This blasphemy simply doesn’t deliver
Not to be confused with the US/German/Polish/Italian or Swedish band of the same name (there are 17 and counting), Hatred (Netherlands) deliver a drab take on death metal that offers about as much originality as their choice of band name. I’m not simply dismissing Hatred by saying they are completely rubbish, there are a few interesting moments on Blasphemous Deliverance, just not enough of them to keep a decent level of interest from start to finish.
First up, they formed in 1999 but this recording sounds like a bunch of guys who have just started playing together. Secondly, any chance of this material standing out from countless high school bands playing the same sort of thing is aborted by the dodgy production and simply boring songwriting. The guitars are thin and have no heart or life in the chugs and riffing in general, making the lack of a solid bass sound all the more prominent. The vocals are too dry and understandable which just enhances the lyrics that read like a 15 year olds poems about Satan. Don’t get me started about the drums. OK, you twisted my arm … he has the chops, but way too often the beats and fills are as sloppy as a mud wrestler’s undies, although sometimes I can’t tell if it’s the drummer or the guitarist who is out of time. Someone was and I guess no one told them in the studio, so now it’s here for all to hear.
There were two tracks that pricked my ears; Involution with it’s galloping thrash riffs & beats, which is ruined by sloppy blasting/riffing soon after, and Reflected In Dead Eyes that again had some cool fast paced moments, but you have wait until two minutes in for that. Admittedly there were moments of interesting discordant guitar chord work and melodies, but the thin guitars and repetitive use of slow part into blasting and jolty changes destroyed all flow and enjoyment.
I don’t like bagging on bands usually but why send a disc off to the nitpicking metal world for review if you aren’t going to put in the effort to make sure a) all the instruments are in time with each other or b) it represents your band to their best ability. I don’t think Hatred is a bad band, I do think if they had taken the time to sort out the many detracting qualities on this then it might have been a better release. Being they are approaching ten years in game and on their third release (two MCD’s precede this debut full length) you would assume they might be able to see these problems before it got to my stereo. Maybe on their next release the story will be different.
Sorry Metal Forgers, maybe try another one of the many called Hatred out there. There’s got to be one good one out of seventeen … surely?
(Deity Down Records)
