Hatesphere – The Great Bludgeoning (2011)

After multiple line-up changes, today we have the return of Hatesphere and their aggressive Thrash Metal sound, but now refined with a Hard Rock edge that makes them even better than before. Changing vocalist is a major move for any band, but Esse Hansen delivers powerful pipes that nicely fit the band’s evolved sound.

Through the nine tracks presented in “The Great Bludgeoning”, the band delivers powerful Thrash Metal anthems that sound very sophisticated and intriguing since they don’t seem to be ‘more of the same’ stuff we get with countless Thrash releases these days. With the powerful opener “The Killer”, we immediately listen to the different distortion and melodic nature of the guitar riffs, something very refreshing considering the band’s previous two releases sounded very similar to each other.

With a hefty dose of Melodic Hard Rock sections, “Venom”, “Decayer”, “Resurrect with a Vengeance”, deliver a more mature sound for this band while still maintaining a few similarities with the past. The album’s production is very clear and all the elements in this release sound like a million dollars especially the crafty drumming (provided by Mike Park Nielsen, ex-Mercenary).

In terms of the standout song of the album, “Need to Kill” delivers a hefty hard rocking vibe with some Thrash elements that immediately make it standout from the rest. The guitar riffing is very well crafted and heavy enough to keep things in the Metal side. Closing the release we have the semi-Melodic DM song “Devil In Your Own Hell”, a track that delivers brilliant melodic sections with some very traditional Thrash vocals/riffing combinations.

When it comes to Thrash Metal, there are only a handful of ‘new’ bands that have managed to make the sound their own and have an impact with their music and Hatesphere is one of them. The band’s more melodic approach to “The Great Bludgeoning” is a great effort into enriching the genre and not just releasing more of the same stuff. If you like Thrash and good Metal in general, give this release a try.

Release: September 27th, 2011

Country: Denmark