Six years is a long time. And let’s not forget the black hole of COVID-19, a strange period that nevertheless benefited many musicians and bands. One of these bands appears to be the legendary ACID DEATH who, according to Savvas Betinis during the prelistening session for media and friends, found an opportunity to take a break from a very busy artistic period, regroup, and prepare their new album entitled “Evolution.” We had the opportunity and the honor to be the first to listen to this album, two months before its official release.
The conclusion is one: the 6-year wait was 100% worth it! Picking up where they left off in 2019 with the equally amazing “Primal Energies,” ACID DEATH continue to evolve despite turning 36 this year. They experiment without exaggeration, maintaining their Death/Thrash Metal foundation and adding progressive touches here and there in an attempt to develop their ideas. In “Evolution,” they tackle human evolution through the centuries. Through essentially eight songs, four of which are accompanied by introductory preludes, ACID DEATH refer to topics such as the evolution of Artificial Intelligence, the evolution of religions, the knowledge-ignorance battle, the destructive mania of the human species, economic prosperity and how it spreads throughout society, etc. We will, of course, have the opportunity to examine these in more detail at a later date.
Musically, ACID DEATH does what they do best for decades. They create complex but somehow magically accessible compositions, smoothly incorporating a few but characteristically clear vocals by Dimosthenis Kostopoulos, fill the time of each song with wonderful riffs and distinctive guitar solos, and generally reserve surprises for the listener in almost every song. Of course, the contribution of the two guest musicians, singer Kelly Shaefer of ATHEIST and guitarist James Murphy, known for his participation in titanic bands such as DEATH, OBITUARY, TESTAMENT, etc., is also significant. In fact, the two musicians, who have known each other for many years, had the opportunity to collaborate for the first time on “The Gateway to Knowledge,” which is the first single that ACID DEATH released a few days ago.
One more special thing about this meeting was the fact that the prelistening took place at the legendary Sierra Studios, where the drums were recorded, and where almost all of the most important Greek musicians, as well as many foreign ones, have recorded many albums. The next steps are the release of another single, “Rise of Salvation,” on October 17, the official release of the album on November 21 by 7Hard – 7Us Media Group, the release of a video clip by the end of the year, and of course the organization of promotional live shows in Greece. Good luck guys!!
