ROCKET REVIEW: HOSTILITY – “Set In Stone” (CD)

HOSTILITY’s second CD is Set In Stone and let me just say that this record is one of the heaviest of the year – destined to find itself among TMD’s top ten list of best metal CD’s of 2010. With an unholy death/thrash-pummeling from hell unleashed on my ears – thanks to a non-stop onslaught of merciless face annihilators like “Leader of The Rejects”, “Aces and Eights” and “Flesh Doll”, I continue to be impressed by this young band’s unrelenting determination to destroy anything in their path, sonically speaking. The intensely brutal-sounding eleven track collection was engineered, mixed and mastered by one of the top names around, Juan Urteaga, who has worked with metal’s elite: MACHINE HEAD, TESTAMENT and EXODUS. The production you get on Set In Stone is a notch above the rest and features some purely inventive musical decimation by lead axe Tony Vorrises and the vocalist with the throat from the bowels of Hades, Greg Haran. Some have labeled this band as an “American post-Pantera/Sepultura worship band”, going as far as to dismiss them entirely because of this — but I think that this group is something special… one that more people need to know about. Yes, while certainly the influences are there – Hostility, in my humble opinion, is actually one of the more original sounding young metal acts of today. They have been one of the fastest rising talents from the over crowded underground metal scene in the U.S., having first been covered by this veteran reviewer way back (four years ago) in Oct/2006 for their first CD release called Uncompromised while writing for the acclaimed metal news site: metalunderground.com . Like I have always been doing over the years – unlike so many reviewers who talk a lot of smack but seem to just keep holding onto the trends of yesterday – it’s always been about pushing forward any and all young and hungry upcoming metal bands that deserve to be heard… come on, that is what The Metal Den was created for. Fuck the trends… you get enough of that on the radio, TV and magazines – and that’s exactly where Hostility is coming from with “Set In Stone”. I applaud them every inch of the way for not buckling and becoming just another screamo or radio rock band that gets watered down after their debut. Let’s face the facts, fine people… Hostility is also carving out a serious name for themselves on tour, supporting the likes of DEVILDRIVER , so they continue to infect new listeners — spreading throughout the masses… gaining hordes of new fans by the minute! If they can keep it on the tracks – and not get derailed with the industry’s bullshit – I absolutely see a big time future for Hostility, most assuredly if they can keep developing their perfectly concocted “metal-monster” sound… but no matter where they go from here — their vicious legacy in metal has already been undoubtedly Set In Stone.

tmd

ROCKET REVIEW:[starreview tpl=16]
HOSTILITY – “Set In Stone” (CD)
(Voltaic Records, 2010)

1. Leader Of The Rejects
2. Aces & Eights
3. Dividing Line
4. Baton Symphony
5. Resented Legacy
6. Flesh Doll
7. Said And Done
8. One By One
9. Hard Luck
10. Something Wicked
11. My Terms

http://www.myspace.com/hostilityus