Exclusive: In a Talk with Against Evil, a Vizag-based heavy-metal band

The year was 2010 when 4 college-going Vizagites set out to live their passion for metal music. Truly, it was a moment of defying the odds and taking up an unconventional path. Hurdles were mere trespassers in front of the grooving crowd they played for. It was the times when the Anglo-Indian culture was paving its way into Vizag. And even they reach the zenith’s heights, the band will continue to call themselves ‘Against Evil – A Band from Vizag’.

The Journey

What started from a live gig at The Park hotel, is now an international heavy metal band. All was not laid over a platter for Siri, Sravan, Shasank and Noble John, who were just college graduates back then. Choosing an unconventional path came with its own cons of scrutiny. Since a living couldn’t be made out of performances and live events, the four of them attended to their works in the morning and got back to following their passion in the evening.

What is now ‘Against Evil’, started as ‘Echo’. Recognising the potential of an established brand name, the band adopted the Against Evil name in the year 2014 and started to produce albums under this banner. Since then, there has been no looking back. Little did they know that one day there would be no one as good from Vizag in the metal music space, and only Against Evil would stand the test of time.

Against Evil Family

Siri and Sravan are the voices of the band. While Siri enthralls the audience with a Bass Guitar, Sravan does it with a Rhythm Guitar. Shasank provides the Rhythm and adds his flair with a Lead Guitar. The cherry on the top is Noble John, the drummer for Against Evil.

Milestones

Against Evil released two albums – “Fatal Assault” in 2015 and “All Hail the King” in 2018, which were met with great critical acclaim. After the release of their album All Hail the King, the band started to gain a solid fan base worldwide, especially in Europe among fans of traditional heavy metal, power metal and thrash metal which led to the collaboration with German/Swiss-based record label “Doc Gator Records” who later released Against Evil’s album in Europe.

International gigs

In the summer of 2019, with the help of Doc Gator Records and Facebook metal group “Heavy Metal Fans”, Against Evil set off on a crowdfunded European tour. The band performed in clubs and festival shows in Germany, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland. And during this time, Against Evil also got the opportunity to share the stage with legendary bands such as Queensryche, Riot V, Hardline and many others.

This video provides a glimpse into the works of Against Evil and the metal music fraternity in Vizag. This video brings together the stalwarts of metal music to sing the Against Evil’s – Metal or Nothin’.

End of The Line – New Album

Against Evil that is known for combining traditional heavy metal, power metal and speed metal with a modern sound, is all set for a new album release titled the “End of the Line” on Friday, 14 May 2021.
Against Evil band describes their music as adrenaline-inducing, fist-pumping, bone-crushing, anthemic metal!

In a conversation with Yo!

“Recording this album was one hell of a ride which we will never forget. The album was recorded in two parts. Our initial plan was to release a 5 – track EP in 2020 and so, tracks 1-5 were recorded, mixed and mastered between February and June 2020. We couldn’t release the EP due to the global pandemic, but it gave us time to write more songs and that’s when we decided to add the new songs and make it a full-length album. Tracks 6-9 were recorded, mixed and mastered between January and February 2021. In the end, we feel all the trouble and wait has been worth it because we couldn’t be happier with the way this album turned out. We are also super excited and proud to announce our collaboration with legendary American rock/metal bass guitarist ‘Billy Sheehan’ of Mr. Big, UFO, David Lee Roth, The Winery Dogs, Sons of Apollo fame on the song ‘Out for Blood’.”

The End of the Line album has received accreditation and reviews from all across the metal music fraternity. The album has been in the likes of Metal-Rules, Heavy-Metal-Heaven.de and Mundo Metal Brazil, amongst many.

Metal-Rules: 4.5/5
“END OF THE LINE is a brilliantly done heavy metal album through and through with killer riffs, godly solos, and huge epic choruses.”

Heavy-Metal-Heaven.de
“The songs live from the strong guitar playing and the great singing. Great record, I can only recommend it to every heavy metal fan.”

Mundo Metal Brazil: 9.3/10

“Against Evil” is undoubtedly one of the best names in Indian Metal today. They outdid themselves from the EP for the debut and surpassed themselves even more, much more, from the debut to the “End of the Line”. This album will not be leaving my playlist anytime soon and will visit it quite often afterwards, with absolute certainty.”

END OF THE LINE – ALBUM TRACKLIST:
The Sound of Violence
Speed Demon
Out for Blood (feat. Billy Sheehan)
Call to War
End of the Line
Sword of Power
Metal or Nothin’
Fearless
War Hero (CD Bonus Track: Re-Recorded Version)

LINKS TO STREAM THE ALBUM:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7KidUKr9UKzJ7SA5RZYCy9

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/against-evil/1512663771

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/againstevil

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.in/artists/B01N3XNK2O/against-evil?ref=dm_sh_bPMFu98LRPtkXj0HxRhmtCJB5

Appeal to Home – Vizag

The Against Evil team misses the metal music tribe of Vizag and is saddened to see the depleting talent in this genre. The Against Evil team hopes to see budding talent strum to the beaches and the skies of Vizag soon.