“Possibly best known as one of the founding members of DGM, guitarist Diego Reali left the Italian progressive power metal band in 2005 to pursue other musical interests. He dabbled with various forms but came back to metal when he formed Evidence in 2010 with his brother Stef, releasing There’s Only Ten Left in 2011. Now with some personnel changes, Corrado Quoiani on vocals and Emiliano Bonini on drums, and a slightly modified name, they return with their second effort, Nobody’s Fault.”
This is an interesting album indeed and one that as soon as you think you’ve put your finger on it, it twists away. At first inspection DIG IN THE NIGHT sounds like the start of a great hard rocker – almost heavy metal meets power metal but so cool and with vocals that make you want to explore more. NOBODY’S FAULT is in a similar vein – all classy hard rock and laid back cool. As if to further underline those initial thoughts we get the harder-edged MIRACLE moulded in the image of the opener but with kicking drums swirling guitar and almost vintage Power Metal thrust. It may not quite be as classy you may have heard it before but it’s still suitable big and bold.
It’s here the album changes and as it does it becomes quite brilliant – with SO UNKIND starting out with a groovy swing and rockabilly light thrust before it amps up the rock and explodes into rhythm, grove, shredding, hors and the whole kitchen sink! AVE MARIA is almost as impressive and sounds like the best of that first ‘Black Tide’ album and gain the guitars are overblown and unfettered and quite magnificent! These two songs make this album worth more than a casual listen.
Elsewhere OVERDRIVE is cool Hard Rock that sweeps all before it; and there are less memorable moments – the Bluesy I WANT MORE is OK, certainly not filler but not as exciting as the pair it separates. Dig deeper and OUT OF THIS TIME is all funky goodness fired by some memorable guitar lines and ALL I EVER NEEDED is a Metallic speed-Country mash that is far more satisfying then it sounds.
If there is one minor quibble it’s that Corrado Quoiani’s vocals are at times a little too buried in the mix. This however is a great album, too late in the year to make our BEST OF lists it’s now one of my favourite listens of 2016.
