Mexico City in Mexico isn't a hometown that we come across too often when we discuss or review Metal bands. RED SANDS are from this city, have been around for some 14 years and after a few singles the last three years, have now finally given us an EP of over 26 minutes to try and impress us. It will therefore not surprise you that this is my foray into the band that is RED SANDS. It probably is yours as well. The EP in question has "Evocations" as the title, and it is filled with Symphonic/Epic Heavy Metal by a band that is clearly very well prepared and very comfortable in its own skin.

As the intro "Mors Vincit Omnia" starts you start to wonder what is going to be in store, and when the first full song "The Coven" gets underway the expectations are very high. Well, the Symphonic/Epic part of the musical style is very much in your face, whilst the Heavy Metal parts are very much non-existent. Not only that, there is no cohesion throughout the song. It just doesn't gel for me. Thankfully "The Hunt" corrects that in a few seconds. This is very good indeed. This has Heavy Metal written all over it. What does help is that INTO ETERNITY vocalist Stu Block ads his contribution, making the song even more impressive. To me this is easily the best song on this "Evocations" EP.

The next best song is "System". Again the Heavy Metal part is being played at the forefront of the sound. This is when you hear that RED SANDS is a band that can write and play good songs. Not only that, but that as far as "Evocations" goes it just amplifies my belief that this band is at its best when they let their Metal hearts speak, with or without the Symphonic and Epic elements. The last song new tune is "My Beloved Ghost". It definitely does not have the impact of the former two mentioned. This again is a tune where all the musical parts are being used, albeit in a (for me) too quiet setting. It just plods along. The last song is the alternative version of "The Hunt", and even though it doesn't hit as hard as the original version, it shows that RED SANDS can do good. They do need to weed out those boring songs if they ever wish to. there is potential here, which only is being fulfilled in two titles. The audience really needs more.