Review by Death8699 on May 15, 2019.

In your face thrash metal galore!! These native Californian's put together one hellov a good release here. Be it the music, the production quality, the mixing, vocals, the whole deal Death Angel marks into their discography. Every song on here averages 4-5 minutes in length. Definitely worth checking this album out. Pure thrash metal to the core. I think this is one of their top releases to date. If you have a contention regarding that, just listen to the whole album and you'll see what I'm talking about. I don't think there will be any arguments on how good this release is.

The guitar sound quality is a little bit muffled because of the production , but not enough to count this as one of their best releases. The energy is way high on here. You can feel the vibe of the album it's totally upbeat thrash and vocal destruction. I like every song on here. Things seem to fall into place. The rhythms, the leads, the vocals and the music overall are superb. I cannot get enough of this release. It's one of those albums you can play and hear different things each time you play it. Kind of like Metallica's albums of the 80's. This one chalks up within the realm of Act III.

Riff-tastic album, if you're a guitar player then you can hear what I'm talking about. The vocals compliment the music. Not too harsh, just enough to emit cosmic energy to this. The background music is good as well. Every song on here with worth mentioning. So, if you're a fan of thrash metal and you don't have this, get it! All I can say is just that they conquered in every aspect on here. Totally worth getting. I'm not sure of the new release it's coming out on May 31st. So, we'll have to make a comparison as to which one has the best energy and music! For now, we have to focus on past releases.

In summation, Death Angel chalks up one heck of a good release here. All the songs are good, and everything flows smoothly. I was taken aback when I heard this album. Totally rips in every sense of the word. The one thing that I'd take out though are the chronic leads. That's the only beef I have for the album. They would score higher if it weren't for those annoying leads. Otherwise, simply close to a masterpiece. So yeah, shout your opinion on this. I'm sure it'll be positive. Get this album ASAP!!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Arek on November 22, 2016.

The Evil Divide consists of 10 pieces of thrash speed metal which, after three years of silence, Death Angel and Nuclear Blast want to kick our asses with. The proposed thrash is a portion of music from the pinnacle of the class. These 45 minutes of fast American thumping clad in a black/white cover should satisfy all thrash maniacs.

I must admit that I was not a follower of the Church of Death Angel. They charmed me with album The Ultra-Violence, but my enchantment was fading away with each following album, until I finally forgot about the band. After their 2001 reunion I approached their publications like a child that got severely burned - with morbid caution. It was after The Dream Calls For Blood that their music started to entice me again. Moreover, review of that album was also going to appear to infect the others with this Filipino bug but for reasons unknown (read - laziness) it was never formulated. The first, even fragmental hearings of The Evil Divide swept the other vision away like an avalanche.

The eighth child of Americans has all the advantages. There's the energy, the momentum, correct tempo - sometimes in hyper-speed - (Cause For Alarm, Father Of Lies, Hell To Pay) there's melody (whole thing but especially - Lost), there's a message (as a whole). Virtually every song can do something to attract. The only thing that it lacks for me it's the guitar sound, they could be a little meatier, but such is the style of Death Angel and you either agree with them or out you go. I've often gotten pissed off when I read about the superiority of the new Anthrax over Death Angel. But I do not want to stand on either side of the barricade, because I like both bands, and if I may add something here, personally I prefer the previous Anthrax.

And, since we are on the subject of Anthrax, it’s the themes from Among The Living I find on The Moth, and crossover structure is very characteristic on Cause For Alarm. After repeated ‘molestation’ of The Evil Divide I could go on talking about each song, but listening to the whole album would be a way better choice. I encourage you sincerely! I also deliberately did not choose my favorites because the entire album is my favorite, which I already know, will take place in my Top of the Year.

Not one heavy metal, speed, thrash maniac should disregard The Evil Divide, and if I'm wrong I'll throw the first stone at myself. So I surrender my assertion to be deeply analyzed, best with the sounds of Death Angel!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Michael on August 17, 2021.

Well, somehow, I miss the good old times when you got your medical terminology knowledge from studying Carcass lyrics. Unfortunately, they changed lyrical topics in 1993 when they released Heartwork so that my profitable career as a doctor ended very early in my youth, even before it really started. Now I have to earn my bread as a reviewer sitting in a moldy and dark chamber I can only leave to eat, drink or go to the toilet. “Buried Dreams” as they said when I was younger….

Now I have the newest Carcass output Torn Arteries in front of me and I have to confess that I didn´t had the greatest expectations for this album. I guess, I have to blame the lukewarm (although this is still flattering) Despicable EP from 2020. This was a pretty boring release which disappointed me a lot after the quite okay (but also not too exciting) comeback album Surgery Steel. After listening to the first single output (aside from 'Under The Scalpel Blade') 'Kelly´s Meat Emporium', I have to confess that I got a little bit more excited for the album. So let´s see if this promising song (which is going a little bit back to the good old grindcore days) is only a flash in the pan or trendsetting for the album.

Torn Arteries start with the title track which is kept in the style of the mid 90s Carcass outputs, mid-paced and melodic stuff which appears very interesting. Here and there some grind shouts are performed by Jeff Walker so that you can be quite happy with the start. ‘Eleanor Rigor Mortis’ (is it the Eleanor Rigby that died in the church and nobody came to her funeral??) starts very fast and develops into a groovy mid-paced track with some quite melodic riffs. ‘The Devil Rides Out’ starts with a cowboy-like riff and turns into a galloping track with very catchy hooks. ‘Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment Limited’ (what a title) is the longest track on Torn Arteries and the longest track Carcass ever have written and also very diverse. A lot of breaks, twists and turns characterize the song. The tempo is very varied, and you don´t get the impression that the whole track has a running time of 10 minutes. ‘In God We Trust’ is the most outstanding song on the release. I have to confess that I really LOVE this track! It´s just a perfect song to party! Okay, the start is a little bit average and a typical Carcass riffing, but when they start to increase speed in that track combined with this groovy riffing and these casual drumming, it is very rousing. In the middle of the track, you can discover the typical Carcass melodies for what we all like them (some riffs even remind me of old Arch Enemy) and I think it would describe it best describing the track as Carcass meets some groove metal. The other two tracks remaining both are typical Carcass tracks though the band lets some traditional metal influences flow into them, both tracks are worth listening to. Apart from that is the last title ‘The Scythe´s Remorseless Swing’ a pretty great title. I guess that Nathaniel Hawthorne would have had been pretty glad to find such a title for one of his stories.

Let´s sum it all up: Carcass is back in town and if you liked their latest output, you won´t be disappointed (I told the reason for that already). I you liked only the older releases until the late 90s, I guess you should risk putting an ear to Torn Arteries because in my opinion they found their old strength. Not all is really gold because I think the slow parts could be a little bit less utilized, but when the guys keep up speed, they appear very convincing.

So, for now, I have to leave my chamber for dinner. Maybe I will read a little bit in the ICD 10 or watch old Emergency Room episodes while doing this and maybe my career as doctor will get a second chance!

Rating: 8.6 out of 10 scalpels