Hatebreed - Perseverance REVIEW
I think that I am pretty much pleased with the resurgence of what seems to be an American metalcore or hardcore scene again ... I can remember my fondness in high school for D.R.I.'s "Crossover" (1987) ---
Speed metal/hardcore masterwork which was really different for its time for combining the two styles so well ... Actually I still have it as an LP ... yikes ... well, DRI has a website where they have the remasters ... their website has a LOUD flash component to it!!I had to laugh because when I went there one night it was very late ... and all of a sudden BOOM! out of my computer speakers ... assaulted by classic DRI, startled the hell out of me ... ha
Hatebreed - Perseverance: B+
Anyways, almost a year ago, I picked up this album by Hatebreed after hearing that it was so righteous ... so HEAVY, brutal, angry, etc. ... so let's just say it isn't a Jewel CD --- its the sound of a ROID RAGE, if roid rages were set to music
Hatebreed is part of a new wave of American hardcore or metalcore that features a lot of great East Coast bands .... Sworn Enemy and Shadows Fall come immediately to mind ... actually right now Shadows Fall's latest is getting a lot of spins in my car
Anyways, after listening to this CD the first time I was impressed with how HEAVY this CD is and how the music just gets after it --- no goofing around, just straightforward, short compact brutality that will probably upset your neighbors or make others look at you in traffic ... largely because this CD invites testing the speaker paper of your collective audio systems
The other aspect of it is that these songs remarkably are about turning within for strength --- they are INSPIRATIONAL... now if they played this at the gym instead of pop hits, you'd have grandma lycra getting off the treadmill and benching 400 ... I think I could squat my car plus the other cars in the parking lot too if they played it at the gym... its that rare kind of cool music to lift to
If I had to describe it: fierce urgent, desperate, pissed off vocals, dark heavy riffs, and a driving rhythm section that just can haul ass or shake the sky (with equal effectiveness) ... I really think that it must be heard to be believed
An outstanding track that you have maybe heard is I WILL BE HEARD from the soundtrack for XXX (yes, the Vinny movie) ... I think that it exemplifies the album in that it is simply an obliterator ... the combo of heavy riffs and fierce poignant inspiring vocals and tempo shifts that create all these great INTENSE moods
Freddie D's Lame Breakshyt is MTV's concept of what it is to be brutal and aggro ... this CD of compact brutal songs is a lecture in aggro rage music that leaves that LB band's music looking and sounding like f--k--g Savage Garden music (you know, the people who knew they loved you before they met you)
I would break down each track but I would end up trying to come up with superlatives to indicate the level of rage, passion, power, EMOTION and just FUGEN intense-itude that this disc has
Depending on mood, this album can go from great to RFG!!!!!!!!
I think that this disc has to be taken for what it is --- a hella intense, HEAVY, riff crushingly good, moshpit filling, scream-along, LOUDFEST
And this one really isn't for everyone ... but if you have even the least bit of ANGST or need a driving in traffic pissed off disc ... you're not going to find much better