You can trust Louder
If you arrive late on the scene then please remember to bring something fresh with you.
Norway’s The Hate Colony would do well to remember that piece of advice. They chug, shred and groove in all the right places and even throw in a couple of electronic breaks that break up the monotony of brutality now and then, but the overall impact just seems stale when compared to many of the major players in metal in 2014. At no point do they ever sound entirely like themselves, this despite Blood Runs Black being the sort of thing you imagine easily would inspire circlepits the world over. If they could escape the confines of the mosh metal genre they find themselves in, then there could be a potentially very good band in our midst. As it is at the moment, they desperately need to focus their effort internally to concoct something special. And they could do a lot worse than looking at the snaking, electro pulse of album highlight Solitude as a blueprint.
Via Self-Released
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Stephen joined the Louder team as a co-host of the Metal Hammer Podcast in late 2021, eventually becoming a regular contributor to the magazine. He has since written hundreds of articles for Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Louder, specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal. He also presents the Trve. Cvlt. Pop! podcast with Gaz Jones and makes regular appearances on the Bangers And Most podcast.