.
But just a few days later tragedy was to strike after bass player Mike Alexander was suddenly taken ill in Sweden.
The 32-year-old suffered a blood clot to his lung and although he was rushed to hospital he could not be saved.
The agony of losing their friend saw the band immediately quit their support slot on the Amon Amarth tour to return home to grieve and many thought it could be the end of the road for the rising thrash stars.
But nine months on the band have defied the odds and shredded their way across North America winning themselves a Metal Hammer Golden God award on their return.
Fresh spoke to guitarist Ol Drake and new bass player Joel Graham about the turbulent times and Ol admitted the shock of Mike’s death had put the future of the band in doubt.
He said: “We had to drive home from the very top of Sweden, down through Europe and back up.
“We had three days of sitting in a campervan just crying and thinking.
“I can’t remember who said it but one of us said ‘do you think we should carry on?’
“And then someone else replied, ‘do we want to?’
“And then as soon as they said that I think all of us thought, ‘yeah obviously we do’, so we just decided then to carry on.”
A few months later the band held auditions and former Rise to Addiction bassist Joel Graham was selected ahead of a double support tour around Canada and the USA.
The gruelling tour was done on a shoe-string budget but having covered 25,000 miles in a basic van Evile now look set to reap what they sowed and are set for another lengthy tour in the autumn.
“There were a lot of places where people seemed to stand and look at us like ‘these are bad’,” said Ol, “but then you’d find on the second time round all those people were shouting and chanting Evile before we’d even played a note.”
Joel said: “It went really quick in one respect. When you look back and you think we did it in such a small van it seems insane.
“But at the time we didn’t really think about it.”
With some time off between European festival appearances Ol said he was starting to test the water with new sounds in preparation for their third album.
And the Meltham born guitarist revealed there was a strong chance Evile would move away from pure thrash and take a Metallica rather than Slayer-style approach to metal. He said: “It’s going really well, we haven’t actually started sitting down all four of us yet but we will soon.
“It’s not that we don’t like thrash or don’t want to do it, it’s just that it pigeonholes you so much.
“We want to be more accessible and appeal to more metal fans.
“Not appeal to mums and dads or anything, but have a wider appeal and not just play at 100-miles-an-hour all the time.”
Joel said: “Some people hear the word thrash and they automatically think of the 80s. So when you apply it to a band nowadays it automatically tags you as a retro band when you’re trying to do something new.
“Ol’s sending me ideas and you can hear where it’s going to go.”
While a triple lap of North America is on the cards and a Sonisphere debut at the legendary Knebworth venue is set for July 31, loyal Huddersfield fans are set to be disappointed as no home gigs are planned.
Ol said: “We played Bar 1:22 loads of times. To play there was really difficult.
“We’d take all our gear and there’d be no room for it and we’d put it in the back room and people would fall over it.
“And there’s not a lot of room on the stage because Ben’s kit is as big as a building.
“We need an actual proper music venue in Huddersfield.
“Sonisphere’s going to be one of the biggest shows we’ve ever done.
“We’re in a tent but I actually prefer that because the sound’s a lot better.
“It’s going to be amazing I can’t wait.”
