Always on the lookout for gimmicks, I couldn't help but be suspicious at first about "Evolution of Evil," the debut LP by Madison, Wisconsin-based Death Metal act CASKET ROBBERY. The concept feels like it was pulled straight out of KING DIAMOND's storybook of horrors, while the song titles are...less than subtle, to say the least. These things, however, are simply distractions that fade quickly once the band initiates their musical massacre. "Evolution of Evil" tells a straightforward enough story: little girl is lured to evil, becomes possessed of it, and goes on a murderous rampage. As much as the lyrics, delivered with blood curdling menace by frontman Dustin Foesch, tell the story, the band's blistering musicianship is the driving mechanism behind the tale of Annibelle's gruesome deeds.

There's no time to prepare before CASKET ROBBERY launch into the toxic riffing of "Annibelle's Hell," a maelstrom of violence with sinister melodies and leads that snake throughout the song. It's a fine offering as far as table setters go, and almost a light note compared to some of the more outwardly punishing songs that follow. "Blood Bathory" burns like a thousand hot coals, its atmosphere one of suffocating despair, while "Undead Living Hell" ushers in calamity with its furious blast-beats. "Pray for Death," which features a guest solo from ex-WARBRINGER axe-man John Laux, pummels the listener in its grand declaration of evil.

It is one of the high points of an album that makes writing brutal, uncompromising Death Metal that's also fairly catchy seem easy. Not only that, but the escalating atrocities in Annibelle's story allow the album's tone to shift musically, too, gradually getting darker and more twisted as time passes. You can hear bits of bands like CANNIBAL CORPSE and JUNGLE ROT in their sharp, crunchy guitars, but CASKET ROBBERY establish a sound that is very much their own, even if the band sometimes wear their influences on their sleeves. An album that's never short on evil enthusiasm, "Evolution of Evil" is as versatile a record as you're likely to find in the realm of Brutal Death Metal.