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M-Pire of Evil: Hell to the Holy

Heavy/Power Metal

3.0/5.0

Website Facebook YouTube
Scarlet Records
by Craig Hartranft,  03.19.2012

Although I thought it would happen closer to the 2012 apocalypse, M-Pire of Evil, featuring several members of the legendary and infamous Venom, returns with their full-length debut, Hell to the Holy. Being, well, the 'axis of evil' themselves, these three blasphemers are heading straight to hell and want to take as many fans as possible with them.

M-Pire of Evil: on the highway to Hell, by design.

As mentioned about their EP, Creatures of the Black, there's no disguising or dismissing the 'true' heavy metal foundations of MoE. If anything, the band out metals both old and new peers for this distinction, and the music is unusually better than what Venom ever did. Add the idiotic mix of typical anti-Christian diatribes, goofy Satanic paganism, and minimalist production, and you return to the creepy charm, like gawking at a horrible car wreck, that made Venom fiendishly famous.

Musically there's a simple spectrum of traditional metal, from heavy, power, or speed metal to more moderate, plodding even doomish stuff. Hellspawn and Metal Messiah fit the former, and The 8th Gates an example of the latter. Those first two sound like a cross between Manowar and Motorhead. If any songs echo the blasphemy, music, and scant mix of Venom, it's Hell to the Holy and All Hail.

Ultimately, fans are going to dig Hell to the Holy because it's the soundtrack for the train ride to hell they're already on. Hell awaits M-Pire of Evil, and it's their destiny.

And people wonder why I believe in double predestination.

As echoes of Venom of abound, M-Pire of Evil's Hell to the Holy is the perfect soundtrack for the band and their fan's train ride to hell.

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The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]