All Star effort Enjoyable, but No Hall of fame
maddman7820 | Indianapolis, Indiana | 04/03/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"For all the sports fans, All star games are usually fun to watch and are a true exercise of the competency and skill of the individual competitors, but the all star team, despite its finesse and talent, never seems to live up to the grit and grind of the championship team at the end of the season. Perfect example: the 98 Yankees. No all star team could have beat the 98 Yankees in the Series. May have been a heck of a game, but the true "Team" would have won. What's my point? Illwill is comprised of some of metal's heavy hitters from at least one key team in the genre, that being King Diamond and Mercyful Fate. Then throw in metal's latest journeyman on bass, and you have an all star team of metal heads. Andy Larocque, a current underrated six string hero, and Snowy Shaw, both from the K.D camp, join forces with Sharlee D'angelo (Dismember, Arch Enemy, Witchery, Marcyful Fate, etc....) and unknown vocal find Yonas af Dahlstrom to create a brand of metal that is actually quite unique and enjoyable. The sound is not unlike that of the member's fulltime projects, but with an injection of '90s metal groove, which results in what may happen if Mercyful Fate collided head on with Pantera. Musically, there are many cool riffs and grooves, with plenty of quality licks from Larocque, case in point being the excellent "eternal sleep" and other standouts "cult", "K.A.O.S." and "with or without." Vocally, Dalhstrom proves he is a worthy throater, belting out some great high end parts ala King, Rob Halford, and Bruce Dickinson. On some songs, most notablely "V- for Vulgarians" he reminds me of Udo from Accept. Shaw and D'angelo,as expected, lay down a solid rhythm section with Shaw providing excellent fills and beats throughout. In general, this effort is very enjoyable, and gets better with each listen. The only problem is that at times, some of the songs are too jagged and disjointed, making them a difficult listen. But those instances are made up for by master musicianship. Andy Larocque simply shreds, and the guitar tones on this record are razor sharp. The entire production is top notch as a matter of fact. Still, there is a greatness that is lacking on the project. I'm just not sure what it may be. The songs are good, but there is just that classiness of a slick full time outfit that is lacking. It could be the poor lyrics (prime example is the blatant sexism of "six sec sex") or the disjointed song structure I alluded to earlier, but Illwill just doesn't measure up to the results of say King Diamond or Arch Enemy. Don't get me wrong, "Evilution" will get the head bangin' but "Abigail" or "Burning Bridges" will ultimately find more time in the disc tray. Much like the 98 Yankees example, the all star teams are good, but the Champions will get all the real glory. 3 1/2 stars."
ILLWILL HAS THE POWER OF KING DIAMOND'S CLASSIC CDS!
maddman7820 | 06/20/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you like KING DIAMOND, check out ILLWILL. If the band sounds similar it is because ANDY LA ROCQUE and SNOWY SHAW both used to play with KING DIAMOND! Even the bass player is well known to fans because he plays with MERCYFUL FATE. There is one big difference, however. ILLWILL's EVILUTION possesses the excitement that has been so sorely lacking on recent King Diamond and Mercyful Fate albums. And, better yet, they have a new singer, Jonas af Dahlstrom. I don't know where they found him, but, Dahlstrom is eally excellent. Not only does he have the abilkity to compete with people like Bruce Dickenson when it comes to delivering the goods, he also can sing with the rasp and gravel of an experienced thrasher! All of the songs are great and the production, which was done in Sweden, blows away Mercyful Fate's latest offering."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1