HATESPHERE

Since the release of Hatesphere’s last album, ‘Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes’, the band’s lineup has been completely renovated with just guitarist Peter Lysen Hansen being the only stable member since the last album, let alone the sole original band member. The band’s sixth full-length album ‘To the Nines’ is also their first on Napalm Records, leaving their former home SPV. This release incorporates Swedish-style melodic death metal with thrash metal and standard death metal. Hatesphere still remain aggressive but less so than on previous releases. ‘Aurora’ and ‘Oceans of Blood’ have the same atmosphere as In Flames. The vocals are an improvement, sounding like a throatier growl rather than a irksome metalcore rasp. The drumming on many of the tracks like ‘To the Nines’ and ‘In the Trenches’ are that simplistic thrash technique that gets tiresome at record-breaking speeds. More imagination should have been used in the drumming department. There are some great rhythms on this release; ‘Cloaked in Shit’ is quite a bouncy number whereas the following song ‘Clarity’ is punchy and full of an attitude that compliments Hatesphere. There is nothing totally out of the ordinary with this album and indeed it probably would be more successful if it was released about three or four years ago when the Gothenburg sound was flavour of the month. There is very little honest replay value on ‘To the Nines’ but die-hard fans of this genre would probably disagree.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Napalm Records

Album

TO THE NINES

Review by Elena Francis

RUNNING TIME:

34:34

RELEASE DATE:

30th March 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) To The Nines
2) Backstabber
3) Cloaked In Shit
4) Clarity
5) Even If It Kills Me
6) Commencing A Campaign
7) The Writing's On The Wall
8) In The Trenches
9) Aurora
10) Oceans of Blood

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Denmark

"Hatesphere still remain aggressive but less so than on previous releases."