Review: “The Birth of Hate” by Chronicles Of Hate

“‘The Birth of Hate’ is our first creation and is the beginning of our adventure. It’s a journey through the facets of the anger and motivations that feed it. This album talks about strong emotions and the breaking point from which you cannot go back. We mix different elements of metal for this release, you will find breakdowns, and you will find fast death metal riffs along with intentional melodic parts to give it our own personal sound.” Formed in 2016 by guitarists Riccardo D’Angelo and Roberto Simonetti, Chronicles Of Hate was raised from the depths of hell with influences from the old school pioneers of the Death Metal the genre such as At The Gates, In Flames and Death with the clear purpose of blending the solid impact of traditional death metal with grooving vibes. Their lyrics are inspired by real events that feed the anger and strong emotions that occur in our daily lives. Drums on the album were by Antonio Inserillo who guests on the release while vocalist Francesco Macchi and bassist Mirko Pinoli round out the Italian’s line-up.

75 second introduction piece “Deadly World” is an atmospheric mental palette cleanser with a buried spoken word and some choral work around a drum loop that builds a sense of tension before “Devastation… Rise!!” kicks in with the band in full throttle. Macchi’s throat grating unclean vocals are clean enough that you can hear every word of his lyrics which raise a question of morality while being unclean enough that you get that kick. They’re accented enough to give the bands sound a charm that isn’t distracting and are the perfect accompaniment to the Death Metal groove laden guitar work that brings the headbang from the very start. “The Better Way” has a tension loaded lead hook that brings God Syndrome to mind and with Inserillo’s killer fills occupying similar territory to the Russians, it’s a power play that keeps giving on repeated listens. Death, darkness and devastation are all consuming in the lyrics and the pummeling closing calling for self immolation is nothing short of brutal. If there was a question over Macchi’s vocal range given his style, he holds down a bloodcurdling elongated roar on this one that erases any doubt of his skill. Rolling the dice with “Bet On Tragedy” which has some early 2000’s era Metalcore influence in the guitar work that interweaves the leads nicely and has an interesting buried spoken word, this one showcases a bit more of what the band have to offer within its sound. Once again cleansing the palette, this time with a 20 second segment of melodic guitar work, “The Beast Within” continues the lead flourishes with slick style as a vexed Macchi promises that you will face is wrath. A mid tempo rager, it flows through like a hot knife through butter with a huge drum sound and some big crash cymbal hits that make this one an essential live track.

The second half of the record takes shape with a smattering of not quite blast beat fills in “My Obsession” and Macchi reaching for a deeper Death Metal growl that he falls just short of the first time and captures perfectly on the second time around. The angular pick attack is a timeless one and the quality of the mixing and mastering job means that everything has it’s rightful place while the aforementioned huge drum sound has the opportunity to shine. The album as a whole has something of a live feel to it in places, which is more prominent on this one – it sounds like the band played it the track in a room together as one blistering take. Taking some inspiration from the lyrics that are usually found on Thrash albums “Hope Kills” has the tone and violent aggression of a mix 80’s Thrash cut with a bit more bite and none of the meanderings. Chronicles of Hate manage to escape some of the genre trappings while screaming “hope will kill you in the end” and closing on some blistering tribal beats. Single and title track “The Birth Of Hate” is a fine example of what Chronicles Of Hate have to offer and encapsulates the album sound in a single, venomous cut. It has every element and will have you straining every sinew to get into the mosh pit. The bright and classical solo in “Away From Reality” is a nice touch and elevates the track to another level while Macchi calls for an escape from the every day rituals and while it might not have the same aggression levels in the guitar work of the earlier tracks, it showcases what the band may have to offer in a future release [7.5/10]

Track listing

1. Deadly World (1:15)
2. Devastation… Rise!! (3:46)
3. The Better Way (4:33)
4. Bet On Tragedy (3:19)
5. The Beast Within (3:50)
6. My Obsession (3:51)
7. Hope Kills (3:52)
8. The Birth of Hate (3:49)
9. Away From Reality (3:27)

“The Birth of Hate” by Chronicles Of Hate is out 28th February via Extreme Metal Music with pre-orders available here