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Hackneyed: Death Prevails

When I began my listen for the debut by Germany's Hackneyed I had to admit that I felt as though I was listening to something new by the legendary yet imaginary Dethklok because it had the same drive to it in the musical sense and the lyrical content and vocals came off a very similar to that project. It took me a few more turns to realize that this was some pretty intense stuff and that it was serving up all the proper reverence to the Death Metal giants of the past and when it came down to it the guys were showing that they really knew how to play and must have been at this for many years before snaring their recording deal. It was after this musing that I realized that the band was dealing with an average age of 16 and from there I was rather impressed with their delivering and overall intensity. Extreme Death Metal is an art form no matter what you think of it and its execution is not as easy as one might think so when the lightning fast riffs that we find on it are complimented by drumming that is just as fast then you know you are dealing with something rather special. Their Nuclear Blast Records debut is called Death Prevails and the cover sports a rather cool looking Grim Reaper who would serve as a great stage mascot ala Eddie from Iron Maiden and the nine tracks serve well as an introduction to a band that really holds some promise for the genre. Clearly their young ages do not do them a disservice and instead show them as musicians who have been paying attention to the legends of Extreme Death Metal before them. I felt some riffs and feels called to mind the work of Decapitated or Behemoth in terms of the musical structure but lyrically they had more in common with the likes of Cannibal Corpse. Just look at the words for "Gut Candy" and "Ravenous" if you need more proof. Though much of the release seems to deal with murder and cannibalism, two topics that have been done to death in the genre, there are some exceptional pieces to be found here. I liked the difference of "Neon Sun" which seemed to bring up the aspect of the end of the world and "Worlds Collide" since that one had a lot of Old School Metal vibe to it. My favorite track of them all was "Symphony Of Death" since there was a little bit of everything in it and showed the guys as more than a one-trick pony. As mentioned we get the lyrics in the booklet and it serves up photos of the young lads as well and while some of the content might seem juvenile when compared to bands who have been at it far longer, remember these guys are young and pushing out of the gates with some aggression that I am sure time will find them honing to perfection as the years go on.

The band roster is Phil (vocals), Tim (drums), Devin (guitar), iX (guitar) and Alex (bass) and despite their name Hackneyed being defined as "lacking originality" or "trite" the guys sure seem to be proving that youth is not wasted on the young in terms of Metal music and its proliferation into the future. Check this one out to see what the new breed of Death Metal sounds like.


Track Listing
1. Unseen Enemy
2. Gut Candy
3. Ravenous
4. Axe Splatter
5. Neon Sun
6. World's Collide
7. Symphony Of Death
8. Bone Grinder
9. Again

Added: September 2nd 2008
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 5362
Language: english

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Hackneyed: Death Prevails
Posted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2008-09-02 17:05:14
My Score:

Hard to believe this German death metal collective are only in their teens (average age of 16!), as once you make your way through their Nuclear Blast debut Death Prevails, the band known as Hackneyed do their best to channel the styles of veterans Nile, Deicide, Behemoth, Decapitated, and the like, end result being a punishing brew of brutal, at times technical death metal. Drummer Tim plays his kit like a crazed kid on PCP, blasting away with reckless abandon while his bandmates litter the landscape with torrents of complex riffery and effective death growls. There's some serious stuff happening here, like the manic "Axe Splatter", the intricate bruiser "Gut Candy", the slower and more grinding gem "Neon Sun", and the groove laden "Symphony of Death", complete with some ferocious growls & grunts from singer Phil. Though it's solid all around, I'm thinking that the best is yet to come from these lads, as there's a certain 'epic-ness' that is somewhat missing here, a certain hesitancy to go into unchartered waters, something that the bands I mentioned previously have mastered. At roughly a half-hour, Death Prevails comes and goes pretty quickly, so chances are if you like this sort of thing you'll be wondering if 'that's it' and hitting the replay button to get another dose. Very solid, with lots of potential-a new player on the death metal scene has arrived.



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