There comes a time in the lifespan of any new subgenre when someone has to step up and deliver music of real lasting value, as opposed to just more of the scene-appeasing same. Retro thrash - with apologies to the numerous bands who never stopped flying the flag, despite the genre's oft-reported demise - has thus far survived on a diet of youthful exuberance, respectful attention to detail and a handful of new acts that seem to have grasped and harnessed the spirit of the genre with considerable skill. Among those bands, EVILE have stood out from the start, not least because the UK crew have exhibited a keen ability to utilise classic, tried and tested ingredients to produce something that embraces sonic modernity too. Far from being cheerful nostalgia merchants, Evile have given the distinct impression that they are deadly serious about following in the successful footprints of METALLICA, SLAYER and the other big thrash names that have plainly informed the band's music to date. The one thing that was conspicuous by its absence from both Enter The Grave and Infected Nations, Evile's first two full-lengths, was a real sense of authority; that steely-eyed confidence and command that separates the aspiring big guns from soon-to-be-shitcanned novelty water pistols. Less than a minute into its opening title track, Five Serpent's Teeth ticks that final box with an arrogant flourish, as some of the most incisive, insistent and powerful riffs to grace a thrash record - of any kind - for a long, long time erupt from the speakers, propelled by the grand testicular fortitude of Russ Russell's gleaming, bright and brutish production and played with the kind of precision and intensity that has so frequently been beyond the skills of this scene's many also-rans. Evile have always sounded like they mean it, but now they have the songs to substantiate their self-belief: listen to the vicious clatter of 'Origin Of Oblivion' and 'Descent Into Madness', the death-tinged bellicosity of 'In Dreams Of Terror' or the outrageous pomp of 'Cult' and try to resist regressing back to your teenage thrash kid self...or, if you're lucky enough not to be an old bastard at this point, simply succumb to the sound of a modern day band tapping deftly into an ageing but revered genre's true essence. And yes, parts of this are hugely derivative and veteran thrashers will be able to point to debts owed to Master Of Puppets, Beneath The Remains and others, but even on the gloriously poignant 'In Memoriam', wherein Evile pay tribute to fallen comrade Mike Alexander via some unapologetic Metallica worship, this band's own personality shines through with great dignity and intelligence. 30 years on, thrash metal has lost little of its allure, but it takes a special band to stoke the flames of fury and free the genre from nostalgia's shackles, planting it firmly in the present day. Five Serpent's Teeth does exactly that, with maximum neck-wrecking power.