Copying Evil? No.
The Evil Sovereign was the first place I spotted the driveside only plated chainstay that double as the bridge, but that was already 2005, probably done before that I’d have thought. It’s just my reference, as that’s where I first saw it, no idea if you saw it elsewhere, but I thought I remember a conversation from “back then” about the Evil. Memory not to be trusted though.
The wink in my post was just because I was twittering on about 2souls this morning, after only finding out about them via a google search yesterday, and thought that had brought them to the front of your mind.
Not liking the look of, but loving the ingenuity of, their drive side plate that also doubles as the chain guide mount: