Things kick off with an instrumental called “The Awakening”.  The acoustic guitars sound gorgeous and then transition to a catchy drum fill transitioning into the title track. As with most Hatesphere albums, the huge production is noticeable off the bat thanks to another killer production job by Danish producing legend Tue Madsen (Aborted, Gorefest, Illdisposed, The Haunted, Witchery etc).  The guitar work of Peter “Pepe” Hansen and Kasper Kirkegaard is incredibly well-locked in throughout the entire album.

“Cutthroat” is the featured track and has a sick music video.  What makes this track so catchy is the aggressive down-picking and fun gang vocal parts.  Uldall’s vocals are fantastic, and he delivers one of best performances since original vocalist Jacob Bredahl.  “Gravedigger” is going to be a circle pit inducer and has a bit of a punk vibe and builds into this a nice, layered octave harmony run.  The guitar solos throughout a well thought out and are bluesy and shreddy at the time. “918” is an excellent example of Hatesphere’s ability to use groove and then go up-tempo.

This is quite the massive album in that you get ten original songs and two bonus tracks. “Darkspawn” is quite possibly the fastest song the group has done to this point in their career and it most certainly is a banger.   The first of the two cover tracks is a cover of “Another Piece of Meat” by Scorpions.  They do a fantastic job with it.   The other bonus track is a live version of “The Fallen Shal Rise in a River of Blood” which is from The 2005s Sickness Within album.

Overall, this is my favorite album from these guys since probably The Sickness Within.  If you are a fan of bands like The Haunted, Carnal Forge or Dimension Zero this should be right up your alley.  Hair whip away!

Guitarist Peter “Pepe” Hansen comments:

“This is indeed a new and exciting chapter for Hatesphere. After touring Europe for more than 7 years, we finally have the chance to visit The States. It is a huge opportunity for us and we look forward to play for our U.S. fans! A huge thank you to the guys in The Black Dahlia Murder, who were kind enough to invite us! Unfortunately, we have to cancel the European tour with Hypocrisy due to our change of drummer and personal reasons. However, it’s a pleasure to have Mike behind the drums. We’ve known him for several years, and he wanted to play fast for a long time and now it’s finally happening so obviously we’re happy! We promise to return both during the summer at the festivals and in the autumn. Last but not least, we’re happy to announce that Rune Walther from Dream Fire Agency will be taking care of the business as our new manager.”

Drummer Mike Park comments:

“I’ve always been a big fan of Hatesphere and I’ve known the guys for a long time so it was quite natural to take over from Dennis. The opportunity came as an extension of my break with Mercenary and I feel great sitting behind the drums in a hard-hitting and professional band as Hatesphere. I’ve already played my first three concerts with the guys and it was fantastic. The energy, the drive and comradeship is exceptional – just as it should be. Now I look forward to show the Hatesphere banner in the U.S!” 

confirmed HATESPHERE tour dates/venues:

Feb 24 Atlanta, GA @ Masque

Feb 25 St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theater

Feb 26 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room

Feb 27 Orlando, FL @ The Social

Mar 01 Houston, TX @ Meridian

Mar 02 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater

Mar 03 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit

Mar 05 Tucson, AZ @ The Rock

Mar 06 Los Angeles, CA @ Roxy Theater

Mar 07 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s

Mar 08 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater

Mar 09 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon

Mar 10 Boise, ID @ The Venue

Mar 12 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater

Mar 13 Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck

Mar 14 Des Moines, IA @ House of Bricks

Mar 15 St. Paul, MN @ Station 4

Mar 16 Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s Rock Club

Mar 18 Washington, DC @ The Rock and Roll Hotel

Mar 19 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church

Mar 20 New York, NY @ Santo’s Party House

Mar 21 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East – Downstairs

Mar 22 Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock

Mar 23 Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theater

Mar 24 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick

Album opener “Lies and Deceit” will not sound foreign to fans of the band as it’s a speedy thrasher with killer riffing and vocalist Jacob Bredahl’s easily recognizable hardcore-ish delivery. The new found versatility starts to show though on follow up track “The Slain”, as well as “Feeding the Demons” and the excellent swamp tinged “Drinking With the King of the Dead”. For those that looking for more of the balls to the wall thrash approach, there’s no need to worry, as “Damned Below Judas”, “Forever War” and “Floating” follow in the same vein as the album opener, and pack that furious punch you seek. “Absolution” is mostly another riff catchy speedster, though ends on a slower, more atmospheric note, which is a great way to close out an album such as this.

At the end of the day, I doubt that anyone that previously wasn’t impressed with Hatesphere is gonna be singing a different tune after hearing Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes, but will be more than enough to keep prior fans happy. For this writer, when it comes to quality death/thrash, it doesn’t get much better than Hatesphere.