Hatebreed -wt The Rise of Brutality -wl Universal -wf Much to the delight of Hatebreed fans everywhere, Jamey Jasta was able to take time out of his job as host of MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball to rock out with his crew. The press packet that came with The Rise of Brutality is as thick as a dictionary, yet there isn’t a single photo of Jamey or Hatebreed smiling, which is strange, given how huge these guys are; apparently they’re really mad or something. -wm Oh yeah, these guys are representin’ chugga chugga choo choo hardcore, and there’s no way smiles can be tolerated around that stuff; nope, just baseball caps, hoodies and scowls! Seriously, though, I am rather amazed at how good this album is, as I figured that their last album, Perseverance, was their apex. Rise of Brutality is a lot grittier and angrier than Perseverance, and songs like “Doomsayer” are so destructive and crushing that I have a hard time believing that these guys will ever tire of being so mean! “Doomsayer” is probably my new all-time favorite song by Hatebreed, as it is powerful, mean and spiteful, in an early Pantera kind of way. Double bass drums plow through the song as heavy and thick machine gun guitars plod and scrape with bitter hatred! Wow! The rest of the album’s songs are typical Hatebreed, with that raw production value that makes things all the gnarlier. -wm I’m going to go out on a limb and say that The Rise of Brutality is better than Perseverance, as a result of it not being as polished or fancy as that album. When I hear tough guy metalcore, I don’t want any slick production. I want scrapes, rips, growls and scowls, and that is exactly what I get with this record. -wd Hatebreed: http://www.hatebreed.com/ -wb Daniel Mitchell