VM-UNDERGROUND

Extreme Metal Fanzine est. 2012

Latest Updates

Filter by: band
[%] - [[0-9]] - [A] - [B] - [C] - [D] - [E] - [F] - [G] - [H] - [I] - [J] - [K] - [L] - [M] - [N] - [O] - [P] - [Q] - [R] - [S] - [T] - [U] - [V] - [W] - [X] - [Y] - [Z]
Filter by: label
[[0-9]] - [A] - [B] - [C] - [D] - [E] - [F] - [G] - [H] - [I] - [J] - [K] - [L] - [M] - [N] - [O] - [P] - [Q] - [R] - [S] - [T] - [U] - [V] - [W] - [X] - [Y] - [Z]
Filter by: style
[A] - [B] - [C] - [D] - [E] - [F] - [G] - [H] - [I] - [M] - [P] - [S] - [T] - [V]
Filter by: country
[A] - [B] - [C] - [D] - [E] - [F] - [G] - [I] - [L] - [M] - [N] - [P] - [R] - [S] - [T] - [U]
Filter by: vmu-author
[A] - [B] - [C] - [D] - [E] - [F] - [G] - [H] - [I] - [J] - [K] - [L] - [M] - [N] - [O] - [P] - [R] - [S] - [T] - [V] - [W] - [X] - [Y] - [Z]

Hat – Livet Ebber Ut [Demo]

hat – livet ebber ut [demo]

Info

Hat is a Norwegian Black Metal band featuring Nevresch and Undertrykker, two musicians who have been involved in the scene for a long time, and who came together in 2006 to create some art redolent with the ‘old school’ atmosphere. The first result is this demo, ‘Livet Ebber Ut’, a sharp fifteen minute slice of Nordic bile.

Musically, Hat are certainly are old-school, although they do mix up the vital early Norwegian rawness with a fair dose of grandiose, cold melody, and their production aspirations exceed those of their forebears in scope, if not entirely in execution. Straight away with opener ‘Tortur’ (Norwegian for ‘torture’, as Hat is Norwegian for ‘hate’: and they’d have you believe it’s a difficult language…) the approach is noisy and hateful, with layered, buzzing guitars and a completely unintelligible growl, itself dripping with distortion. A brooding, medium pace is maintained, although the percussive underpinning, though technically good, is marred by a tinny sound. The ‘true’ sound is definitely sought, and all of the first wave bands are evoked.

The problem is, they’re evoked but they’re not exactly easily matched. ‘Hyll Satan’, for example, starts with a rousing, Immortal-style riff, but doesn’t quite achieve that band’s dynamism. The fact that this style stopped being original all those years ago is partly to blame for this, but there is also a certain flatness to the song structuring here which occasionally feels oppressively repetitive. Some exceptions can be found on the title track, ‘Livet Ebber Ut’, which switches around more often, and has the most impressive melodic themes, showcasing Hat’s talent for melding the raw and the grand.

It is in this little promise that my hope for Hat lies; if they can build on their ambitious sound with some fresh song ideas, I think they’ll make an impact, as the resulting intensity could be a sort of grim Norwegian version of the Funeral Mist or Watain-style boot to the face.

Hat

Related Articles

Self-Released

Related Articles

Reviews