Review Summary: Low on originality but high on execution, Pulses of Pleasure is an album that will make speed metal enthusiasts smile with contentment.
Ask anyone what Belgium is best known for and you’ll probably receive a limited array of replies. Waffles will certainly appear as a popular response while the country is also known for its variety of beers. In the field of arts, Hercule Poirot – the incredible fictional detective – hails from Belgium and the same applies to the Smurfs (m/). Nevertheless in the field of music, the set of replies is bound to be even narrower; there’s Vaya Con Dios, Django Reinhardt of course and ‘90s kids will probably remember K’s Choice’s “Not an Addict”. It’s impressive to think that there are only so few metal acts that come to one’s mind when Germany and the Netherlands (two of the neighboring countries) are so stacked.
Evil Invaders will do absolutely nothing to dispel the above notion or reality for that matter. However, what they’ll probably do for those of you who love speed with their metal is offer a refreshing and pleasing stab of ‘80s fury. For what it’s worth, they named their band after the killer 1985 Razor release so at the very least, these guys have a good taste in metal. In addition, they share a few common characteristics with bands like the aforementioned Razor or even Agent Steel and Exciter.
Pulses of Pleasure, the band’s debut, could have easily been released somewhere between 1983-87 as it combines speed metal with thrash and NWOBHM. In other words, it’s frantically fast but not heavy enough to be categorized as thrash but it has several Maiden-esque moments when it comes to guitar playing such as in “Stairway to Insanity” and “Master of Illusion”. There are moments that it brings to mind
Kill ‘em All in a few thrash passages (e.g. “Siren”) even though it’s far from the quality of the Metallica classic. However, to the most experienced listener, Evil Invaders will evoke one of the underrated metal bands from the ‘80s, Agent Steel. Not only do the two bands sound similar but the Belgians’ singer sounds like a less trained and restrained John Cyriis. Imagine a crazed Rob Halford combined with sparse early Tom Araya’s roars, bar the vocal range that both legends possess, and you get an idea.
However, not everyone will enjoy Evil Invaders vocalist’s performance from the very start as he goes over the top too often and too much. As a result, there are moments where he tends to become tiresome. You’ll probably find yourself enjoying the instrumental parts of this album a bit more when the vocals are absent which is a sign that in the future singer Joe should work on his voice.
Overall,
Pulses of Pleasure is a highly energetic and well performed speed metal effort which, combined with the modern production, manages to sound fresh even though it essentially recycles a number of ideas we all have heard before. Nevertheless, Evil Invaders do it in a way that doesn’t feel like they’re ripping off the aforementioned bands in a filthy manner so they might score low in the originality factor but they provides us with a very energetic and enjoyable album.
