Release date: 21 April, 2025

WHERE EVIL FOLLOWS is a brainchild of Toby Knapp with Shane Wacaster handling vocal duties – think of ONWARD on steroids, combining early LOUDNESS, CACOPHONY, RACER X with AGENT STEEL, EXODUS and the earliest works of SLAYER, METALLICA, OVERKILL, and ANNIHILATOR. An unabashed worship at the altar of classic 80’s speed metal. Sophomore album.

Cover-art by Anton Atanasov

Dedicated to the memory of Joseph Knapp

LINE-UP
Shane Wacaster- Vocals
Toby Knapp- Guitars, Percussion

Review

“Dogs Will Bite” was a proper speed/thrash opener with some seriously killer riffs (seriously the stuff starting at around 30 seconds might be one of the best riffs of the year). The vocals heavily remind me of someone, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Have to give a massive shoutout to the drumming in this one as well, like a marching army it never lost a step. One hell of an opener!

“Breeders of the Hate” opened with a riff that leaned more into the thrash side of things, as opposed to the speediness of the opener (yes, there’s a difference between speed and thrash metal). Pure riff goodness for the first minute of the track, peak stuff. If the first track was all about the drumming, then this one was really where I felt that the guitars shined the brightest, especially with a nice, albeit short, solo.

“Cold Steel” featured what I could best describe as a more 90s-tinged thrash/groove riff as its focus in the beginning, it reminded me a lot of when 80s bands like Overkill and Megadeth were trying to evolve as the decade ended. Strangely, I loved it, even when that era of those bands isn’t among my favorite. Vocally, there was a touch more melody with this one, particularly in the delivery of the chorus and in the guitar solo. Damn, this was a good one!

“Dead at Last” had a bit of that continued 90s thrash/groove riffing, but it felt oddly more dirty here (good thing!). The interwoven solo at the beginning also, somewhat unexpectedly, featured, what I can best describe as, an Eastern flair (it sounded like the music that plays in RPGs when you’re in a desert world). Yet again, another banger track, with some excellent harmony in the guitar solo. I haven’t shouted out the bass much yet, but this is speed metal. The bass is there, and it’s fast as unholy hell.

“Frustrated Mind” began with a sizzling shredfest of a solo. While not technically the title track, this was the one where the album title was sang as the chorus… I’ll allow it. I still couldn’t figure out precisely who the vocals remind me of, but it’s like right on the fringe of ye olde brain. Shockingly, this one had some more insanely tasty riffs near the end, stuff that was impossible to not bob the head along with.

“Gargantuan” stormed through with a stellar riff that I found to be a bit of a lovechild of Venom and early Metallica (which I guess would be Slayer, but it wasn’t very Slayer-like). The darker delivery of some of the vocal parts in this was very Mustaine, and I always love that sort of thing, it’s so dumb that it’s awesome. Speaking of, this was one where I thought that the lyrics did a lot of the heavy lifting, though the instruments weren’t any slouch either as this one was once more chock full of riffs.

“Ruination Revelation” served less so as a track on its own and more of an absolute shredder of an introduction to the final track. This was peak speed metal stuff and I couldn’t get enough of it, and it bled relatively seamlessly into…

“Covenant of the Reaper” had a bit more of trad metal injected into it than the rest of the album, though it still kept its speed metal blood flowing, as the overall tempo was a touch slower. I, once again, felt like vocal similarities were right there but couldn’t find an answer (Iron Angel, maybe?). Love the final 20 or so seconds of this one, such a stellar way to close it out.

Conclusion

First off, I love that band logo! This was a hell of an album, and at only 30 seconds away from an even 30 minutes, it flew by like a spitfire. With rampaging drums, scintillating solos, and an absolute buffet of riffs, this is a speed metal album that isn’t to be missed.

TheNwothm Score: 9/10

Links

Bandcamp: https://stormspell.bandcamp.com/album/ruination-revelation

Label: Stormspell Records