Something new from Caligari Records? This means a thrill of anticipation in most cases, since this label really is a gem hunter of the underground. No matter what remote area of the world a band comes from, if they are a good extreme Metal (or Crust or Crossover) band, Caligari will find them. In this particular case, they hit pay dirt in Lima, Peru. OBSCURE EVIL is a name that sounds so familiar that it took me by surprise that there was not any band of that name before. It’s a name that makes me think of the times in the mid of the 1980s, the times when the fresh Metal scene was in a gold digger mood. Young bands with a lot of unchained and even uncontrolled energy were in a kind of competition who would be the fastest, hardest, sickest and most brutal. “Midnight Forces”, the first demo from OBSCURE EVIL, remind me of those long gone days. The Peruvian three piece comes along with an ultra rough Thrash assault that’s blackened all over the (too) short running time. Scabious and rabid riffs meet fine driving drums and a variable speed ranging from assault attacks to grooving mid tempi. This might not be a re-invention of Black / Thrash Metal, but it’s pure listening pleasure from a band that’s thrashing from the deepest of their Metal hearts. And the already mentioned mid tempo parts are definitely the strength of OBSCURE EVIL, since they use these parts in clever manner, slowing down the songs to give them strength and force. The only thing that can be faulted is the short running time, since I personally would have loved to hear more from OBSCURE EVIL. If this whetted your appetite, check them out at: www.facebook.com/obscureevilofficial or at their label’s pages: www.caligarirecords.com, resp.: www.facebook.com/caligarirecords