Somewhere in dark fantasy land there is a necromancer slowly working away at her spells. Collecting spirits and essences, one day she hopes to raise an army from the dead to return to the castle from which she was disgraced. Wreaking havoc for the greater good of evil, deep in her lair, blasting through the rocky cavernous rooms is the ultimate soundtrack… Evil Remains. What is it? It is the sixth studio album from the high priests of the sinister San Francisco doom trio known as Castle.
Released on September 6, 2024 through the band’s new label Hammerheart Records, Evil Remains is a foreboding, explosive collection of crypt tunes. Truly ghoulish, the guitars of Mat Davis are ripped to shreds, drumming of Mike Cotton is highly potent, as Vocalist/Bassist Liz Blackwell expresses her haunting voice on each of these occult songs.
As a teaser, prior to Evil Remains release, Castle unleashed two songs with accompanying videos. Looking at these, the videos for “100 Eyes” and “Nosferatu Nights” simply show the bands rocking out with their new music. Occasional flashing occult imagery in between shots of Cotton’s steady drumming, there is Davis’s headbanging guitar playing, or Blackwell’s seductively scary body language as she sings. In “100 Eyes,” a black nailed nun offers the viewer a handful of mushrooms before eating them herself, while a vampire’s shadow is seen sneaking across a brick wall in “Nosferatu Nights.”
Both of these pre-released tracks use classic gothic and occult vibes to create an enriched musical experience that is expanded upon with lyrics that tackle themes of self-doubt and overcoming fear. Their message is not to succumb to evil, but to overpower it and take control. Something thematically powerful, it correlates to the feverish electric guitar and crashing cymbals at play throughout Evil Remains.
Collectively, the album’s hauntingly, alluring lyrics create unforgettable mental images that strike fear. For example, “Queen of Death’s” line, “Queen of Death, she’s just begun/ Take your life in the midnight sun/ Lead you to your death,” is scary storytelling that connects exactly to the evil skull-filled imagery Castle is known for. This in mind, while Davis can absolutely shred on the guitar and plays headbanging riffs, it is the times when he is taking care to build unique sonic landscapes that shines the most. Creating a doom-filled ambience best with deep low notes, the intro of “Deja Voodoo” fits perfectly, all while Blackwell beckons to the creature of the night.
Everything considered, what really drives Evil Remains is how every song, especially the title-track, wrestles with themes of self-reflection and truth-seeking… no matter how black hearted it turns out to be. It turns the witchy tunes from an overdone expression of hatred into a dark soul-searching expedition. In enough words, Castle is haunting their own burial grounds, searching for signs of death to prove their existence. They are not looking to get better however; because Blackwell screams “I don’t want to be saved” in the aforementioned title-track… assuring that they are instead collecting signs of their own devilish truth.
Castle’s madness continues onwards in each song, seeming to ramp up as the album progresses until the penultimate track, “She.” Feeling as if it is fresh out of hell, still steaming with antimatter, the guitar cranks itself through the song, stopping only for an intense solo that only speeds up as it progresses. Davis’s singing here does a lot in mystifying the voice of Blackwell as he chants in response to her towards the end of the song, likening her to a devil. Following into the album’s final resting place, “Cold Grave,” a goodbye from the depths of doom, and an unrelenting attack that drops into nothingness.
Overall, Castle’s Evil Remains is the exact answer to anyone with a psychedelic fever and itch for Occult Rock. That is why Cryptic Rock gives the album 5 out of 5 stars.
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