Taking the chunk of Danish/Belgian death metal, then lumber and lurch of Jungle Rot (and I hear some Hatework and Vore in here too) and the slam of say Eternal Suffering and Suffocation (without the complexity), Denmark’s Dawn of Demise have delivered a pretty damn stout offering of perfectly rendered death metal, giving Deepsend a solid end to 2007 after a relatively quiet year.
While hardly groundbreaking, Hate Takes Its Form does everything right to be a damn fine death metal record; it’s never too simplistic to be boring, never a full on slam/groove fest or hardcore laced (i.e. Pyrexia/Internal Bleeding) tough guy fest and never too complex to be attention draining, but rather a solid mix of all three with a dash of solos to boot. With a super chunky Jacob Hanson (Aborted, Mercenary, Nightrage) guitar tone and some ferocious, if overbearing vocals courtesy of Scott Jensen, the 10 tracks on the album are no nonsense, neck snapping heft that should satisfy all walks of death metal fans.
Starting with the opening title track (featuring a guest solo from former Hatesphere frontman Jacob Bredahl) through standouts “Beyond Murder” and “Domestic Slaughter” (with guest vocals by Lars Bjørn-Hansen of Koldborn), through 6 minute closer “Regain Our Masochist”, Dawn of Demise roar and rumble their way through 45 minutes of no frills, churn and chug styled death metal that’s easy on the brain, but deadly on the neck and shoulders.
My only minor gripe would be the mix of Jensen’s vocals which on head phones, with their Left/Right mix can be a bit off-putting and dominating, but it’s a minor complaint on a enjoyable meaty album of death metal that in the impending assault of technical death metal, should remind us all of simpler, more pummeling days.
