Style: Progressive Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Grand Magus, Spiritual Beggars, Spiritus Mortis
Review by: Francesco
Country: Canada
Release date: 7 April, 2023
From British Columbia, Canada, Medevil brings forth a euphony of progressive heavy metal on their sophomore release Mirror in the Darkness. Seven years since their last release, Medevil picks up where they left off with their last album, never straying too far from the path they’d previously set before them. With a soundscape evocative of power metal and thrash, Medevil effortlessly blends the soaring melodies of EUPM and the aggression and groove-laden riffing of thrash metal with a drop of sludge/doom in their gritty guitar tones and heavy, reverberant low end.
The songwriting maintains a progressive approach to style as instrumentally Medevil incorporate heavy influence from other genres like thrash, power metal, and perhaps even a touch from the doom/stoner/sludge umbrella. The guitar tones from rhythm player Brett Gibbs are fuzzy and overdriven, the riffs twisting and turning into descending runs while Gary Cordsen’s leads come screaming into frame with frenetic energy. Eric Wesa’s bass is prominently featured throughout the album and lays a solid foundation for a sound that doesn’t ignore its low-end while drummer Chris Malcomson (RIP 2021) performs his lines with creativity, including short double-kick bursts and frequent use of tom rolls. The rhythms and measures change frequently in verses, but the choruses usually march on steadily. Nothing extravagant in the drumming, and not even your typical power metal fare, but impactful grooving and certainly headbang-approved. I feel the most polarizing part of this outfit might be vocalist Eric Willmott’s raspy, often high-pitched, very particular style; reminiscent of Overkill’s Bobby Ellsworth, Firewind’s Stephen Fredrick, or Britny Fox’s Dean Davidson. Despite being an album that carries all the elements that I would ordinarily enjoy, I found the style of vocals to be incongruous with my tastes.
Mirror contains moments of brilliance, where vocal melodies shine, and background instrumentals create a captivating environment. I find some of these moments in the song “Gateways”, at the 45 second mark where the track opens up to a well-crafted vocal-driven passage; in the extremely mesmerizing chorus of “Pray for Me” which is followed up with soft, emotional piano notes; in the second-half of the instrumental “Smoke and Mirrors” where hand-drum patterns are introduced with string-backing to bring an almost Mediterranean film-score feel to the track. These instances are certainly album highlights for me, and I wish–, I wish– they’d been able to extend the “Smoke and Mirrors” idea into a full-length track. In addition, I want to shout-out the track “No Peace in Rest” for having the most intense opening 65-seconds of the whole album. Hooked me right from the flanging guitar riff.
Ultimately though, there’s something about Mirror in the Darkness that somehow never manages to grab me, even if I have enjoyed the listen. I feel that although there are definitely flashes of excitement sprinkled throughout the release, a lot of it begins to sound like another Phrygian dominant exercise by the end of it. It simply lacks contrast. I draw comparison to fellow BC natives Anciients, whose music is of a similar style but features more death metal-oriented passages, thereby adding a polarity and variance that I don’t think Medevil’s release fully approaches.
Nevertheless, I do believe this album will resonate with the right audience. People looking for a heavier, more gutsy but melodic style that incorporates some grit and who are fans of sludgy or stoner-y metal tones and riffing in opposition to the hyper-clean and articulate power metal sonority. I was not that type of listener. Medevil’s sophomore album doesn’t necessarily break new ground compared to their last, but it’s a quality release proving you don’t always need to reinvent the wheel. But maybe you could stand to change the material a bit.
Recommended tracks: Pray for Me, No Peace in Rest, Gateways
You may also like: Anciients, Gatekeeper, Doomsword
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives Page
Label: Independent
Band in question is:
– Eric Willmott (vocals)
– Brett Gibbs (guitars)
– Gary Cordsen (guitars)
– Chris Malcomson (RIP 2021) (drums)
– Eric Wesa (bass)
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