Along with the likes of Carnal Forge, Blood Tsunami, and One Man Army, Hatesphere plays a brand of Scandinavian thrash metal that is influenced by the likely suspects: At The Gates, Slayer, and old Soilwork. Steadily releasing an album every year or two since 2001, they are one of those bands that seem like they have a niche audience in their home country (Denmark), but have yet to capture the attention of metalheads abroad. Even though Serpent Eyes And Killer Eyes is my first introduction to the band, I get the strong feeling that their sound has remained consistent during their career.

After doing a bit of research online, I found out that this album sees Hatesphere injecting more of a mid-tempo / groove influence into their sound, and that’s pretty accurate for the most part. Opening song Lies and Deceit opens with a chugging downbeat riff, and introduces the pissed-off, hardcore tinged vocals of singer Jacob Bredahl. There’s nothing particularly bad with this track, but since there is nothing particularly good about it, it just fails to forcefully grab the listener’s attention like an opening track should. Unfortunately, the riffs of Jakob Nyholm and Peter Lyse Hansen never really seem to grab your attention. They are never distractingly bad; it’s just that I can’t seem to walk away air-guitaring the air around me, which is something I should always find myself doing after listening to some high quality thrash. In fact, the only track that really grabbed my attention would have to be Damned Below Judas. Even then, I found myself paying more attention to the superb, yet seldom used death vocals of Bredahl, and the unusually fast tempo at the beginning of the song. Other than that, and the cool bluesy harmonica intro of Drinking With The King Of The Dead, I couldn’t really connect with any of the other material. Take Forever War, for example. Anyone who has listened to Arch Enemy, early The Haunted, or happened to be in a room where any given song of Slaughter Of The Soul was within hearing distance, has heard this done better, numerous times before. Using the lowest note as a pedal tone, while throwing in obligatory melodic runs in between, I felt like I could almost predict what was going to happen next. In this case, that's not a good thing.

But hey, metal is metal, right? The slow parts can get your head nodding if you give them a chance. The solos are passable and done in good taste, while the drumming is rock steady. This album will do for anyone looking for a quick fix of modern thrash, but I can’t really imagine it staying in my CD player for more than a few spins. What’s even harder to imagine is this album garnering them a significant increase in attention from the listening public, especially since the same label released the new Iced Earth on the same day. Even so, I won’t count these guys out just yet. They appear to have the experience and the drive, but unless you are a member of The Black Dahlia Murder or Blood Tsunami, something different needs to be a part of your songwriting. Whether it comes in the form of amazing technical prowess, irresistible hooks, or insane levels of energy, it has to be there. Otherwise, a band will fall into the huge and growing list of Gothenburg-inspired artists who usually get nothing more than a “…meh” from the metal masses.

Note: Below is the video for "Drinking With The King Of The Dead". In time the video may become outdated and fail to play.