Vehemency Hammerstorm is Evil’s first proper full-lenght release although they have been around since the middle 1990s, so one could presume that Hammerstorm would be something really unique and big, but no: Evil stays true to its underground values. Hammerstorm consists of simple riffs with some influences from melancholic Finnish black metal acts and even from Ukrainian Drudkh. The songs aren’t executed very tightly and there’s lots of clumsiness, but this certain filthy aspect has always been important to Evil, and they don’t sacrifice it even on their first proper album.

Mostly, the melodies are surprisingly melancholic for a band known from rawer and colder material. It’s not that Evil has went entirely tame or anything - no, they still sound rough and masculine with an underground production - but Hammerstorm does sound more emotional than Evil usually does. The most tender melodies are brought by the epic, 9-minute album ending song ”Woodland” where even acoustic guitars appear - making it a definitive highlight of the album. As a total opposite to the calmer moments, ”Holocaust Black Metal” is a 2-minute cacophonic piece of sheer aggression.

Albeit taking clear influences from many bands, Evil isn’t a mere copycat: the album is a very pleasant experience to listen to as the band sounds focused and mature with almost 15 years’ experience in this field. Production-wise, the album could be more balanced, as Warlord’s massive growls and shrieks are maybe a bit too high in the mix, but it doesn’t kill the atmosphere at all, though, just quite the opposite. Hammerstorm is not to be missed by Evil fans - who are not afraid of a bit different approach this time - and those into organic and honest sounding black metal.