Hateful - Set Forever On Me (2020)

Unleashing nearly 40 minutes of crafty Technical Death Metal, today we have Italy’s Hateful and their third full-length release “Set Forever On Me”. While most bands in the genre currently focus on technical wankery, this band actually delivers cohesive songs that are both technically proficient and enjoyable to listen to. The band’s sound is a mixture of old-school Death/Necrophagist Tech Death Metal with a few modern touches, so you know you are in for a treat.

The band quickly blasts into the playful craftiness of “On the Brink of the Ravine”, flanked by intricate drumming and engaging riffs, the band sets a very hectic pace. The band’s ability to still sound like a traditional Death Metal band is quite evident as tracks like “Phosphenes” and “Oxygen Catastrophe” have heavy roots and just need some technical sprinkles to come together, and deliver brilliant headbanging passages.

Our personal favorite set of tracks in this release is the crushing “Caldera” and the blistering “Time Flows Differently”, two tracks that showcase the band’s technical wizardry while delivering neck-snapping moments with sheer brutality (and that awesome bass guitar line on the latter). Other songs like “Our Gold Shined in Vain” shake things up with a jazzier/improvisational build-up to a more playful use of the band’s musical skills. These types of elements that are thrown into the regular song structures make the band standout from the rest and keep their sound engaging for the duration of the album.

As a whole, “Set Forever on Me” is one crushing release filled with technical brilliance, but never going over the top. Hateful is a band that’s been together for quite a while and it clearly shows in how cohesive and well defined their music is. If you are looking for Technical Death Metal that is both expertly crafted and catchy, look no further and pick up a copy of this release.

Label: Transcending Obscurity Records

Release: February 7th, 2020

Genre: Technical Death Metal

Country: Italy