Band:	Mpire Of Evil
Album:	Hell To The Holy
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	March 26, 2012
A review by:	Doc G.

01. Hellspawn
02. Metal Messiah
03. Waking Up Dead
04. Hell To The Holy
05. Snake Pit
06. All Hail
07. Devil
08. Shockwave
09. The 8th Gate
10. M-pire (Prelude)

Well, if there's one thing that Mpire Of Evil has proven, it's that one Venom is enough.

Mantas, Demotion Man, Antton. Those names sound familiar? Yeah, that's because they're all former Venom members. Taking into account this is a band of Venom rejects, these guys actually did a spectacular job. Well, yes, it does pretty much suck, but it's like watching a Devry dropout get a job at NASA. Sure, his job may consist solely of cleaning the vomit off the astronaut's training apparatus, but still - good for him. Mpire Of Evil is essentially where current Venom is. Everything from generic riffs and muddy production to the vocal delivery is essentially the same.

The only significant difference with Hell To The Holy is that it is a little less campy, which in turn makes it worse. As a Venom fan, I can say without any hesitation that, yes, they do suck. Their one redeeming quality is that goofy caveman quality that makes them a great band to put on while pounding 40's of malt liquor (as long as you're going to be abandoning any pretense of class anyways...) Even most Venom fans are fans based on a little sense of irony. Anyone who takes them seriously is probably some kind of inbred perma-drunk. If you take away the over-the-top comical side to them, as Mpire Of Evil have done, you're left with a pretty generic heavy metal album performed by sub-par musicians.

If you don't like Venom, Mpire Of Evil is a waste of time. If you own a Venom album, Mpire Of Evil is a waste of time...In fact, it's difficult to figure out what demographic would find this to be a valuable listen.