Label: 7hard
Date: April 5th, 2024
I could’ve sworn there was less than six years between “The World is Full of Wrath” and its predecessor, “Hunt”. At least, there must’ve been an album in between!? However, I was wrong on both accounts. Though the band was active and working all the time, their discography was stagnant. And now, there’s a new album, the band’s fourth.
Right off the bat, there’s a couple of incongruencies that poke you in the eye. The first, where there’s supposed to be the title track, we find a song titled “The World is Full of Rats”. It is similarly pronounced, especially when sung, and actually works either way in correlation with the lyrics, but there’s the question of… Well, what the hell!? I don’t know what the question actually is, but it’s there! Especially when you consider the second of these incongruencies. The song whose title is “Seven Days of the Weak”, has a chorus that shouts out against war “seven days a week”. Bloody hell, if you’re in any way affected by OCD avoid this CD at all costs! Pun very much intended, since there’s also a way to avoid the 12” vinyl which was published simultaneously.
On a more serious note, the topics on this album are extremely polarized, since there are sad love songs in contrast with very socially conscious themes of war, poverty, ecology… Laying on top of symphonic power / heavy metal background and proclaimed by a female vocalist, these are right on top of today’s streams within the genre. Current trend sort of dictates this direction, though I really don’t mean it derogatively, since these are incredibly important things to point out as often as possible. As if you can get tired of classics such as “Zombie”, covered on this album.
Now, is it pointed out in a manner convincing enough, on “The World is Full of Wrath”? The answer is both “yes” and “no”. Again, very polarized, if you ask me. When it comes to Evolucija’s music, there’s hardly a way to go wrong. They are using symphonic power metal postulates set about a quarter of a century ago. When Nightwish and Within Temptation were young, up and coming stars. Grandiose, bombastic, neo-classical segments, in harmony with traditional, hard hitting heavy metal. It works like a charm, as proven on thousands of albums already in circulation.
Of course, with such a setup, you desperately need tracks that will stand out of the crowd. Like on their previous record, Evolucija is able to provide a few of those. Catchy, memorable with hooks laying either in the chorus or the pompous combination of guitar riff and symphonic crescendo. These guys are experienced enough to know the recipe for such a song. The trouble, first and foremost, is that they aren’t inspired enough to create ten of them on a single album. This way, the record swerves around from almost stellar moments to regular “fillers”. However, I need to say that the band made these much easier to handle with the sheer immensity of the symphonic element of their music. It is greatly enhanced and perfectly produced, so that the whole surpasses what they’ve done before by a long way.
On the other hand, they’ve made their music so big and weighty, that the voice of Mrs. Ilana von Arx is somewhat left behind. It worked much better in the previous setting, where Evolucija was an overly heavy metal band with symphonic power metal touches. Oftentimes, on “The World is Full of Wrath”, it misses the melodiousness necessary to complement the music behind. Particularly in moments when the background is “softer”, in verses for instance. It seems as if she is working with underdeveloped vocal lines and tries to make the best of them. In these scenarios, she sounds rather stiff. It is solved to a decree in tracks where it seems to be drawn through effects, like in “Seven Days of the Weak” or “One Dime”. Or with a guest or backing vocal. Also, when there’s a need for harsher voice, like in the mentioned cover of The Cranberries, Mrs. Ilana von Arx shines to full extent. Yet, the word again is “polarized”.
Now, when I mention the guests behind the microphone, as much as I can’t find a fault with Mr. Žanil Tataj’s performance, I must call your attention to the closing track of the album, the mentioned “One Dime”. And not just because of the vocal work. The track comes on after “Zombie”. You would expect a cover to be the closing song and in a way it is. “One Dime” has two aspects which, hopefully, announce the future of Evolucija. It could be bright if indeed they gave us a hint for the end. Okay, the children’s choir is not quite new, but still… It was used to make a perfect point, as a finale, and it did, very successfully. The other thing… There’s an obvious usage of traditional Serbian folklore in guitar composition and it sounds splendid! Unexpected attempt at versatility and originality for the end.
That one, with unmistakable choice of The Cranberries for the cover and “Seven Days of the Weak”, are the tracks to hear at all costs. A couple more would work just fine and the rest you can skip. But I’m not going to tell you which are which. Try them out yourselves and find out if I’m just ignorant, grumpy old guy or is there something to my words. I dare you!
