Convulse - Evil Prevails

Artist: Convulse

Album: Evil Prevails

Label: Svart Records

Genre: death metal

Release Date: November 1^st 2013

Finnish death metal quartet Convulse are commonly known as one of the most classic bands from the first wave of Finnish death metal, with the debut album World Without God being one of the most collectible items of the era. But now, after an 18-year break, Convulse are back with Evil Prevails.

Convulse bring raw death metal, but they sound a bit dated. We've been flooded with rereleases of “classic” albums, and reunions of bands that were (supposedly) among the most influential ones during the few short years that they were operating.

Many of these attempts are bands looking for an easy cash cow. And for Convulse, I'm not sure if they're just in it for the cash, or because they are experiencing a midlife crisis (my best guess) – but the thing is: it doesn't feel very genuine.

In the ally of “revival of obscure death metal bands from the early 90s”, we see bands that used to make dirty, muddy, angry albums in which they used to grunt out all their teenage angst. Twenty years later, with these guys being in their forties, we see that Convulse keeps that restless vibe alive, and this is a quality we don't see too often on modern death metal releases. If the world is really waiting for someone else's pure dose of teenage angst / midlife bile is yet another question.

The sound of Convulse is similar to Cannibal Corpse, with some sinister Slayer influence here and there. On Evil Prevails Convulse try to add some doom and progressive elements (with even attempts at blues and jazz, here and there), and those passages just don't work. They're best at trying to rip their amps and mikes apart, and they should stick to that. Those parts sound more as if Convulse were thinking: “Well, nowadays, everybody is doing these crossover things, so let's throw some of that into our record too.”

To conclude: Evil Prevails is a new album after an 18-year hiatus of Convulse – and really, to me it doesn't sound like they have much new to bring into the death metal scene.

Buy Convulse – Evil Prevails