Hot Zone presents: Hate Zone

What a shame. After their previous release Please Take One showed some steps in the right direction, they decided to take a left turn and release a 3 song demo in the style of beatdown hardcore (or as they described it: fat guy hardcore). This is disappointing but only slightly because they were aren't exactly the sort of band that started out with promise. To me, the band is on more of a downward slope when it comes to most things. This release has decent production quality for a demo but I've heard better. The first two songs are your average beatdown songs and the third song is a Hatebreed cover. It seems like every time they release something; they are trying to emulate someone else's music instead of fleshing out something original. Last time it was Body Count and Municipal Waste essentially, this time it's Hatebreed. They're doing the same thing they have always done so far, try to be someone else, something they aren't. I do not know what Hot Zone is supposed to be and maybe they don't either. They may as well be a cover band and continue to butcher songs by other artists instead. I have heard countless bands on Slam Worldwide that sound exactly like this.

In the first song we are presented with your standard beatdown riffs that are mid paced. Our 'badass' of a vocalist returns shouting his lines, this time with less control and more force, but wait, what is this? Another vocalist possibly? Singing at the same time is the clear voiced man and this cookie monster guy in the middle of a breakdown. The structure of the song was quite simplistic: RIFF 1, Chorus Riff, RIFF 1, Breakdown, RIFF 1, Chorus Riff, RIFF 1, then another Breakdown to wrap it all up. Not much to say about it aside from it was the bare minimum needed to write a beatdown song. Uninteresting and formulaic, moving on. The second song is similar in spirit but is heavier and more packed with the chuggy riffs we've come to expect from this genre. In the middle of the song the vocalist does the growly extreme vocals, I believe. And finally, the third song, the Hatebreed cover, go figure the one I enjoyed the most out of the bunch is the one they didn't write. In retrospect it is worse than the original.

Of course, a change of direction isn't necessarily a bad thing it's nice to shake things up and try other styles but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. And this one-off demo (hopefully) falls into the later. It is unmemorable, bland, and takes minimal effort. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense; they are rooted in hardcore and that is mainly it. It may not be as a drastic of a change as you might think. I don't know if fans of crossover lean more to thrash or hardcore but this anonymous group is obviously more into hardcore and will emulate what they listen to the most. It's not the most interesting or innovative genre out there so that may be where the problem lies. I'm not a fan personally but if you like beatdown then you'll probably like this depending on your standards.

Highlights: None.
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A month after my original string of reviews, they released a poorly constructed and quite frankly self-insulting (diss track?) single entitled Plaguerizm directed at me. I believe in my Please Take One review (before I revised it), I acknowledged this pathetic track which contains audio from a 2 year old video of me playing a new guitar that was out of tune when it arrived. This is the second time I've stuck a nerve with someone on a musical level that resulted in a response of some kind and it still makes me laugh just thinking about it. The first time involved a YouTube video that was later taken down for reasons unbeknownst to me by its uploader not long after. I do not feel the need to review it, it sucked as much as, if not more, than their other songs and I have no desire to subject my ears to it ever again. I showed my friends and family Plaguerizm the day I found it and not a single one thought it was good. Hell, I even showed a few of them Hotzone's EPs and nothing remotely positive could be said.

I might subject myself to their latest EP and demo in a few months, review them, and see if there is some sort of improvement. God forbid they take any criticisms and try to better themselves and their music.
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Originally written: 01-31-2021
Revised: 07-02-2022