The Worshyp-Evil Abounds

CD Baby
2012

When I first sat down to listen to The Worshyp I had to check the sell-by date just to make sure this wasn't some re-release. Truth be told "Thunderman" was the first track I heard off of "Evil Abounds" and my honest reaction was "I've never heard this Metallica song before". Granted that was before the vocals kicked in, but all the same this Toronto, Ontario choose a fairly fitting name as they worship all things Metallica/Megadeth. In fact the band even managed to rope in drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (Megadeth and Alice Copper) for this record! The rest of the band (vocalist/guitarist Marz Nova, lead guitarist Thor Rune and bassist Mig Diabio) seems as if they grew up on a healthy diet of Bay Area thrash with the occasional treat or two being bands like Pantera and Alice In Chains. If it sounds as if I'm being too harsh on this Canadian band then be patient as there is a silver lining. While I realized early on that "Thunderman" isn't a long lost Metallica number it did peak my interest about The Worshyp. In fact it was a solid enough track that I did some digging around/asking around and managed to score a copy of the album. While it has been out awhile already it is a 2012 release and it is a LP that should be of interest to those heavy metal fans that love mid-period Metallica and/or modern metal bands that list both Anthrax and Alice In Chains as influences. Lack of originality aside "Evil Abounds" is a heavy metal album thru and thru. "Diabolic" kicks things of with a semi-modern take on the hard rock days of Metallica meeting the middle of the road thrash of Megadeth. Speaking of Dave and company tracks like "Seven Deadly Sins" are what Megadeth would sound like if they were Canadian. It isn't all a thrash metal love-fest as "The Graveyard" has this Alice In Chains meets Pantera vibe going for it while "Warton" is Alice In Chains meets Metallica. OK, I guess there is a lot of love for Metallica and the like, but along the way there are choice pieces of "traditional" heavy metal like "Villains". It's most interesting how Marz Nova can go from sounding like a James Hetfield/Dave Mustaine mash up to sounding as if he studied grunge at the feet of the late Layne Staley. Even so if you can look past the obvious flaw that is a lack of originality then you might just find yourself enjoying the metal appeal of "Evil Abounds". If nothing else it is close to 60 minutes (thanks in no small part to the 10 minute bonus track,  "Destroyer Extended") of pure heavy metal/thrash worship! No pun intended....