Just when I was thinking to myself that the death metal scene may not see another great newcomer for a handful of years, Evolution of Evil (Mortal Music), the full length début from Casket Robbery, forced its way into my ears. The Madison, Wisconsin natives have found a great sound that sits right in the middle of brutal death metal and technical death metal. The riffs and hooks are catchy as hell but avoid being too technical yet not overly simplistic. The tempos across tracks changes up quite a bit and really helps give each track its own personality like the serial killers in the lyrics of some of the songs.

Trying to pick out favorites on this record proved to be quite difficult but I was able to narrow in on a couple. ‘Curse of the Night Stalker’ may be one of the best tracks overall with its split personality. The main riff is very aggressive which will be sure to sprout up some nasty pits. However, the chorus/bridge hooks are so epic and catchy your head will spin (nailed that pun). For the brutal fans, ‘Malevolent Milwaukee Massacre’ is one of the heavier/slower tracks on Evolution of Evil and it is a neck breaker for sure. Fair warning to the elitists, the bridge busts out some sweet djent licks that I found to be brow raising (which is a good thing).

Like a few other albums I have listened to over the past couple of years, I find the best albums just end too soon. Casket Robbery packs ten tracks together on Evolution of Evil but only abuses you for thirty-five minutes. I guess the saying is true, “Quality, not quantity.” Either way, I was left scratching for more and may even need to look into finding the band’s EP released a few years ago to hold me over. There are a lot of death metal albums due out over the course of 2016, but the bar has been set. Casket Robbery is here to stay, folks.

8.0/10

TIM LEDIN

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