Fear not, wary readers - despite the initial reaction the band's name might incite, MY DARKEST HATE should in absolutely no way be associated with the slew of angst addled, "We want to express our disillusioned self-perception as oppressed suburbanites" Metalcore hacks of today's music scene. The fact of the matter is MY DARKEST HATE are heavier than Anna Nicole Smith after a three-week bender at an all you can eat 24 hour buffet. So by all means approach this album without fear of inundating your ears with more Metalcore malignancy.

In reality, MY DARKEST HATE are a groove oriented German Death Metal band in the vein of GRAVE and ENTOMBED with some exceptionally monstrous vocals. I'd even go so far as to say that it's the vocals of Chris Simper that keep this band from being any other non-distinct Death Metal entity. I haven't heard a growl this bone shakingly heavy since Frank Mullen of SUFFOCATION, and that aspect alone should score some major points with most discerning Death Metal maniacs. Add to that a decent secondary raspy vocal delivery (also courtesy of Chris Simper), and you've got a band with one of the more discernible vocal assaults to be found in today's Extreme Metal scene. That's not to say there aren't times where, in songs like "Number Seven" and "The Principle Of War", an especially vicious guitar riff or drum flurry will snap your head back like a Bruce Lee boot upside your melon, but more oft than not it's the extreme brutality of the vocals that will snare your attention and appreciation. In particular, the demonic, subterranean growling of the chorus to "Bow Before Me" could very well induce immediate bowel incontinence and a severe case of fevered nightmares for weeks to come.

Are MY DARKEST HATE the heaviest thing to ever happen to Extreme Metal? Not by a long shot. But conversely they're a far sight better than the countless others wandering aimlessly throughout the scene. And it's safe to say that if you're bold enough to wander into the "Combat Area", MY DARKEST HATE could very well rattle the bones right out of your unsuspecting body, leaving an amorphous blob of pulverized skin bearing something that the coroner might be able to construe as a contented smile.

MY DARKEST HATE are a good distance yet from achieving something truly remarkable and of lasting impact, but there is some serious raw potential at play here. Beef up those guitar licks with more distinction and bite, keep Chris belting out that relentless vocal domination, and there could be some truly profound devastation looming on the horizon courtesy of these German brutalitarians.