E.N.D., also known as Evil Never Dies, is one of the oldest active metal bands from Croatia, formed in 1996 in the city of Zadar. Originally, they started out as a hardcode unit, heavily influenced by the aggressive sounds of Sick of it All and Hatebreed. Nowadays, the trio incorporates complex grooves, down-tuned chugs, and pumping riffs, wrapped in their signature mixture of thrash, death metal, and hardcore punk, appealing to fans of Meshuggah, Napalm Death, Sylosis, and Whitechapel. After three full-lengths in the last decade, the band is back with a 5-song EP named “A Grave Deceit“, which we’re stoked to give you through the exclusive listen below! The offering takes E.N.D.’s menacing sound to a higher level in the fields of delivery, songwriting, dynamics, and production. Chug it out!
E.N.D.’s new EP “A Grave Deceit” comes out on November 27, 2020 on Geenger Records. Pre-save HERE.
Track by track comementary:
BLINDED BY AVARICE – The most in-your-face song on the album. We chose this one for the single/video because we think it represents us the best. It has fast hardcore/punk/metal riffs mixed with staccato chugs which are simple but powerful. The song is about people who don’t care about consequences as long as their wealth and assets are growing.
SHATTERED – We spent the most time making this one. Several riffs were placed and removed before we were happy and decided that this is it, this is how the song should sound like. The song is about the ones who live their lives not being able to do anything to elevate their existence.
HOST TO HOSTILE – This one turned out very interesting. Fast and aggressive in very low tuning with the groovy chorus, crazy intermezzo, and heavy hardcore ending. The song is about illnesses that don’t hurt our physical form.
UNVIGOROUS – At first listening, a classic E.N.D. song but d-beat vibe and a melodic chorus make it pop out from the rest of the tracks on the album. The song is about disinterest in any form of creativity due to the constant growth of social networking.
SPONTANEOUS HUMAN CORRUPTION – The heaviest song on the album. Constant down-tuned groove. Also, it’s slightly different than the band’s standard arsenal but in a more contemporary way. The song is about exploiting critical situations and making a profit from other people’s misfortunes.
E.N.D. is: Alen “Alekke” Babin – Guitars and Lead Vocals, Davor “Didin” Babin – Drums, Ivan Car – Bass and Backing Vocals.
“The message behind its name is that people often choose deceit because it seems like the easiest way out.” – explains the band.
“How much damage is done that way to themselves, others, or to the environment is hidden in the lyrics of the songs.”
EP offers 5 songs that reflect the core of the band’s traditional style, but slight bursts of other subgenres of metal and hardcore-punk are more than noticeable. That being said, the influence of old Meshuggah cannot be denied as well as the late 90es era of Napalm Death and Sick of It All.
“We decided to go with an EP because we think it is a good choice for a band of our size.” – they continue. “If it turns out we were right, we’ll probably do another one!”
The EP is released under Geenger Records.
“They’ve been very helpful so far, we feel comfortable working with them.” – says the band. “The recording process didn’t involve any real studio time, although we hired a producer to do the engineering, as well as mixing and mastering. Drums and vocals were recorded in our rehearsal room as those require more equipment and are the loudest to record. With the rise of computer hardware and software, we once again decided to use plugins for all guitars and bass tracks for which we did the tracking and editing by ourselves and we must say we are pretty happy with the results.”
With the global pandemic not calming down, the band currently does not have any plans for shows in the near future.
“…which sucks ‘cause the new material is out and we are ready to perform.” – shares the band. “We had a couple of shows booked, but cancelations were inevitable. That raises the question of why we didn’t wait for things to go back to normal – well, no one knows how long this situation will last and we were anxious to show the world our new songs. Things will get better and we will start playing eventually but, in the meantime, maybe we’ll write some more songs.”
There is a question some people might ask – how come they’ve played for over 20 years and have only 3 albums and 2 EP’s, of which one is a demo collection?
“Well, we started as kids and when you’re a kid you only want to play and have fun.” – answers the trio. “We recorded 2 demo tapes at that time. We had no big plans. Sure, we had dreams but there were no realistic ways for them to come true. Especially if you’re a metal band in a post-war Balkan country. Later, personal obligations and frequent line-up changes started to interfere with the band’s progress, but even that didn’t stop us. The band was clearly growing but not as fast as some would’ve expected. There is one thing that has kept this band together all these years – we don’t worry too much. We just love to play and we do it whenever we can. The proof that we are doing something right can be seen in a list of venues the band has played on and in being an endorsee of a respectful guitar company.”
“The local scene of Zadar has its ups and downs like any other.” – comments the band.
“Bands come and go, venues are sometimes full, and the crowd is jacked, and other times attendance is so weak it’s embarrassing.” – they continue. “Most bigger cities have clubs and we’ve played in most of them. Močvara in Zagreb is one of the places where we always enjoy coming back to. Our home town Zadar never had a proper club, but we have people with a strong will who always manage to arrange something. Currently, there is a small place called Nigdjezemska which is the only venue for underground live shows. There’s a skate park right next to it, a basketball court, a place to hang out, and it’s really good to see young people running a place like this. The pandemic did its damage so everything just stopped. There was a plan to do a promotional gig when the EP is out but now everything is on hold due to risk concerns. ”
If you’re into melodic death metal, check out Serpentslain, they’ve released an album this year and it is a killer! Hardcore veterans Deafness By Noise are in the studio at the moment and we are curious about what they’re going to offer this time! Cold Snap is the most active band in Croatia. They released a double video not so long ago and it’s worth checking out. Our boys Essence are in writing mode. If you are into progressive math rock, you need to check them out… there are more but the fact is that a lot of bands are active, having fun and working on their new material.
Our label, Geenger Records, is curating a very cool playlist with bands coming from the ex-Yugoslavia countries. Check it out here!
