Stoner/Doom Metal is one of the trendiest Metal genres at the moment, so it is really no surprising that bands playing this style of music are popping up all over the world. THE EVIL are a four piece band from Brazil and according to their PR text the band is composed from musicians who play in bands well-known in the Brazilian metal scene, but since the band members are incognito we don't have any information about members or the other bands that they play in. Not only do they hide their identity behind a mask but they also hold knives on their band photo - that' s a bit more edgy then GHOST's band picture, at least that should be pointed out. The band has signed to a well respected underground French label, Osmose Productions, and that so they must have some potential.

Indeed, their self-titled debut LP is pretty damn good effort. When it comes to riffs and songwriting THE EVIL are clearly following in SLEEP's or ELECTRIC WIZZARD's footsteps - one riff or two here remind me of that classic groovy "Dragonaut" riff for example -, but one thing that sets them apart form the rest of the stoned and doomed crowd are Miss Aileen's excellent vocals, which give the song a kind of epic, traditional Doom Metal polish; sometimes one gets an almost psychedelic, occult rock vibe. She really is an A-class singer that can give the song the drama that they need. We also find really nice arrangements on the songs, I like for example the creepy organ melody punctuating the heavy riffs on the song "Screams", which is joined by Aileen's operatic singing. The keys and the operatic vocals are really setting the tone of the album: the typical spaced-out, laid back Stoner/Doom vibe is blended together with a spooky, evil sounding atmosphere. The song "Sacrifice to the Evil One", for example, is a rather slow-tempo song, but it has a fast section with very dramatic and spooky sounding keys and singing that gradually intensify.

THE EVIL don't try anything groundbreaking but they are very good at taking tried out ideas and putting their own twist on them. The album has eight songs and is 46 minutes long, which for a Doom album is not long. The riffs, the good songwriting and arrangements, the witchy atmosphere and Miss Aileen's  siren-like singing - all this makes this record quite addictive.