Extreme Hatred

Never before an album's title has been a more accurate foreshadowing of what's reflected in its content – more than Pleasure to Kill, more than Hell Awaits, hell, more than Epidemic of Violence which plays a similar game. You thought that the trophy of most brutal thrash metal band should be awarded hands down to Demolition Hammer? Ha, you FOOL. Hypnosia sound like they genuinely hate you, and given that this came out in 2000 (and that makes it an even more admirable work), I like to think that a lot of that hatred was directed primarily at the music scene. Just like my compatriot Hellish_Torture wrote on a brilliant review for the painfully bad Extreme Attack, Hypnosia didn't obey to any law nor any trend dictated by the industry, since there was none of that, the market didn't demand any thrash metal album, and they basically said 'fuck that, we're gonna do it anyway, the way we like it'. If nothing else, this may be one of the most sincere and honest works ever. There can't be any doubt about the moral integrity of the band, something we sadly have to question to literally every band around nowadays.

So, Hypnosia's lone full-length album, aptly titled Extreme Hatred. To be completely honest, the Swedes weren't the absolute only madmen thrashing in those obscure times, but originality was hardly the main focus of this exclusive sect, surely not more than simply reminding everyone how awesome old-school metal was. Granted, Extreme Hatred wasn't as uber-nostalgic as Dekapitator's debut We Will Destroy... You Will Obey!!!, but its main thing going for it was, like I said earlier, its earnest, unadulterated feeling of hostility. And oh boy do the band members try their damn hardest to accomplish it...

Mike Sjöstrand blasts on his skins like the future of mankind depended on it (assuming he would care for it...), while Mikael Castervall and Hampus Klang continuously churn out riffs that, even in the rare instances they appear less convincing, are hammered into your brain with equal or superior vehemence, leaving you helpless and insecure about your life. For the record, I'm thinking of the chorus riff in 'Operation Clean-Sweep' where I can't help but think that the axemen just genuinely forgot what they were playing for a second, or the pre-verse riff in 'Act of Lunacy' which maybe shouldn't work on paper, but still, who cares when they're played with such intensity? Not me, especially considering that both are outweighed by two of the most barbaric transitions to a guitar solo I've ever heard... on the latter, the drums even go briefly on their own at neckbreaking speed, preceded by a delicious riff, and hit me every time with the same strength. Pure headbanging heaven.

Talking about riffs, the riffwork, a blatant Jim Durkin/Eric Meyer offshoot and damn proud of it, is easily the main strength of the album, and I won't point out any other specific example because there's plenty of them scattered across its entire duration, never overstaying their welcome. Seriously, on single tracks like 'Circle of the Flesh' and, again, 'Act of Lunacy' there's at least an average EP worthy of riffs in each, and the Swedes jump from one to the other with disarming ease. Unsurprisingly, Castervall provides also the only logical vocal style for such a hostile landscape, a lethal, 100% Teutonic Mille Petrozza/Olly Wiebel hybrid, with a sprinkle of Darren Travis thrown in for good measure, which is pure venom in acoustic form.

So, you may be asking, do they ever slow down? They're so good at blunt-force-thrash that you'll virtually never want them to slow down, but if you need some relief from the constant ear sandblasting, don't worry as thrash breaks are still a thing in Hypnosia-land, and a good half of 'Comatose' provides some slower (but not an iota less unforgiving) minutes. There's also the instrumental 'Gates of Cirith Ungol', in which I wasn't able to identify any LotR references aside from the title, and while it may be the break your neck would probably be desperately longing for, it didn't end up being a remarkable track on its own. Sure, we can hear that Klang can do something slightly more thoughtful than abusing the fretboard, but – again – I'll take 'Traumatic Suffering''s wild, if vaguely dissonant solo, which never fails to paint a big smile on my face, over it every day. There's no room here for arrogant stuff such as an acoustic guitar...

Jokes aside, did I mention that the production itself hits the bullseye too? Assuming that you aren't so naive to look for a bass here, that is... in any case, a great example of what the studio technology progresses of the last ~10 years could have done if applied to a thrash album. Again, a slap in the face of the whole world. The guitar distortion alone somehow perfectly delineates panoramas comparable to the cover (skulls meadows by the roadside included), all while the drumkit resonates as if all this metal-ness somehow had melted and formed the snare and all those other things beaten like there was no tomorrow by the late Sjöstrand. I see Hypnosia was already disbanded for some reason, but his way premature, unfortunate death prevented also an eventual reunion of a band who would presumably have been held in the highest of regards, with people specifically paid to sweep the grounds they would tread (okay probably not but...), had they been around just some years later.

Pointing out highlights is likely futile, but my favourites include (you may have guessed) basically every song I mentioned before, the riff-centric 'Act of Lunacy' and 'Circle of the Flesh' above all. It goes without saying that you should do a favour to yourself and directly listen to the entire album, since it's just shy of 35 minutes. Despite its ridiculously consistent flow, I found some traces of unexploited potential here and there, most notably on the title-bearing opener's second half, which take away some points from an immaculate rating. But if there's one thing you should take from this review, it's that the passion and bona fide aggression put on display by the members are enough to warrant a perfect score for Extreme Hatred deep in the heart of every nostalgic thrash metal aficionado.

Summing it up, ever wondered what Dark Angel would have sounded like if they recruited Pat Lind instead of Ron Rinehart and Gene Hoglan took no interest in progressive metal and continued along the path set by Darkness Descends? Everybody did at least once (don't lie to yourself), and look no further than Extreme Hatred for the answer.

Oh, and make sure you don't miss out on Hypnosia's earlier releases and death metal roots, neatly packed in the 2012 compilation Horror Infernal (you can easily find it on Bandcamp), because this, folks, was truly a band that delivered.