Artists: Evile
Venue: Manchester Academy 3
Review by: Nick Lavigueur
‘WE’RE here to lay Infected Nations to rest,’ says Evile frontman Matt Drake to the baying mob of thrash hungry fans at the opening night of their mini-UK tour.
18 months on from the album’s release Drake tells the crowd it’s time for the Huddersfield band to open a new chapter and put the crushing lows and jubilant highs behind them.
With the band in the middle of recording their third album fans had been promised a number of new tracks at this intimate moshfest.
But all hope of enjoying any new music was trashed quite literally by the most belligerent crowd I’ve ever seen.
From the opening bar of the first song to the closing note of the last track fans invaded the stage, knocking mic stands flying and distracting band members from their performance.
After being hit in the face by his own mic Drake appealed for crowd surfers to peel off to the sides. But his words fell on deaf ears and only minutes later he was ducking out of the way as a youngster’s flying foot almost kicked him in the face.
‘You lot are mental,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘Is it day release from the local mental asylum?’
Unfortunately the fans don’t take the hint and the remainder of the set is ruined with one fan destroying some newly penned lyrics, forcing Drake to improvise by shouting ‘nothing, nothing’ over the newly written riffs.
Two new tracks are unleashed and the crowd are told the new album title has been agreed but amid the relentless mayhem the set has overrun and plans to unveil more tracks are abandoned.
