A few weeks ago, I suffered through a shiny mainstream object that everybody was salivating about. And in that process, I started to yearn for some trve underground sound. Rough-hewn rock and metal that scratches down my back like Freddy’s terrible claw. Blood drawn from riffs on steroids and burnt by lava-hot rock ‘n’ roll. That kind of thing. And I think we just found one of those.
At first, the visage on Evil Remains‘ cover art stopped us in our tracks. Angst, desperation, and a strange unholy hunger limited our visual range. Fight or flight became the question of the moment. The crazed eyes just held our gaze – like freaking squirrels in the headlights. An undead evil being that seemingly doesn’t know why it’s there. Yet, it’s compelled to rush forward to rip ‘n’ kill. Roaaarrrgh’!!
But in truth, the RMR crew was keen to get its sweaty, little hands on the next Castle record. The band’s 2018 offering sadly escaped our attention. But after a long six years of wait, Evil Remains rushed onto our review pipe. And it fucking roars. The band oscillates between Frisco and Vancouver – and why are we not surprised? You get the desert-infused gritty rock with loads of fuzzily delicious stoner elements. Retro-leaning Sabbath-esque psychedelic shenanigans roll in on fumes of the good ol’ grunge scene. And sometimes, the piece sounds like a stoned Am Samstag offering from the deep underground. So, in essence, this record rushes up and down the West Coast with an ever-changing panoply of styles and flavors.
Scents of ’70s rock and early metal often rub shoulders with good ol’ Punk Rock and remnants of Heavy Metal. And at times, the piece oozes a goodly portion of grimy doom and melancholy that suits it well. But Elizabeth Blackwell‘s smoky ‘n’ scratchy whine truly takes Evil Remains to the next level. A merciless and no-nonsense vocal delivery with airs of one Patty Smith that stamps its imprint directly into your frontal lobe. The fact that her performance often is off-kilter to an extent doesn’t really gripe either, at least not too much. A quirk that would disqualify other bands over at the review desk, but oddly fits the comfortable fuzzy guitar work Castle is presenting here.
Speaking of which. Mat Davis‘s guitar wizardry surely recalls the good old times when all these modern technology accouterments did not exist and LSD was new and dead cheap. Scratchy, whiny guitar leads, rough-hewn riffs, and rusty sounding yet still excellent solos follow each other at sometimes breakneck speed. Indeed, Evil Remains reminded us of cramped sweaty music halls of long-gone times where the bands really had to work for their fee. Garage-quality fare that was often created with little funding but delivered astonishing results. And Castle is one of these bands.
And you get it all. Want some highlights? Black Spell morphed into an astonishingly lively straightforward rocker. The ode to the aforementioned creature on Deja Voodoo is proof that gritty, slow-marching Stoner Metal still works. This track with its creepy Sabbath-esque shenanigans truly contains much of Evil Remains‘ essence. In contrast, Nosferatu Nights comfortably teases the purple squad of doom and melancholic horrors, complete with one of those grimy solos to boot.
Castle here artfully crafted a tasty mélange of the best cuts olde rock and metal has on offer. And they did this against the hefty competition of a boatload of modern psych and stoner bands endowed with an astonishing retro-leaning melancholic oomph. Meaning, Evil Remains surely found no new galaxies in that vast metal and rock multiverse. There are just too many other bands out there that already covered some of that territory – and succeeded. Alunah, Rush, Coma Hole, The Riven come to mind and I could go on.
But Castle surely carved out a pretty snazzy section of the stoner / doom / psych / heavy crowd for themselves. An amazingly refreshing chunk of well-written metal-coated rock songs. And a testament that good old retro rock and metal still have a place in today’s varied world of hard and heavy music.
And I think we should have more of that.
Record Rating: 7/10 | Label: Hammerheart Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 6 September 2024