Force of Evil

http://www.myspace.com/forceofevil

Picked up Black Empire in the used bin for 10 bucks. This is a pretty hard rockin' album. Anyone else know of them?

I had their S/T debut album for a while a few years back... decent but wasn't a "keeper." I was interested in 'em mainly because everyone except the singer had been involved with either Mercyful Fate or King Diamond in the past, and I'm a huge KD/MF fan. However, the guy who sings for Force of Evil (Martin Steen from Iron Fire) is no KD by any stretch!!

I eventually traded the CD off but I've almost picked up BLACK EMPIRE a few times now... I see that all of the tunes are about famed horror movie characters, which sounds kinda cool cuz I'm a horror geek (although it probably would've been even cooler if Iced Earth hadn't done the same thing a year or two earlier on their HORROR SHOW album)

Fat Freddy wrote:

I had their S/T debut album for a while a few years back... decent but wasn't a "keeper." I was interested in 'em mainly because everyone except the singer had been involved with either Mercyful Fate or King Diamond in the past, and I'm a huge KD/MF fan. However, the guy who sings for Force of Evil (Martin Steen from Iron Fire) is no KD by any stretch!!

I eventually traded the CD off but I've almost picked up BLACK EMPIRE a few times now... I see that all of the tunes are about famed horror movie characters, which sounds kinda cool cuz I'm a horror geek (although it probably would've been even cooler if Iced Earth hadn't done the same thing a year or two earlier on their HORROR SHOW album)

My thought exactly.

Yeah, heard of them but I didnt really like how Martin Steen sounded, although I do like Iron Fire. Also the lyrics in Force of Evil just sounded way too corney. I was hoping they were going to be better than they were cause im a huge Mercyful Fate/ King Diamond fan myself.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Also the lyrics in Force of Evil just sounded way too corney.

Yes indeed, they were very corny. When I reviewed the CD for Detritus 'zine I think I made a comment about how the lyrics read like the band had taken a few scraps out of King Diamond's "reject" pile.

"Force Of Evil" are an excellent band.Anytime you get a chance to listen to the Shermann/Denner dual atttack-you take it.Prefer the debut,but both are quality releases.Especially like "Hell On Earth" off the s/t.

Man, I remember this thread. No love for this band, huh? I just the self-titled and Black Empire, and I must say that this stuff is killer! Musically nothing new. Lyrics—who cares? The songs, however, are outstanding. Catchy, heavy, well-written, can't go wrong. Out of that huge lot of discs from The End, these two are keeping me from listening to the rest.

I had the first album but didn't like the singer so i got rid of it.

Eyesore wrote:

Lyrics—who cares?

Great band indeed!

Wargod48

I have both albums and think they are pretty good releases.

They are a band that is "almost there" for me...good but didn't quite hook me...had the debut and the DVD...

So I picked up their 2 albums just for the hell of it when Go Hastings had their 40% off used sale. I think I ended up getting them both for less than $2 each. Well... I'm glad I didn't pay more than that cause my first impressions were right. I was really hoping for some Mercyful Fate type guitar work but it really just falls flat. Nothing is memorable at all. I will say that Martin Steens voice isn't as bad as I remember hearing the first time around but he still did nothing for this band. He just doesn't have that, he can do any style thing with his voice. He does do a little growling here and there but it doesn't do anything any justice. I'll keep them just cause of the Mercyful Fate connection.

Spinning the debut for the first time in many years...surprisingly I am liking it a little better than before.