Norwegian band THE HATE COLONY first appeared on the metal scene in 2011 with their debut album “Dead Or Victorious”, a production that was well received back then and brought many comments about having more of an international sound than many other Norwegian bands. “Navigate” is their second full length production, and was released through Norwegian label Trøndercore Records in 2014.
Back in the days when I enjoyed my teenage years listening to metal, The Hate Colony would have easily been tucked inside an extreme metal context. As decades have flown by since then they aren’t as far out, or deep below perhaps, than what they would have been back then, but a certain affection for bands that venture well outside of the boundaries of what was called heavy metal back then and true metal today will be needed to be able to enjoy this vibrant slice of modern day intense metal.
I kind of assume that the members of this band are intimately familiar with the metal scene that developed from the late 1990’s and onward, where many metal bands started expanding the boundaries of metal rather profoundly, as the dramatic, bombastic and intense landscapes explored here have few associations to the bands of decades long past. Booming powerful guitar riffs alternate with gnarly riff barrages, intense single riff start and stop arrangements alternate with vibrant swirling and circulating guitar riff exploits, with further dramatic impact by clever use of dissonant t impact noises that may or may not be of electronic origin. Elegant melodic overlays from guitar soloing and keyboards come and go, adding a more delicate sheen top the proceedings, and the band appears to have a clever use of drum patterns as something of a specialty: Rather than having the pounding, hammering one-dimensional drum barrages of many contemporary metal bands adding elements from hardcore to their excursions, The Hate Colony knows when slower drum patterns can be used as an effective contrast to more intense guitar excursions and vice versa. And on the elegant, atmospheric laden Interlude, the bands also showcase that they know a bit about music outside of the metal realm, in this case a piece clearly inspired by classical music or, possibly, soundtracks.
The Hate Colony are3 at their best when the subtly alter the main emphasis of their style between extreme metal,. more distinct hardcore tinged passages and passages with more of a dramatic, djent-tinged expression, with opening cut Recheck as an example of this band at their very best in my personal opinion. They can get a bit too one-dimensional at times though, which doesn’t really suit them, but also when they venture out into rather more ambitious territories, such as on Pandemonium, they come across as a band that still needs to develop their craft a bit more to be able to master those ambitions. But more often than not they manage to balance their impulses to be aggressive, intense and ambitious, using subtle alterations within a context of what I’d describe as a smooth variety of contemporary extreme metal to good effect throughout. The aggressive, shout and growl style lead vocals probably the main limiting detail to their general reach, well executed from what I can hear but a vocal style that isn’t to everybody’s taste.
If you enjoy intense, contemporary metal that incorporate elements from djent and metalcore into a dark and dramatic blend and then adds a light coating of delicate, melodic elements to this brew then The Hate Colony is a band that most likely will merit an inspection. They describe their style as “Metalcorish”, a useful indicator as for whether or not you’ll find their music appealing presumably.
My rating: 77/100
