Evaleigh
Crush
(2023)
"Stand your ground now, stand your ground"
It's been quite a while since I've written a review, and it's also been a while since there's been a new album that I can just listen to it over and over and love it more and more. Evaleigh is a one-man musician who's been making chiptune-infused metal since at least 2015, but this album is the first I had heard of him, and it also drops the chiptune influence in favor of classic melodic death metal that reminds me a lot of early/mid 00's In Flames. With that said though, it's like no other death metal album I've heard, Evaleigh has a sound that's uniquely his. The vocals are either clean or raw, but always melodic. It's also probably the first time I've heard inspirational lyrics filled with self-empowerment, inner strength, and breaking chains in a musical style like this (With the exception of Death's last couple albums). They really speak to me as a fellow artist, and something metal's desperately needed as of late.
I don't exaggerate when I say this album explodes with pure passion, emotion, and creativity that you just won't get from an artist on a record label today, especially a mainstream metal one. The guitars have that aggressive chug, but at the same time are always singing the strings out with beautiful melodies. I went back and listened to his earlier albums which already have those unique standout guitar melodies, and also loved them, but the addition of vocals and the powerful lyrics on this album elevate the sound to a whole new level. His vocals at their rawest are melodic death metal at it's finest, and his cleans remind me of a mid-00's alt-metal quality. Vocalists like Benjamin Burnley (of Breaking Benjamin) and M. Shadows (of Avenged Sevenfold) come to mind. He sounds equally great with both, and the two styles contrast with each-other really well.
This is one of those albums that it's really hard for me to just listen to one song. I'm pretty sure I've thought "I'll just listen to this song, or these two" several times, and before I know it I listened to the whole album. Which is very easy with a length of 25 minutes and 8 songs, and it leaves me wanting more. So it's hard to pick a single standout, but I will say Flight is a particularly powerful album closer.
Keep crushing Evaleigh.
Welcome to the Iron Age.
Check out the album here: https://evaleigh.bandcamp.com/album/crush
Review first written in 2023.
