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Hatchet

Awaiting Evil

Written by: PP on 14/06/2008 13:15:58

Hatchet are yet another band attempting to revive the 80s bay area thrash scene, though with slightly different weapons than their peers. Whilst everyone else in the thrash scene seems to be placing focus either on playing as faithfully in the 80s style as they can (Evile, I\'m looking at you) or alternatively revoking the relentless party atmosphere that was sometimes connected with the genre (Municipal Waste and clones!), Hatchet\'s debut album \"Awaiting Evil\" takes a rather surprising angle at the thrash metal scene.

What would you say if I told you Hatchet were part tech metal, part Bay Area thrash, and part metalcore? You\'d probably laugh at my face and call for the material to be binned or that I must be just joking. Although Hatchet has a vocalist who believes firmly in the angry yell / heavy metal vibrato type of singing typical to the thrash scene, their guitarists are both going in an atypical direction. The speed is there, as is shredding, but occasionally the guitarists spew out a melodic metal / metalcore riff in the vein of bands like Darkest Hour. For me, this factor alone makes Hatchet more interesting than the overwhelming numbers of thrash clones coming out of their caves as of late. I\'m sure the genre purists will shun me for saying this, but the technical hooks and riffs in the guitar work is exactly what this genre has needed for a good while already. Even the solos are completely devoid of usual thrash clichés of playing to the same key as the mightly Slayer, which brings a fresh breath of change in my opinion.

My only real problem with the release lies with the vocalist. At times, his angry clean yells fit the design well. But all too often, he sounds like some kind of tongue-in-cheek version of Tom Araya, as if he didn\'t take their music seriously enough. I\'m sure that\'s not the case, but removing the unnecessary vibrato bits and adding in a few shrieks and screams here and there would make this an awesome record all around.

Download: Frailty Of Flesh, Sealed Fate
For the fans of: Evile, Skeletonwitch, Darkest Hour, Slayer
Listen: Myspace

Release date 28.05.2008
Metal Blade Records
Provided by Target ApS