EVILE – THE VOODOO LOUNG, DUBLIN, FRIDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Oran

Last week, Overdrive headed down to catch EVILE’s much anticipated show in Dublin’s Voodoo Lounge which was nearly two years in the making! Originally booked back when Ol Drake was still in the band, it was time to see what shape the guys were in and could they pull off a face melter!

The Voodoo Lounge on Dublin’s Quays plays host to yet another amazing night of heavy metal, ready to kick-start the weekend for those lucky enough to get a ticket to a great night of music. Overdrive sent Shaun Martin down there to see what was what and give a first-hand account of thrash monster Evile’s latest live offering.

We kick off the weekend bang on time at 7.15pm with Belfast thrashers Scimitar (4/5), who set the bar quite high, with their raucous riffage and give away free swords (relax – they were plastic!), to those who wished to brandish them in the crowd.

Hot on their heels are Dublin thrash loonies Psykosis (3.5), who can be described as the bastard child of Overkill and Kill ‘Em All-era Metallica. Calls for their old goldies like Rise to Fail, Driller Killer, and Sea of Beer go down a storm, but some new material would be nice to see. Frontman Grant Walsh was extra happy tonight, because his mum was in the crowd! How metal is that??

But Evile have no problem in turning the volume to 12. Opening at just before 9pm, with Underworld, they move swiftly into Words of the Dead, after which singer Matt Drake greets us with his typical ear-to-ear grin and obviously glad to be back after a 3 year gap since their last Irish show. He introduces the newest member of the band Piers Donno-Fuller, who took over lead guitarist duties in 2014 from Ol Drake, who quit the band in 2013.

Drake declares that the entire Skull album will get played, which pleases everyone a lot (me included!). The band move through their set with hammers from Tomb, New Truths and Skull, but the body count on top of the crowd is rising. Security certainly has their work cut out for them, if the stage diving is anything to go by. Drake also recalls 7 years ago at the Voodoo Lounge, when they shared the stage with Exodus – a few punters were at that show as well who wasted no time in making their presence known to the rest of the venue.

Not bad for a band that started in 2004! They move into heavier and harder stuff like Head of the Demon’ and Infected Nations, before finishing with Cult and Thrasher. An incredible night of headbanging and guitar-shreddery for everyone in capacity and that’s just the start of the weekend!

Setlist:

1. Underworld

2. Words of the Dead

3. Enter the Grave

4. What You Become

5. Tomb

6. Outsider

7. New Truths, Old Lies

8. Skull

9. Head of the Demon

10. The Naked Sun

11. Infected Nations

12. Cult

13. Thrasher

Words – Shaun Martin

Photography – *Psykosis  – Down The Barrel Photography / *EVILE stock images

© OVERDRIVE 2015