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September 3, 2010 |
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01. The White Fever
02. The Fallen Shall Rise In A River Of Blood
03. Reaper Of Life
04. Sickness Within
05. Murderous Intent
06. The Coming Of Chaos
07. Bleed To Death
08. Heaven Is Ready To Fall
09. Seeds Of Shame
10. Chamber Master
11. Marked By Darkness
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After releasing their self-titled debut in 2001, Denmark's HATESPHERE quickly built a solid reputation all over Europe as one of the most interesting new act emerging from the new Trash Metal movement. When their second opus, "Bloodred Hatred", came out in 2002, HATESPHERE were given many opportunities thereafter to produce in a live setting by participating in numerous festivals and opening for several established acts such as TESTAMENT, MNEMIC and THE HAUNTED. In the coming years, HATESPHERE released the EP "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed And Something Black" in 2003 and a fourth full-length album "Ballet Of The Brute" in 2004. After touring in the company of EXODUS, they released "The Killing EP" in 2005, and finally their brand new disc, "The Sickness Within", is now available worldwide.
Like the two previous releases, "The Sickness Within" was engineered and co-produced by Tommy Hansen (HELLOWEEN, PRETTY MAIDS), Jacob Hansen (RAUNCHY, BEYOND TWILIGHT, YRKOON, MERCENARY) and HATESPHERE themselves. Straight off the bat, the opening track, "The White Fever" gives us a good idea of what to expect for the next 44 minutes; a highly energetic brand of Thrash Metal in the vein of THE HAUNTED and TERROR 2000, but also reminiscent of old-timers like DESTRUCTION and KREATOR. With "The Fallen Shall Rise In A River Of Blood", HATESPHERE bring the aggression to the next level; heavier and faster, with very catchy guitars. Next is "Reaper Of Life", where Bredahl's growling become dangerously low before growing into a more classic way of screaming while the song's rhythm keeps switching back and forth from mid to fast tempo. The title track, "The Sickness Within", is faster than the rest so far, and it's safe to say that my neck already hurt badly upon the first sampling.
This song remains uncompromisingly Thrash without ever crossing over to Metalcore. Next is "Murderous Intent", which was already released on "The Killing EP", and in my opinion, this is the best track on the album; it just sounds like an anthem. This track is a sickening display of pure, raw anger! The faster "Coming Of Chaos" easily keeps up with the rest of the selection with a very interesting guitar solo towards the end.
Amazingly, I come to realize that "The Sickness Within" so far hasn't shown any sign of slowing down. "Bleed To Death" remains in the same spirit, and there is still no sign of weakness here as the pace is more hectic than ever. The guitar sound on this very track is just enormous! Next is "Heaven Is Ready To Fall", and with its very EXODUS-inspired spirit, I can't help guessing how much influence the first wave of Trash Metal coming out of the U.S. must have had on HATESPHERE in the early '80s. Despite performing with undisputed aggressiveness on this album, the band never neglect the melodic aspect of each composition. "Seeds Of Shame", though a little bit slower than the rest of the album, is probably the heaviest song thus far. Switching gear back to a more rapid tempo, "Chamber Master", gets right back to the neck-breaking style of the earlier songs; once again you can't miss the extraordinary vocal capabilities of Jacob Bredahl.
With the closing track, "Marked By Darkness", there is no surprise whatsoever that this song seems to take the best of every different vibe and style displayed on the album and the guitar solo at the end is totally insane!
If you didn't get it from my description yet, this album simply rules! If, like me, you consider yourself as an advocate of Thrash Metal you definitely can't miss it. With a release of this magnitude, HATESPHERE represent themselves as one of today's highest hopes in the genre.
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