Hailing from East Westphalia, Germany, Evoked first reared their ugly heads in 2013 from a spread of rank riffs songwriter Bonesaw had been carrying around for some time to follow traditional paths in two respects – making their name known with a modest yet lauded demo which, quite fittingly, spread undiluted death the old (and only) way. Without missing a beat, the still shifting but – thanks to the front man’s uncompromising lead and vision – dedicated line-up churned out two additional short formats that proved Evoked’s superiority over oh-so-many parvenus who make do with emulating their heroes instead of writing substantial songs. Therefore, signing to F.D.A. in 2016 was a no-brainer. Now after three years of careful writing and with multiple gigs alongside underground heavy-weights such as Root or Sulphur Aeon under their collective belt, the trio is set to leave its first long-play mark – although “Ravenous Compulsion” needs only slightly more than half an hour to give you a classic lesson you’ll love to put on repeat. Topped off by a gloriously gory artwork, the album alternates between quasi-Swedish buzz (‘Into Obliteration’) and blissfully hideous doom in the vein of Autopsy, at times even blackly blasting as in ‘Festering Alive’, constantly swinging and swashbuckling in equal measure. Fast barnstormers like the opening ‘Resurrect the Source’, the impossibly catchy ‘The Trophy’ or the thrash tango that is ‘Desolate Animation’ brim with both youthful exuberance and the deliberate songcraft you’d expect from seasoned masters … which Evoked, too, are destined to become.
