Chile’s been a hotbed for extreme metal in recent years, with quite a few of the bands channeling the unhinged and ferocious nature of the early black metal and thrash sounds while still injecting their own flavor into it. Sign of Evil is one of the latest projects to sprout up from Chile and is the solo project of Camilo Pierattini from Invocation Spells and Dekapitated. Like his other bands there’s an old-school feel to Sign of Evil, but it quickly reveals itself to be an entirely different beast on debut EP Psychodelic Horror. With elements of first wave black metal mixed in with a healthy dose of punk, speed metal, and a 70s horror aesthetic there’s a lot happening in a short span of time and while it sometimes sounds as though it’s on the verge of collapse, that actually adds to the overall appeal.
The six-song EP flies by at a breakneck pace and despite how short each track is the instrumentals cram a lot of different ideas in as little time as possible. At its core there is 80s speed metal and black metal behind what Sign of Evil has written, but its been run through a punk blender and dragged you to a haunted house while on hallucinogens. Riffs and tempos transition quickly and barely give you time to latch onto one idea before they’ve already barreled through into the next, and while that could be seen as sloppy in the hands of a lesser musician Pierattini makes it work to his advantage. A song like “Force to Eternity” is a great example, as the drums take on a D-beat pattern and the riffs have a psychedelic tinge that feels like it’s going to collapse in on itself and take you with it. In between all of this chaotic and constantly shifting riffing there are super brief interludes that have a horror aesthetic, and during these moments the band channels equal amounts of 70s horror soundtracks and Death SS. There’s a unique tone and feel to how all of these ideas are woven together that takes just about everything old-school in extreme metal, punk, and even death rock and brings them forward into a twisted yet enticing hybrid.
Pierattini’s vocals come through as abrasive screams that are drenched in reverb, making them hang over the recording with an ominous presence. Where some groups have buried their vocalists in the mix in the name of an old-school aesthetic that’s not the case on Psychodelic Horror as they’re front and center and the amount of intensity works to the group’s favor. There’s a similar unhinged feel to how the screaming twists and turns as often as the instrumentation, and it gels with the horror vibe that Sign of Evil is going for throughout the EP. At times it feels like the singer is going to burst out of your speaker with knives drawn and ready to attack, and that is a good thing for this type of metal.
Your mileage with this release may depend on what type of metal you’re drawn to, but for me this specific variant of black/speed metal, punk, and horror felt like it was tailor made for me. Despite the brevity of the material and the constant shifts between tempos and riffs there are still individual songs that stick with you after that initial listen, and it’s a blast to the face that you’ll want to repeat many times over. Sign of Evil has something unique going here and here’s hoping that this is just the beginning, as it will be interesting to see what a full length can bring to the table. As it stands now though, this is one of the best short releases of 2020. Psychodelic Horror is available from Caligari Records and Edged Circle Productions.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
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