Hatebreed
The Divinity of Purpose

Legacies become forged through consistency - that is what Nuclear Blast states in the press info for the sixth album of Hatebreed called The Divinity of Purpose. It was said in more than one of the reviews I read about this album that you should know how these guys sound, I have no idea as I have never heard this band before receiving this album. And frankly, many of those bands said to be ones to have heard I could have done without. But of course I will not diss Hatebreed just because of that, the continuity thing is a bit more of a niggle though but not a problem for me as it is the first time I hear the band but if they are a major inspiration of the genre, chances are that I have heard many albums and artists similar to what Hatebreed does, especially if they stick to their thing. It is nothing wrong with sticking to your thing as long as you at least manage to stay relevant and not copying yourself, déjà vu is boring both in music and other forms of culture. But what about Hatebreed who has reintroduced a guitarist to the band?

They do play metalcore, no doubt about that and their music sounds about right for the genre. They are straight to the point, no fancy trickery or interludes just plain and simple songs of metalcore. Fairly heavy and aggressive, the sound is fantastic. The songs are either very fast or slightly slower it is like they have two different speeds, but the songs sounds very similar all the way through despite this. Jasta sounds like a typical metalcore singer, and the album as a whole sounds like a typical metalcore album with a sound that many genre rivals would be fairly envious of. Not too much over the half hour of music in short songs is what we get, the album sounds a bit longer than it is when listening to it though so it could have been shorter.

And it should have been shorter but it should also have been more varied and less predictable, anyone looking for something exciting and groundbreaking will be very disappointed. I have read in reviews that it appeals to the fans of the band and that is probably true, the album is not bad in any way and the sound is excellent so there are things to like about it. But at the same time it is a bit underwhelming and it sounds more or less like a slightly polished version of the twelve a dozen metalcore bands that are already out there releasing albums. But Hatebreed was first you say, the might have been but that is no excuse for sounding more bland than most today. Sure it is not bad, I kind of like it at the same time as I don’t really want to hear any more of it after about ten plays. Good thing is that I can say that I have now heard Hatebreed, they weren’t rubbish but quite alright. I wouldn’t say that I would miss having heard them though, there is much better metalcore out there.

The Divinity of Purpose is a decent album, it presses the right buttons of the genre fanatic and their own fanatics will probably hail the continuity and the impressive sticking to the same concept. I think they should have dared to think a little outside their box and done something fun, radical and exciting. This is just another album that will not go down in history, lets just say that it is an okay album and end it there.

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