What's in a name? Well, in the case of HATESPHERE, not much. Such a generic, automatic band name-generator type of identity for a group of musicians to labor under. It may be perfect for the front page of Metal Maniacs, but the blandness of the name only hits home when this magnificent old-school thrash is nailing your sorry ass to the wall.

The HATESPHERE boys know we love the classic thrash, and that's what they deliver here. It's amped-up, polished, and reeking with riffs culled from SLAYER's "South of Heaven" and maybe KREATOR's "Extreme Aggression ". It's a familiar style for sure, and the vocals wander into THE HAUNTED territory from time to time, but this is still a spectacular find for those seeking a headbanging holy grail (or evil grail, more likely). "Heaven is Ready to Fall" moves from breakneck speed to sudden orchestration and a MANOWAR-ish spoken word bit (!) while the title track starts and stops like some nightmare schoolbus ride. The label should put these guys on the road with IMPALED NAZARENE or CATARACT, run that smoke machine and thrash it up, baby! Ignore the bland NEVERMORE-ish artwork and dull name and rattle your head to this masterpiece. Enter to the realm of HATESPHERE!

- Marchman

OFFICIAL SITE: www.hatesphere.com

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Reaper of Life

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