Hatesphere "The Killing" CD
[SPV]
I think this is the first time I've really heard this Danish death/thrash act, mainly because despite seeing their name around a lot I always kind of assumed they were a pretty typical outfit, and that's basically the case, granted they are quite good at what they do - which is to play tight and in your face thrash accented with a heavy dose of a melodic Swedish styled edge. Therefore they basically sound exactly like they're from Sweden - think The Haunted, Carnal Forge, etc. "Murderous Intent" is a strong opener with a good variety of tempos and a really powerful chorus that layers some interesting guitar textures in the background; "You're the Enemy" throws in a lot of energetic speeds and dissonant chord phrasings with a crushing breakdown towards the end that almost has a metalcore sort of edge to it (think Stampin' Ground or something); and "The Will of God" has some pretty interesting riffs that kind of wind back and forth and interject plenty of the speedy energy that was present in "You're the Enemy" - also throwing in some spoken vocals and a few churning riffs that hint at more of a tasteful groove. They even close with an awesome and totally unexpected cover of Suicidal Tendencies' "Trip at the Brain", complete with shitloads of scorching tradeoff solos and everything! The recording's pretty damn good, too. The vocals are a little too loud, but they also sound awesome, unleashing some ripping midrange screams with a lot of vitriolic force, and the guitar tone's damn strong, so I can live with the mix. There's not much of a bass presence in there or anything, but everything sounds pretty thick and I'm also digging most of the percussive textures as well. Were the vocals a little closer in with the instruments I'd be perfectly suited with the sound. They could maybe use a little more meat to the guitar tone, perhaps a warmer sense of definition or something, but it's really heavy and works great for the palm-muted rhythms, so screw it. The layout keeps it simple with a fiery color scheme and a couple of band photos interspersed with credits and dirty textures, but no lyrics or anything like that are included. It's nothing to write home about, but whatever the case the cover does look pretty strong, so... it's alright. Overall the songwriting is really good here, so despite some of the riffs being rather standard there's definitely enough feeling and ferocity to keep it interesting, and the songs are concise and to the point as well. I've gotta say, they're not really doing anything new at all, and I'm not totally blown away, but this is a nice EP, and I'll actually be curious to hear their next full-length based on the strengths of this outing. (7/10)
Running time - 14:57, Tracks: 4
[Notable tracks: You're the Enemy, Trip at the Brain]
SPV - http://www.spv.de

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