Videoclip of the Month!!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Prehate - 2012

Prehate - 2012

2012 is Prehate’s debut EP. This EP is of the Metalcore genre and was released by Noisehead Records. As soon as you start listening to any of the tracks, you know what this album is all about. This EP is energy packed and is a mix of Metalcore aspects with the speed and pace of Death Metal as well as some Hardcore influences.

Prehate is a relatively new band that hopes to make a name for them self with their debut EP 2012. I have to say this is a great way to start their young careers as Metalcore artists. Although they are the new guys on the block, this EP is nothing to be sneezed at. This EP features really good melodic riffs and the pace of this EP is very fast. Unlike many other Metalcore bands that take aspects from Death Metal and have a more Deathcore like approach. These guys focus more of melody rather that sheer speed and heaviness. There aren’t many breakdowns and there is nothing about this album that tells you that they are trying to be heavy. Although these guys are Metalcore, they incorporate some things that you would usually find in Death Metal. The first thing that you notice is their vocals. The vocals have a Death Metal style to them; they use Death Growls, Death Screams, inward screams and Guttural Growls. There are 2 vocalists in this band and it is very easy to tell that there is one who specialises in does normal Growls and Screams and the other one handles the inward screams. Inward screaming is very hard to do and this is probably why they get someone to specialise in doing it. This was a good idea because it saves them the trouble of getting one person to handle it them all. Also another thing they have incorporated in their sound that is rare in Metalcore is the Pig Squeal, this also adds a Death Metal Style edge to their sound.

Another thing that noticeable about them is the pace in which they play. They like to maintain a fairly quick pace throughout the entire EP. The thing that mainly governs the pace is the drumming, the drums are very fast and the pace does not slow down that much. To make the music sound a lot faster they have made the drums sound louder than the other instruments. I don’t blame them for doing that because their drummer is very talented and keeps perfect time with the other band members.  Also like many great Death Metal drummers, he also has a fairly fast double kick that he uses numerous times throughout the EP. Also they aim at melody rather than speed and heaviness, this is important for bands like this because many bands tend to overdo it but Prehate managed to balance it out perfectly. The distortion of the guitars is very different because the same type of distortion used in many Hardcore bands, also they like to mix the riffs up. One minute they are playing a Metalcore riff and next minute they are playing a Hardcore style riff. This is pretty good because it keeps the songs momentum rolling and saves a lot of the tracks on this EP from getting boring. Also, in a few tracks there are parts where it feels fairly atmospheric. The atmosphere sounds dark at times, but it doesn’t last long. Although it has atmosphere, I have a feeling that it’s not suppose to be there at all.

This EP features high speed and melodic tracks and this is found across the whole EP. As soon as you hear the opening track you will know what this EP and Prehate is all about. Survive is the opening track for this EP. Don’t be fooled by the strange musical at the start. This track has some very good melodies in it and there is some kind of tension in this track the gets built up and destroyed as the song progresses. Also there is that atmosphere I mentioned earlier, also it sounds like they have utilized a choir for that track. Although there are some parts where it gets fast it is nowhere near the fastest song on the EP. There is nothing that is overly fast but the track The Anthem Of The Damned is fairly fast and it is the only track in the whole EP that has a decent breakdown in it. The Anthem Of The Damned would also be the heaviest track on there as well, not only is if heavy but it also has some fairly good melodies in it as well.

Although this is a decent debut EP it is not exactly perfect. There is one thing that this band fails to do with this release and that is variety. This has let the whole thing down beacuse practically all of the tracks sound the same. It has the same riffs, same vocals and the same structure. This is a very common mistake with new bands. They find a nice riff or tune and just to play it safe they play the same thing over and over again with just a few exceptions. Also there seems to be a lot of starting and stopping throughout all of the tracks and also a lot of sudden changes between melodic parts and unorganised parts it seems to be interrupting the way the whole thing should flow.

Also that the music seems very loose at times and the drummer tends to play faster that he should at times. Also the vocals sound out of place. Its mainly the inward screaming because it doesn’t seem to suit their music. Also there are many times where the vocalist’s vocals fail and ends up sounding squeaky. The last thing to mention is that sometimes the vocalist attempts to do a Guttural Growl. When they try it, they don’t hold a consistent tone and also that when the vocalists voice fails, he squeaks and that is the last thing that is meant to happen during a Guttural Growl. Also it is very easy to tell when his vocals are about to fail because he gets quiet and usually when people do that type of growl, all the other instruments stop so the listener can hear the growl clearly. When his voice fails, he stops pre-maturely and you end up getting 2 to 3 seconds of complete silence. Also lyrically is it very repetitive, at times it sounds like a broken record when they sing the chorus over and over again.

Overall this is not a bad debut release by Prehate. It features some great Metalcore riffs in it and is both fast and melodic. This band does not aim at being the heaviest band around as is perfect for people who like the more in your face Hardcore style music but with a Death Metal twist. I know I sounds weird but they have incorporated both Hardcore and Death Metal aspects to make some great tunes. Although it is very good there are a few problems that affect the EP as a whole. The songs individually aren’t that bad, its just that they practically play the same boring song throughout the entire EP. Also the vocals sound out of place and don’t really suit this type of music and the lyrically it is boring. Unfortunately these problems had a major affect on this EP as a whole. They could have added a little more variety to go with it because their sound get old fast. There are a few decent tracks on this EP but I recommend the track The Anthem Of The Damned. It is definitely the standout track in the whole EP and basically summarises the whole EP into one track. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes Metalcore and Melodic Death Metal. Overall this debut EP is not bad but it can be improved quite a bit. I give this a 14/20. 


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