The old communist block has made a lot of changes, and has come into the sphere of western civilization in a big way. And music is one of these developments. Several of my favorite musical talents come from the old Communist block, and Evarest continues this direction. The location here is Prague, Czech Republic. And the verdict is outstanding; outstanding female fronted metal, with a gothic perspective and a thoroughly contemporary musical outlook.

Evarest has gone through a lot of ups and downs over the years. Vocalist Eva Markvartova tried out for the band several times before landing the job. That’s hard to believe because Markvartova is an outstanding vocal talent. There have been a lot of musicians passing through the Evarest doors however the current line up, besides Markvartova, include Pepa Fiser - Lead Guitar and backing vocals, Olaf - Bass Guitar and backing vocals, Tom Matula - Rhythm Guitar, Honza Cinert – Keyboards with Drums recorded by Vlada Solin. Each provides significant background to the vocals, which serve to highlight the overall effort. Most titles are in English, the last number being a Czech version of one of the previous English numbers, Requiescat.

Evarest does a cacophony of musical styles, there’s some 80’s style rock on occasion, there are the more contemporary speed metal guitar components added to certain titles, there is the orchestration that leads to a gothic feel on several offerings, and throughout, there are strong vocals, mostly from the svelte Czech songstress Eva. I kept thinking there would be a foreign influence, something to indicate a Czech musical heritage in some of the music, but never really found it. Of course, I have no idea what the Czech musical heritage is so maybe I just missed it. Instead, I classified the music as mainstream Western metal, strong mainstream Western metal.

The music begins with an orchestrated piece that sounds like the intro to an old Western, and then suddenly moves to a speed metal guitar line that flows into the Eva vocals. It’s an 80’s sound but with contemporary vocals. And it serves notice that the listener is about to enter a world of serious contemporary metal.

The title track, Fear, moves in a new direction. The keyboards introduce the selection, but are rapidly replaced by heavy guitars and a metal pallet. All serve as an intro to the vocals of Eva who drives the song forward, often with overlays and consistently augmented by the speed guitars. Eva has an interesting vocal style with a strong range and a delicious metal tone. Her voice merges with the guitars and the keyboards, over the thundering drum lines, and the occasional male vocals, seamlessly and to wonderful effect. I know vocals can be a personal interpretation but, to this reviewer, Eva is first rate metal, the kind of lady I want doing the hard interpretation of a thundering rock anthem.

Arguably, the most attractive song on the CD is For Goddamned Love. It was one of the songs that made the band and it is certainly one of the strongest selections on the CD. There is a keyboard intro that leads into the customary guitar line. However, the vocals of Eva drive the title, as is usually the case. In this instance, however, her vocals take a turn towards the gothic and the emotion carries the day. It’s clear this title has received the most complete development as the background musicians shine as in no other selection. They’ve done this song a few times. Lyrics, these in English, identify the direction:

Hero’s Fate takes us to a more traditional metal sound. It almost sounds like a battle anthem, with the guitars driving over a military like drum line. Eva goes into a gutsy vocal sound that we can identify with a live performance while the background guitars deliver a speed riff that defines the number. You know they did this one live a few times.

Requiescat is clearly a band favorite, they do it twice, once with English vocals and once with Czech vocals. Again, the song intros with the crunching guitars. You can hear this with many a first rate Western metal crew, and Evarest does it with expertise. But, as the guitars fade, we get some interesting sound bites, a baby cries, background noise increases, and then we move to the speed metal. Eva moves into an angry vocal, which is soon augmented by layered vocals, something Evarest does well. A guitar solo in the middle is a highlight, I love a speed guitar done right and the Evarest axe men are fearless with their interpretation. Lyrically, it is doom and gloom message:

River of Death features a double base and a strong solo guitar lead. Evarest lets the guys sing on occasion, usually in clean vocal style but not always. Sometimes they overlay male vocals over female, an interesting twist. Lost race is one of these and the juxtaposition of Eva and the male vocals is an intriguing mixture. Doesn’t happen often but when it does it works. The male vocals are more than adequate. Personally, I prefer the grunting death metal style but I can live with this style here.

Victory puts Eva on the shelf for a well-deserved rest. The boys with the big guitars come forward for this one and crank it up. If this isn’t an audition for a movie soundtrack, I don’t know what is. I can see Rocky on the steps at the Civic Center in Philadelphia as the power cords wail in the background. It’s anthem music, pure and simple and pretty well done.

The days of Commie fear are long gone. What we have here is proof that certain components of the human experience are universal. Evarest provides uncontestable evidence that the music we have long appreciated in the west is firmly rooted in other parts of the world, and performed with a level of excellence that makes it interesting to all of us, everywhere.

9 / 10