Prepare for another thrash assault from Sweden! Skulldrain is the band's name and they open the game with a full-length album titled 'Hatred Rising'. These guys have history in bands such as Demonical, Altered Aeon, Undivine and Sectu, plus collectively in Zodiac Ciphers. I admit, that only Demonical and Sectu are familiar to me, so let's just say, that Skulldrain play modern thrash metal.

Modern in its technical level and sound, that is. This has nought to do with metalcore stuff, thankfully. This is 100% pure Swedish steel! The band's influences come from way back, when thrash metal was started: Slayer, Sodom, Destruction, Testament. Yes, those familiar names... Skulldrain have nicely alloyed it all into their kind of a mixture, but one should not expect anything groundbreaking. It can be ripping and fast, and it can get slow and mean. There's not much Swedish sound in them, except for some The Haunted style bits. Skulldrain also have loads of groove, but they are not in groove metal genre at any time. It just has that swing similar´to newer Testament for example. But that country-ish outro is just a question mark here!

With machine gun riffing, moshable beats, pounding bass and rough, grunted vocals, the band sound very energetic indeed. The thrash metal screw was turned tight. They do not much play with melodies, but they have been able to throw in some catchy riffing for sure. It's also intense. Mostly, the vibe is on aggressive and darker side; they definitely weren't skating in some sunny place during creating these tunes.

The guitars were tuned pretty high, so expect no doomy delights here. Some tasty technical leads are heard, and 'Through Death' contains something rather similar to Scar Symmetry, meaning more progressive touch. The drums sound snappy and cymbals have very trebly clash. The bass guitar do not have a big arena here, even it does its job. The vocals remind me of a mix of Sodom's Tom Angelripper and Slayer's Tom Araya, and M.O.D.'s Billy Milano. They are screamed, grunted and shouted. The lyrics deal with news-worth topics, such as war, societies, ideals, politics... All rotten, and very much real.

The production is clean, full of energy. While it is on trebly side, it still has loud kick drums and bass guitar. Sounds well-crafted, and the music is that nasty, that it is okay and not too polished. The album has Costin Chioreanu artwork, not Ed Repka's. Not saying that Repka one would have been unsuitable... All in all, 'Hatred Rising' is an album, that can grab with its fierceness, or some more catchier songs. It might not be an imminent hit, but it certainly gives more with more spins given. A cool opening from Skulldrain.

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
06/01/2017 19:42