HateSphere

Hatesphere has certainly succeded at getting themselves famous. I wouldn't really have thought they would become so known after hearing them for the first time myself, but they have. It is not because their music is evolutionary or anything, it is because of the very different influences they manage to compose into their songs. You can clearly hear that they also hunger for some hardcore fans. There is definitly some Hardcore style over the drumming and bass playing, yet combined with the rest they can actually achieve a Heavy Metalish sound.

To label them a genre can be a problem. There are indeed overlooked traces of Melodic Death Metal, especially in the guitars. To be completely honest, the only thing that could remind you the sligthest of Thrash in this is the drums. I'd also prefer if Jacob Bredahl would stick to growls only, as I find it to be more fitting and generally better sounding than the so called scream he uses the most. You can sense the fitting diffence in the song Down For Good. (Which by the way, is definitly a good choice for listening if you're considering buying this album).

Perhaps I am just being too conservative when it comes to handling a bass guitar, but I really despise when a bassist focus on the a/d string combinations rather than e/a combinations. It doesn't give that aggressive background, but a weak one instead. This doesn't occur much in the beginning of the album, but it progresses slowly and it occurs more often for each song that goes by.

Making a cover of any D.A.D song is a bad thing. I take it that they wanted to do a cover of a Danish band, but why not bands such as Evil, Pretty Maids or Illdisposed? Why they choose such a crappy band over so many good ones will forever remain a mystery to me. It is a bigger mystery than how you combine the general theory of relativity with electromagnetism to create a theory of everything.
The only thing I can really praise and call above average is the guitars. The solos are incredible, and basically, the guitars manage to make up for the the lack of innovative bass and drumming. Even though Heavy Metal has the best guitar soloes, and has such a large selection of impressive soloes that practically makes you immune to being impressed over any new solo you hear, I am actually impressed by some of soloes Hatesphere pulls off. Melodic, but still aggressive. Original, yes.

The album cover does remove some points. I like my covers with something new, something awesome. What does this one offer you? An uninspired 'HateSphere' logo with a surrealistic face between what I assume is walls. Not only does it qualify as ugly, it's pointless as well. It isn't relevant to their name or their lyrics. They focus mostly on hate and violence in their lyrics, but I cannot feel that by looking at that album cover. Maybe I am just being oldfashioned, but I believe that the album cover should in some way resemble their ideaology or theme. Imagine (grind era) Carcass without gore on their album covers. It wouldn't work out.

If you see this one in you record store for a cheap price, get it. It sounds to me as if they haven't really figured what they want to sound like, making them more experimental, ruins a lot. This is one of the rare cases where the second album is better than the first.

Have you heard At the Gates? In Thy Dreams? The Everdawn? The Duskfall? Sacrificial? Any multitude of bands that simply SOUND Swedish, even if they're not, because they get so caught up in emulating the now over-done Gothenburg sound without really adding anything to it? If you have, then you've heard this album, basically. Right from the opening, while it's not inherently bad, even the opening melody reeks of the oversaturated Swedish scene, and right away I knew this album added nothing to that. Every song is pretty similar, and just always leaves me thinking "I could be listening to At the Gates right now". Granted, the worship isn't as bad as some other offenders such as In Thy Dreams, but it's there and really prevents any enjoyment for me, because while a band doesn't always have to be totally original, I rarely find myself enjoying something I feel like I've heard before. As I listened to the rest of the disc, my suspicions were confirmed-this was a generic cd. I suggest skipping right ahead to their newest release, Bloodred Hatred, which is a bit better and thrashier in places, and shows they're starting to establish their own identity as a band. If you want some killer original death metal with versatility, better yet, I'd suggest checking out Koldborn.