United Kingdom thrash act Evile released their fourth album Skull in 2013, but just a few months later split with founding guitarist Oliver "Ol' Drake" Drake. Evile began looking for a new guitarist after Drake's departure, though no news ever came of the auditions. Drake came back to Evile in 2018 and the band promised they would be "fully focusing on album number five for a planned release [in 2019]." Which obviously never happened. Except now it is!
Evile has announced they've completed writing their new record and that Drake is the band's new vocalist. Vocalist and guitarist Matt Drake has also left the band and is replaced by guitarist Adam Smith.
"It's been 7 years since Evile's last release (Skull, 2013) but they are back with a brand new line-up and a fully-written 5th album.
"Vocalist and lead guitarist, OL Drake had the following to say: 'You may notice one large difference in the new Evile lineup, and that is that my brother, Matt, unfortunately left the band a while ago. He will release a statement shortly. We're sad to see him go, but we're excited about the new road ahead of us. As you can probably guess, this is why there hasn't been a 5th Evile album yet, and for that we apologise. The new album is fully written, we're ready to hit the studio, and we are currently working on a record deal. I will be taking over as the band's frontman/vocalist while also staying on lead guitar. We're also happy to announce our new member and rhythm guitarist is Adam Smith from RipTide; a band and friends local to us. Please give him a warm welcome!
"OL continues: 'The new material is in a much more aggressive vein as it feels like the natural progression for Evile; my vocal style is a much less melodic approach. We have the song titles, album title, and art confirmed and there will be an announcement soon!"
"The band are currently negotiating a record deal and aim for a late 2020/early 2021 release."
So prepare yourself for some riffs!
