Hate Division - Strategy Of Obsolesence
Hate Division are a grindcore band out of Canada and 'Obsolesence' is their debut full length. For those who are used to grindcore, this is going to be nothing new. Basically, the band makes heavy, aggressive music with the fury of grindcore speeds with overzealous drumming and nonstop seamless riffs that flow together amongst a dual assault of high pitched squeals and deeper growls, such as with the title track, "Division Of Hate." Others are more in the death metal style with just a heavy atmosphere and the deeper vocals taking the floor such as "Regression Of Reality." Tracks like these are more digestible and probably most enjoyable because there are a lot of coordinated pauses- despite its heaviness- and even a right amount of groove that seems to have a point rather than just being all over the place. On the other hand, the music can get highly repetitive, but most of the tracks on this album go by so quickly that it is highly unlikely that fans will get bored of them anytime soon. The real question is whether one can stomach the aggression of the music or not...?
One thing Hate Division does do well, when they attempt it, is go for the more technical bits of grindcore. Often there will be pauses or breakdowns on tracks like "Parasitic Agenda" where it feels like more than just the hammering out of riffs at incredibly high speeds. The bass can even be heard in its over jazzy way during the brutal beatings in the beginning (they layering here is exceptionally well done) and even though there are no solos to really show off any technical guitar skill, the constant squeak of fret changes shows the skill in the musicianship. The drums also tend to get technical too at times when it comes to the introduction of "Medicinal Perdition," but not many tracks start out like that to give them their moment of glory, or last that long. Overall, basically one is either going to like this because it is grindcore, or hate it because it is too heavy for them to really appreciate. For those not used to grindcore, treat this as death metal and try to take a liking to the deeper growls, as they seem to have more of an impact than the higher shrieks which just sounds like poorly performed black metal. It's a bat to the head, but after multiple hits one can actually see the morbid beauty behind the Hate Division.
One thing Hate Division does do well, when they attempt it, is go for the more technical bits of grindcore. Often there will be pauses or breakdowns on tracks like "Parasitic Agenda" where it feels like more than just the hammering out of riffs at incredibly high speeds. The bass can even be heard in its over jazzy way during the brutal beatings in the beginning (they layering here is exceptionally well done) and even though there are no solos to really show off any technical guitar skill, the constant squeak of fret changes shows the skill in the musicianship. The drums also tend to get technical too at times when it comes to the introduction of "Medicinal Perdition," but not many tracks start out like that to give them their moment of glory, or last that long. Overall, basically one is either going to like this because it is grindcore, or hate it because it is too heavy for them to really appreciate. For those not used to grindcore, treat this as death metal and try to take a liking to the deeper growls, as they seem to have more of an impact than the higher shrieks which just sounds like poorly performed black metal. It's a bat to the head, but after multiple hits one can actually see the morbid beauty behind the Hate Division.