HATH

...and if we start with the sound production, Viana has created a powerful, raw, and brutal sound production, which suits the material perfectly. It´s detailed and clear enough for all instruments and vocals to stand out in the mix, but still raw and brutal enough for the material to sound intense and aggressive.

"Of Rot And Ruin" saw Hath increase the pace of their music considerably compared to the 2015 "Hive" EP, which was more of a heavy mid-paced and at times even doomy affair. "All That Was Promised" sees Hath lower the pace a bit again and incorporate more dynamics. They can still blast away when that is called for (take a listen to "Decollation" for proof of that), but the sonic palette and different stylistic elements are quite extensive on "All That Was Promised". The album features elements from technical/progressive death metal, black metal, and post-metal (although the latter element only seldom occurs). The vocals are a combination of death metal growling and a raw aggressive shouting vocal style (often doubled), and occasional semi-melodic shouting vocal parts (which aren´t far removed from what you´ll find on Gojira´s albums). The instrumental performances are through the roof. Viana is an incredibly skilled drummer with a distinct sounding drumming style, who drives the music forward with great energy and conviction, and the guitar riffs and lead work are creative and sharp too.

"All That Was Promised" is through and through a high quality release from Hath, but it´s the unconventional and adventurous songwriting which is anything but linear, that takes the prize. Hath excel in intriguing songwriting ideas and their music is greatly entertaining at all times. You never quite know what comes next. It´s recognisable stylistic elements, but Hath still manage to combine those elements to form a pretty unique sound paired with a fierce brutal energy. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

Stylistically Hath are one of those death metal acts, which combine many different death metal subgenre elements and also elements from black and even post-metal, and they are therefore very difficult to describe correctly...but it´s arguably technically well played and progressive death metal. Compared to the material on "Hive" I think the pace has generally been increased, although the tracks still feature both heavy mid-paced parts and even doomy parts (and some atmospheric acoustic parts). The Opeth influence which was audible on "Hive" isn´t really heard on "Of Rot And Ruin". The dominant vocal styles are growling and raw distorted shouting (often doubled), but there are some more melodic inclined vocal parts on the album too, which remind me of some of the shouting semi-melodic vocal parts on Gojira´s albums. It´s safe to say that Hath have branched out since "Hive". This is incredibly sophisticated and cleverly composed progressive death metal.

Hath are skilled musicians too, and everything is delivered with great technical skill and conviction. The guitar riffs and lead work are intricate and complex and the drumming is technical (yet organic) and varied, pushing the music forward in a great energetic style. The sound production is clear, professional, and powerful. The sound perfectly suits the material and enhances the listening experience. Upon conclusion this is a very impressive debut album by Hath, and it´s far beyond being labelled promising, which is the label many debut albums get. This is so accomplished and intriguing that a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

The material on the 5 track, 32:07 minutes long EP (the reissue features 6 tracks and a total playing time of 38:30 minutes) is technically well played and progressive tinged death metal. When Hath play slow I´m often reminded of Opeth. A feeling which is further enhanced by the fact that the growling vocals sound very similar to how Mikael Åkerfeldt sounded around the turn of the millenium. Hath often double the vocals with a raw higher pitched vocal style too though, which provide the music with a blackened edge, but I don´t think the black metal influences are dominant on this EP. Just like Opeth´s music some tracks on "Hive" also feature acoustic and atmospheric passages, and the material is generally both varied and intriguing. It´s also quite dynamic and the tracks can go from slow and doomy, to an atmospheric acoustic part, to a furiously fast-paced blasting part in just a matter of minutes. I´ve heard many artists try their hands at playing and composing in a similar style, and while quite a few fail, Hath are skilled musicians who pull it off with ease, and they are also capable of writing interesting and memorable material (I hear several hooks in both the vocals and the instrumental parts throughout the EP).

Considering that "Hive" was originally an independent release, it features a very well sounding production job (the EP is produced by drummer AJ Viana). Brutal, powerful, and detailed, which are just the right elements to help make the material shine. And shine it does...and "Hive" is arguably a high quality technical/progressive death metal EP, and it´s almost impossible to believe that this is a debut release. A 3.5 (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

The good news is that every once in a while a band comes seemingly from nowhere to act as a unifying force thus attracting fans of all the disparate styles of death metal and earns the unanimous heaps of praise and respect for such. The New Jersey based HATH appears to be one such band that has slowly but surely been mowing down the competition and by releasing 2022's most fascinating death metal release ALL THAT WAS PROMISED with its blackened death metal angst of its 2019 debut "Of Rot And Ruin," this cool ass band has taken its new bastions of vision closer to the pinnacle of death metal god status.

