The big ass state of Texas is home to many great death metal acts. Much of the state is known for its ultra-brutal death metal and slam leanings. There are also some smatterings of black metal acts there as well. When there are death metal bands playing just straight up ass-kicking death metal, that gets my blood boiling, in a good way.
Houston’s Haserot put out a really nifty little EP Throne of Malice, four years ago. Now we are gifted with their debut full-length album Advent of Suffering and with an album cover that must be seen on shirts!! Cryptos Grimm – Drums, Maurice Eggenschwiler – Guitars (lead), Guitars (acoustic), Brandon Johnson – Guitars (rhythm), Justin McKittrick – Vocals, and Garrick Smith – Bass have put out a 10-song album in 39 minutes, the perfect length of time. With members hailing from Spectral Manifest, Sanctus Bellum, Doomstress, Scrollkeeper, and Helstar, if you were expecting anything less than ass-kicking, then go pound sand.
One of the most noticeable differences, four years later, is more of an emphasis on melodic death metal on this debut album. The title track starts with melodic guitar work, then shifts to a nice death metal speed, very 90’s sounding. Worthy of headbanging your pathetic head clean off your shoulders. Terrific, venomous vocals. After the deathly madness, a nice little guitar solo sweeps in with guitar harmonies all over the place. In some sections, there is a bit of a Skeletonwitch vibe, especially in the vocal department, with the deeper registers paired with some of the raspy black metal tones. At over five and a half minutes, this is the longest song on the album and a very good start to showcase their more melodic edge.
“Poverty of Thought” has a great opening guitar riff. The song escalates into a death/thrashing speed, with a cool guitar solo, over the speed. Cryptos keeps the speed steady on his drum kit, then the song slows down, with some very cool bass lines and a monstrous growl. The groovy, hoppy part at the 1.43 section will get dem pits moving in 0.0 seconds. Truly an excellent moment with more melodic guitar soloing. There are excellent vocal tones and growls on this particular song. Great ending growl as well. This has to be in their live set.
“Tears in Bethlehem” features a guest spot from none other than Marc Grewe, of Morgoth fame, who is still slinging it in a variety of bands, my favorite being Leper Colony. They give him some generous vocal time, starting around the 1.20 section. Marc’s sharp, enunciated tones bite right through and are well-placed. A little over a minute later, Marc is back for the attack. This song is a mid-paced cruncher with a huge melodic edge with the guitars and soloing. Some dual vocals happen later on and this is a real fun, heavy, melodic, and catchy tune.
“The Tenth Circle” has a sort of Bolt Thrower-ish vibe with the opening bludgeoning mid-paced heaviness. The song then slows with excellent vocal tones and a great leading riff. The guitar tone is excellent on this song, like the other songs, and pinch harmonics are added to the mix on this one. More of that ambient, atmospheric melodic nature happens about midway into the song.
“Curse of Haserot” closes things out on this great debut album. More mid-paced crunch. The guitars take on a melancholic tone as the song screams depression and despair. The guitar solos on this track are exceptional. With guest spots from James Murphy and Andy LaRocque. I could clearly pick out the different styles, and I love that Haserot just let the two of them loose on this track.
I have an observation. When band members are in a bunch of other bands, I wonder if some of their other band influences bleed into any of their albums? With the increase in melody on this album, I would say so. I would now classify Haserot as a Melodic Death Metal band, as opposed to straight-up death metal. Advent of Suffering has some excellent musicianship, and the band proves you don’t have to include blast beats in order to be death metal. There were a few moments, however, I was like, ohhh a blast beat would have worked nicely here.
It’s also refreshing to hear an organic-sounding album. The sound is much purer here, having more of the warmth of 90s-sounding death metal. While I am a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan, this debut album could bring back the Houston Oilers and make the Texans crawl back from the rock they never should have crawled out from. What a good debut album!!
