Review of the Album "To the Nines" by Danish Thrash and Death Metal Band Hatesphere

“To the Nines” is the 6^th studio album by Danish death and thrash metal band Hatesphere and this is the first album of theirs to not have Jacob Bredahl doing the vocals. Replacing him is the vocalist Jonathan “Joller” Albrechtsen. I would say that with this album, the band has increased their speed and ferocity to a level that we may not have heard before. The vocals are not as rough as they once were but are rough mixed in with lower growls.

It is an understatement to say that this album is filled with speed. Besides the speed, the pounding drums will make bands like Slayer shake their heads in shame as they wonder to themselves: “where in the world did this kind of speed and aggressiveness come from?”

The very fast song called Backstabber is a song about what happens when violence engulfs the streets of a city. It takes an unbelievable amount of patience, strength, and toughness to be able to handle the music of this band but if you are tough you can certainly do it. Lyrically, the band’s lyrics are similar to bands such as Krabathor and Cannibal Corpse.

Clarity is the first song that I ever heard from this album and it may be the strongest song. The song is about a person that is dead even though he claims to be talking to ghosts as the city is under some serious tension. I would interpret the song as being a sort of story that tells of going through darkened skies and through life in a sort of haze with no real direction. Nonetheless, Clarity is one of the strongest songs in the album.

Commencing a Campaign is a short yet good instrumental song that sounds a bit like what the band Arch Enemy would do. This is a really creative way for the band to take a break from the same hard-hitting aggressive songs we have heard on this album to this point.

This is followed by the pretty melodic song “The Writing’s On the Wall.” The lyrics are cheesy because dinner table conversations should never turn into incidences where there is tension. In the Trenches is a song about a man that is obsessed with trying to end the lives of whomever he comes in contact with. Aurora is a song that mentions that dancing in high speed lanes is like a rampage made to sustain. Life can careen out of control if we go out of orbit. Part of the riffing is like the song "Cut Throat" by the band Prong.

Although the album "To the Nines" is a decent groovy death and thrash metal album, the album is not as good as 2004’s Ballet of the Brute. So what is missing from this album? There are not enough varied riffs and the vocals are worse than that album. This album should be listened to after you have heard the band’s earlier albums.