Having been compared to classic early Opeth for its adventurous mix of prog infused death metal that offers as much in existential contemplation as it does blistering death metal blitzkriegery, HATH has tirelessly worked to take death metal into that blissful center that marries the old school accessibility with the more technical and progressively infused bands that have been wowing the world in the 21st century. While the skull in still life cover art may depict a run of the mill death metal band trying to capture the spirit of days long passed, the musical mojo inside is anything but a spin down retro alley. Nope. These guys are the real deal.

Frank Albanese (guitar, vocals), Greg Nottis (bass, vocals), AJ Viana (drums) and Peter Brown (guitar) got their start back in 2014 and didn't take long to break through the hordes of death metal bands with its debut "Hive" which mixed the progressive metal aspects of Opeth with the more angsty rampages of more modern bands like Slugdge, Sulphur Aeon and even Behemoth. With the arrival of its debut full-length "Of Rot And Ruin" in 2019, HATH upped its game even further having proven that these guys had mastered the art of not only technically adept chug-a-thons but also had the vision of crafting more diverse soundscapes that incorporated not only disparate strains of metal subgenres but also a cornucopia of non-metal tricks and trinkets.

Three years later and barely a week from its official release date of March 4, 2022, HATH is causing quite a stir with its breath of fresh air sophomore release that melds nine monstrosities of tracks into a 51 1/2 minute mind blowing extravaganza of crushing death metal tracks laced with exquisite byzantine finesse that catapults this New Jersey closer to the top of the skull pile. Forging the perfect marriage between devastating death metal bombast and eerie space ambience, ALL THAT WAS PROMISED delivers an array of multifaceted magnanimity rare in the world of death metal and if you ask me blows Opeth away in the rather shallow reserves of progressively infused death metal. This bellowing bravado of bellicose brutality laced with sensual slithering streams of sophistication is exactly what the doctor ordered!

"The Million Violations" sets the tone for the entire album's run with a fade in of clean yet eerie guitar tones in arpeggiated form that slowly ooze into your consciousness like a centipede crawling into your ears and then the band slowly builds up the frenetic uproar into a frenzy of death metal angst replete with varying tempos, a smorgasbord of tones and interesting drum work outs along with a hints of choral vocals set to zombie mode that become fully realized throughout the album and then what sounds like Deathspell Omega at its most intense moments. This opening track immediately displays HATH's keen sense of dynamics with clever guitar licks, varying tones, timbres and distortion techniques. Brilliant! More! More! More!

"Kenosis" harkens back to the previous album with the no nonsense rampage of fast tempos and crazy brutal guitar riffage and percussive machine gun precision but things really get exciting with tracks like "Lithopaedic" which engages in a little foreplay by allowing choral vocals to slowly usher in the chugging riff frenzy that soon erupts. This is where the unique instrumental interplay allows varying riffing, bass lines, drum rolls and vocal phrasing to change things up frequently to keep our short attention spans from drifting off. The strategy of the album continues these basic patterns with an interesting display of quality control and keeping an organic flow of ideas that showcase various picking techniques and other primo fecundity that even allows small ear wormy chorus-like moments such as on the blistering "Decollation."

The death metal party with all variants invited just gets better with "Death Complex" which showcases everything from brutal hyperactive Suffocation style tempos to mid-tempo Autopsy chill time. The dueling guitars offer not only inventive riffing contrapuntal moves but also drift into a soloing session. "Casting Of The Self" offers a cooling off period with an acoustic guitar intro that then turns into a bit of grunge and then back to a more intricate classical guitar mellow mode before erupting into a Behemoth inspired blackened death metal routine. The title track insinuates a slow nightmarish doom metal tune on slo-mo but lo and behold a full eruption of death metal rage interrupts the regularly scheduled program and offers one of the most intense rage-a-thons of the entire album but in perfect HATH mode if offers a varying display of tempos, guitar riffing styles and overall feel. One of the best vocal performances on the album. "Name Them Yet Build No Moment" closes the album in fine form.

All in all HATH hath shown a major leap in maturity with ALL THAT WAS PROMISED by the keeping of promises and more! This album is a true powerhouse of death metal prowess reserved for the champions of the genre and will surely find the band in the company of the top dogs at the death camps. The amount of creativity displayed on this sophomore release is remarkable both for its competence and its breadth of inspired creative mojo. Having thoroughly gushed over this for a while there are a few nitpicky things that do keep this album from sheer perfection. I agree with those who are irritated by the consistent monotonic snare drum attacks as it sounds a bit sterile in comparison to the wealth of tones, timbres and means of distortion otherwise in full spectrum effect. Add to that there are a few moments where some ideas carry on a wee bit too long but am i being too picky? The album does seem to spoil the listener with a wealth of clever creative music magic therefore heightens the attention span. All in all this is so far my favorite death metal release of 2022!!!! Sorry Immolation, i still love you!

4.5 rounded down