EVILE Guitarist Slams Illegal Music Downloading

Guitarist Ol Drake of up-and-coming U.K. thrashers EVILE — whose Flemming Rassmusen-produced (METALLICA, MORBID ANGEL) debut album, "Enter the Grave", will be released on August 27 via Earache Records — has posted the following statement regarding illegally distributed copies of the CD, which is currently making the rounds on torrent sites and via various file-sharing networks:

"The leak was inevitable, I just didn't expect the dishonesty to start so early.

I just hope thrash fans are honest and appreciate the amount of time and work we put into the cd and actually buy it. We've tried our best to create some music that I hope a lot of people will want to hear, so I expect those people to be grateful (if they like it) by giving something in return, not just to sit on their arse and steal from us/the label.

"The Internet is good and bad. I hate it for this leaking shit, but i'm also grateful for the exposure it's given us. Without the Internet we probably wouldn't be where we are now.

"If you don't like it, fair enough. If you like it, put yourself in our shoes; would you like someone downloading it, liking it, and not purchasing it?

"If someone downloads an album I think it makes the album sound a lot fucking worse.

"Growing up when I bought CDs, I loved having the whole package to it. Vinyl or CD, I'd leaf through everything while listening to it. In a way, getting a feel for the album. I don't understand people who would still have a file on their computer over a fucking old-school CD. It's beyond me why someone could be so disrespectful towards a band by downloading an album, liking it, and not buying it. They're not supporting that band, it's plain stealing. Illegal? Duh?

"I remember at a meeting with the label, we were told about a signing with MORBID ANGEL where a kid brought a CD-R burn of an album up and asked for them to sign it. He just got told to fuck right off regardless of his 'I love MORBID ANGEL' comments. That's how I see it, good for them.

"For me, an album's packaging has alway affected how good an album is. If it's a great album with great packaging/artwork, there's nothing better (METALLICA '…And Justice for All', SEPULTURA 'Beneath the Remains'/'Arise'). If it's got shite artwork, it somehow doesnt come across as good as it should to me (MEGADETH 'Risk', ANNIHILATOR 'Remains'). So when someone downloads something and they don't even have any packaging to go by, they just have the songs on a computer with a shitty little jpeg of the cover, I think it ultimately makes the songs sound not as good. When I hear [METALLICA's] 'Master of Puppets' I (somehow) kind of hear/see that awesome cover, the pictures of the band in the booklet and get a feel for the band at that point in time in their career. The packaging is a landmark in the band's progression and career, why wouldn't someone want that? We put a fuckload of work into the actual packaging and layout/feel of the whole CD, not just the writing and recording. People don't realise that. They're paying for more than just the music. We sat down and spent alot of time thinking and working on how we could make a CD package that would appeal to the people we wrote the music for. Just like we did for the music. Just like all other bands who made packaging for their CDs.

"For a band like EVILE, we're just starting out. Downloading will affect us more than people think. We aren't METALLICA, They've no huge worry about their product not selling. If we sell hardly anything people don't realise how much that can contribute to us not making another CD. It's really that simple."

EVILE will be showcasing its metallic thrash sound at an in-store show at Manchester's Virgin Megastore on the day of the album's release, August 27. More information is available at www.myspace.com/evileuk.