In October of 2006 Evile signed to Earache Records, label home of well-known metal bands such as Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, Municipal Waste and Carcass.
Each band member has grown up with varying musical influences surrounding them and wanted to start up a band which played some of their favourite 80's thrash songs. founded by old school friends Matt Drake and Ben Carter, and after playing with different guitarists and bass players for a year or so, they asked Matt's brother Ol Drake to join as lead guitarist, and after a short search for a bass player they were contacted by Mike Alexander via an ad in a local guitar shop, and Evile was formed.
They are influenced by bands such as Sepultura, Exodus, Metallica, Annihilator and Slayer to name a few. Despite being un-signed at the time, Evile were hand-picked to headline the second stage of Bloodstock Open Air 06, and also to open the main stage of Manchester's own Damnation Festival.
They released "Enter The Grave" in August 2007, following up with "Infected Nations" in September 2009.
On October 6, 2009, bass player Mike Alexander died from a pulmonary embolism.
The band name is pronounced "eeh-vile", according to vocalist Matt Drake.
Formed in 2004, EVILE are one of the most influential and leading thrash metal bands of the 21st century. Originally from Huddersfield, Evile have transformed the metal scene in the UK and beyond, having released four critically acclaimed albums – Enter the Grave (2007, produced by Flemming Rasmussen), Infected Nations (2009, Russ Russell), Five Serpent’s Teeth (2011, Russ Russell) and Skull (2013, Russ Russell). Throughout their illustrious career, Evile have delivered blistering performances at numerous festivals across the globe (Wacken, Download, Alcatraz, Hellfest, Sonisphere) and toured with the likes of Exodus, Machine Head, Kreator, Overkill, Testament, and Megadeth. In addition, they have won numerous accolades and appeared at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards in 2010 alongside Steel Panther, Airbourne, Five Finger Death Punch and Skindred.
In September 2020, seven years since Evile’s last release (Skull, 2013), the band signed to Napalm Records and started recording their fifth album with producer and engineer Chris Clancy, at Andy Sneap’s Backstage Studios. The new record contract and album recording was accompanied by some line-up changes, with Ol Drake taking on fronting the band whilst continuing his role as lead guitarist, and Adam Smith (RipTide) taking over rhythm guitar duties after Matt Drake announced his departure. The thrash metal giants have announced an early 2021 release for their upcoming album, with Ol Drake promising a ‘much more aggressive vein’ to their songs, which he believes is ‘the natural progression for Evile.’
The new incarnation of Evile are now ready to return to the road and deliver their distinctive brand of thrash metal with a new more aggressive twist while maintaining the precise, intricate and insanely fast riffs that Evile are renowned for worldwide.
Underworld
Evile Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A place where the weaker dread
Condemned to remain forever
Across earth oblivion spreads
Crushing the world we built
With power and focused will
The death we created detached
Fight to be set free
From suffocating needs
Witness to new ways
Layers under earth
Discovering our worth
Our eternal maze
Through the underworld
A whisper of life all that's left
The forces have shown contempt
Pushed by human nature
The sword hangs above our head
Dethroned are the ways of old
Defied and left breathing cold
Sentenced to covered chambers
We rebuild our broken world
Fight to be set free
From suffocating needs
Witness to new ways
Layers under earth
Discovering our worth
Our eternal maze
Through the underworld
Living in ruins
Buried beneath
Haunting and timeless
Embrace our release
Under the world
We seek sensing the deep
Back to the dawn
Further we crawl
Under the world
Under the world
The song "Underworld" by Evile depicts a world that has been ravaged and destroyed by the actions of mankind. The lyrics describe a journey through a world where the weak are afraid to venture and where oblivion spreads across the earth. The world that was built with passion and willpower has been crushed and detached by the death that humans have created. The song calls for a fight to free oneself from suffocating needs and to discover new ways of living. The layers of the earth underneath represent an eternal maze that one must navigate to truly understand their worth.
The song speaks to the human condition of destruction and chaos that has been perpetuated throughout history. The forces of nature have shown their contempt for the destructive ways of humanity, and the sword hangs above our heads as a warning to change our ways. The ways of old have been dethroned and left breathing cold, and humanity is left to rebuild its broken world. The lyrics encourage the listener to fight for their freedom from societal norms and to witness new ways of living. The eternal maze that lies under the world represents a journey towards enlightenment and understanding.
Line by Line Meaning
No sight of the journey's end
The journey seems endless and without a clear destination.
A place where the weaker dread
This place is feared by the weak.
Condemned to remain forever
We are destined to remain here forever.
Across earth oblivion spreads
Oblivion is spreading across the earth.
Crushing the world we built
We are destroying the world we have built.
With power and focused will
We are doing so with great power and determination.
The death we created detached
The destruction we have caused has become detached from us.
Our reach had exceeded our grasp
We have gone too far and now cannot control the consequences.
Fight to be set free
We must fight to escape this situation.
From suffocating needs
We must escape from the things that are suffocating us.
Witness to new ways
We are seeing new ways of doing things.
Layers under earth
We are exploring layers deep under the earth's surface.
Discovering our worth
We are discovering our value.
Our eternal maze
Our existence seems like an eternal maze.
Through the underworld
We are navigating through a place that feels like the underworld.
A whisper of life all that's left
All that remains is a faint sign of life.
The forces have shown contempt
The forces around us are hostile and have shown us contempt.
Pushed by human nature
Our actions are driven by our human nature.
The sword hangs above our head
We are in imminent danger and a threat is hanging over us.
Dethroned are the ways of old
The old ways have been rejected or overthrown.
Defied and left breathing cold
Those who have defied the old ways are left out in the cold.
Sentenced to covered chambers
We have been sentenced to live in underground chambers.
We rebuild our broken world
We are trying to rebuild the world we have destroyed.
Living in ruins
We are living in a ruinous state.
Buried beneath
We are buried under something, perhaps our own destruction.
Haunting and timeless
Our situation is both scary and seems eternal.
Embrace our release
We must accept our escape from this situation.
We seek sensing the deep
We are searching for something we can feel but cannot see.
Back to the dawn
We are looking to go back to an earlier time, perhaps a time of renewal.
Further we crawl
We must continue to crawl forward, slowly but surely.
Under the world
We are trapped in a place that feels like it is under the world.
Under the world
We are still trapped under the world and must find a way out.
Writer(s): evile
Contributed by Gabriel I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Dr Chef
Thrash metal is easily one of my top 5 favorite things in life.
daniel chavez
Dr chef for me thrash metal is my medicine it aloud me to be wild 💪 when is necessary
shaikh faridh
After family n work, metal music is one of my top 3 fav things in life specially thrash genre.
B
Sounds like you need a hobby, and standards.
some mf
Metal is one of my favorite 3 things in life ngl
Bob Caca
I just fell in love with this band man. this really is Metallica's and Slayer's baby. Love it :D
Reign.Of.Warfare
@CloneCommando501st you guys got that right! Sucks though cause there's no volume higher then "Max" on my speakers. \m/
CloneCommando501st
thats exactly what i thought when i first heard them
Jonathan Wood
Metallica needs to invite these guys on their next world tour :)
jc cloud
These guys sound more like Slayer than Metallica.