Having started six feet under the earth with two demo tapes, EVOCATION emerge in the 21^st Century and deliver us with many successful and enjoyable Death Metal albums. Their previous release "Apocalypse" was an entertaining work of art, combining old school Death Metal with the harmonies and melodies in the Melodic Death Metal genre that rose from the Gothenburg underground. So does their new release "Illusions of Grandeur" outmatch their previous efforts or will it forever fall among the many bland and repetitive albums to come out this year?

For a start, the first half of the album is surprisingly similar sounding to AMON AMARTH. I could have swore I accidentally tuned in "The Twilight of the Thunder God" for a minute there due to how similar the riffs and how the vocals effort was almost exactly the same... but that's just me anyway. "Divide And Conquer" and "Crimson Skies" are some of the standout tracks on this release due to their perfect blend of aggressiveness and the Gothenburg melody most of us love to hear. Actually, the whole album almost follows that exact pattern, but with those two being standouts.

The release overall is enjoyable and well made but sadly, it lacks originality compared to their previous efforts. It somehow seems as if it's made for the sake of being made. I can't go around expecting all musicians to be musical architects anyway, so a decent metal release isn't bad. For all fans of old school Death Metal and of this band, I recommend this album. It's nothing nostalgic, but it will sure be worth it.