Death & Beyond

What if Carcass had not chosen to go down the Melodic Death Metal root after turning their backs to their Grindcore roots but would have opted to transform their sound into something more akin to an Oldschool Death Metal style while keeping their love for thrashy riffs? Conceived by Hate are trying their best to answer this question on their second full length album “”Death & Beyond”.

Hailing from El Salvador of all places these guys have been making noise since 2003 as documented on various splits, demos and EPs. In 2012 they dropped their first full length “Pestilence Reborn” which is now followed by album number two.

It would be a bit unfair to just call them Carcass worshippers as they try their best to implement some unique sounds into their music. There are elements like exotic sounding leads that give them an own identity. Different to most other Death Metal bands hailing at the altar of the Old School sounds a keyboard player is among the members of the band helping Conceived by Hate to gain their own identity. Thankfully he is never going overboard but uses his instrument to highlight nuances of the music and create a special atmosphere.

The riffing and drumming is hefty and full throttle for most of the playing time with only few excursions into slower territory. The lead guitars have this special melodic tone delivering distinct hooks and melodies that will grab the listener and won’t let him go. Similar to the big boys from Liverpool the vocals are snarling and mid-ranged with a lot of angriness and aggression.

The songs are a bit longer than your average Death Metal tracks but this is fine as Conceived by Hate have enough surprises to keep the listeners on their toes. The production is presented with a great mixture of punchiness and filthiness that should please most Metal heads. There is still room for improvement in the songwriting department of course but as it stands “Death & Beyond” is a very solid slab of rumbling extreme music.