Hath - Of Rot and Ruin
HATH RELEASES WICKEDLY EXCELLENT ‘OF ROT AND RUIN’
New Jersey’s melodic death metal outfit Hath recently dropped their debut LP, entitled Of Rot and Ruin.
Hath
Formed in 2014, Hath is made up of Frank Albanese (vocals, guitar), Greg Nottis (vocals, bass), Peter Brown (guitar), and A.J. Viana (drums). The band released their debut EP, Hive, in 2015, to beau coup underground anticipation and chatter. Now with Willowtip Records, the band is ready to strut their stuff.
Of Rot and Ruin offers up nine-tracks. Track one is called “Usurpation,” and opens with tolling bells, followed by thick viscous riffs and a blast beat from Hell’s anteroom. Pounding guitars topped by ragged, raging vocals infuse the tune with clotted washes of death metal dread. On the solo section, I love the moaning tones of the guitar flowing into muscle-bound chords.
Highlights on the album include “Rituals,” with its sparkling intro, almost delicate, transitioning into a measured hefty melody that ramp up to scorching hellacious levels of energy prior to descending once again. A ferocious blast beat supports an opaque wall-of-sound of hypertrophic density, giving the tune a full orchestral ambiance as choir-like harmonies rise up.
Complex compositions and spectacular sonic development demonstrate the band’s gift for what is essentially refined elegance, something usually foreign to death metal.
“Withered” opens on dreamy, drifting colors and then suddenly goes black with compact gravitational weight, as penetrating snarling vocals ride over crushing guitars of relentless tsunami-like mass. The bass line on this track, as well as all the other tracks, projects grand concentrated tones.
“Worlds Within” starts off like a prog-rock tune and then rockets off into the dynasphere on flooding guitars. This my favorite track on the album because of its shift from pummeling death metal to creamy, sophisticated melodic flavors, prior to the wickedly killer sonic climax, as the lyrics rip the fabric of the atmosphere.
“The first age of humanity / Heralded by primordial embers / Set upon by festering rot / Don't let it grow, the dead stray from their graves / Forgotten who they were / The flame can rekindle them all.”
Of Rot and Ruin delivers nine excellent tracks of vicious, dynamic melodic death metal. Complex compositions and spectacular sonic development demonstrate the band’s gift for what is essentially refined elegance, something usually foreign to death metal.
