Hate Theory
Hate Theory
World War III
Cruel sludge core, this, aiming for the evil in a splatter kind of way. All crunch and brutality, obviously, but not as one-sided and direct as one may think. Hate Theory have more tricks up their sleeves than one may suspect at first, and add grind, death, trash and power metal to their complex musicality, while the vocals move between death and growling, and even take a turn for some Ozzy-isms during the snarling “Vest.”
Diversity is a good thing but it does backfire a bit on here, when the album looses too much momentum and some sorely needed aggression from the ever-shifting approach and wild genre hopping. Most of it is pretty kicking, though, and this should certainly more readily appeal to the moshpit than to those sitting at home, in front of their home stereos.
The odd one out is the eight-minutes long all-acoustic, subtle and absolutely lovely “Lightbulb” that features “proper” vocals and sounds a bit like Palace Brothers covering Peter Gabriel – I kid you not! So unsuspected I’m not quite sure if it’s actually on there, even if I’m listening to it right now. A weird turn of direction that still connects with the other tracks through sheer misanthropy and world-weariness.
An uneven album, then, that’s a bit lacking in focus and force, but Hate Theory prove themselves to be a diverse and exciting band, willing to experiment and to explore.
World War III Music: http://www.ww3music.com
