HATEMONGER “The Vile Maxim” EP
By Dr. Abner Mality
HATEMONGER rises from the always bubbling sewer of the Chicago extreme metal scene and contains some heavy hitters in their lineup. Members of YAKUZA, NOVEMBER’S DOOM, BEAR MACE and more can be found here. That’s why I was expecting a bit more than I got from these guys.
The band is definitely trying to do that grinding Swedish HM-2 death metal sound mixed with straight grind. So far, so good, because that’s a favorite sound for me. Alas, these guys just don’t have it down yet. It takes more than just that growling guitar sound. The riffs here seem rushed and sloppy, with none of the memorability that the likes of GRAVE and DISMEMBER are known for. Nothing sticks in your head for long. There’s a few stabs at melody amidst the mayhem, but it’s nothing like DISMEMBER set the standard for. Aggression without memorability doesn’t work so well.
The band just formed in 2020 and seem to be another “pandemic” band cooked up to ease the boredom of the members. It would have been better for these guys to spend a year or two perfecting their sound instead of just releasing the first thing that came into their head. Redefining Darkness is a great underground label, but this is not one of their better offerings.