ROCKET REVIEW: HATEBREED – “The Divinity Of Purpose” (CD)

American metallic hardcore masters HATEBREED prove why they remain one of the most important metal bands of their generation in 2013 by slamming their way through a simple yet brutally crafted collection of mosh pit anthems entitled The Divinity Of Purpose. Led by the pissed off Drill Instructor voice of Jamey Jasta, the band is so unrelenting in its heavy attack on every track that one can sense that these dudes have a really big chip on their shoulders. It’s understandable. People get this intense musical unit all wrong.

They were recently falsely included in an article by CNN in 2012 that listed them as a “white power” band. But the truth is that they are not racist at all. The hammerheads over at CNN did make a correction in their article by removing Hatebreed’s name, but like every other ‘bullshit’ card that is dealt to metal music, widespread damage had been done to their reputation. And let’s face it. That is the kind of shit the American media does to people all the time. Smear and destroy. So do you think they really give a shit about ruining a metal band’s image? These cats are totally DIY and work very hard at what they do to deliver a positive message to the youth of today, so something like this is just uncool. And putting that kind of label on someone, false or not, can typically prove to be fatal in this fickle ass world.

But Hatebreed is a bit of a musical legend, at almost 20 years old now. And legends never die. Like Pantera before them, this is a band that helps inspire the ‘youthful underdogs’ in our society with their encouraging lyrics… helping steer the younger people coming up in a crazy world in the proper direction, in a time that forces kids to grow up more quickly today to deal with the harsh realities that life brings.

The Divinity Of Purpose is Hatebreed’s crowning achievement of their career. It kicks so much ass that it makes you want to grab someone and choke them out for shits and giggles. No but seriously, starting off with the perfectly dominating “Put It To The Torch”, you feel like you’ve just entered heavy metal boot camp and are ready to get broken in for real. The fury in Jasta’s voice tied to the steady riff assault of Wayne Lozinak and Frank Novinec on guitars is palpable and no more evident in hard hitters “Honor Never Dies” and “Own Your World”, which are solidly constructed, grooving as all hell cuts and definitely the perfect fuel to truly set this record on fire.

“Who’s got more heart than you?” Jasta barks, before hitting the powerful chorus on the latter song: “Fists up. Head high. We own the fucking world tonight!”

Having been co-produced by HATEBREED with Chris “Zeuss” Harris (SUICIDE SILENCE, ALL THAT REMAINS, SHADOWS FALL) and Josh Wilbur handling mixing duties, the album gets even more heavier I feel on the tracks “Before The Fight Ends You”, “Dead Man Breathing”, and “Nothing Scars Me”. My personal favorite, however, is track eleven’s “Boundless (Time To Murder It)”, thanks to its all out riff chugging, ‘fuck you if you don’t understand us’ attitude.

ROCKET REVIEW:
[starreview tpl=16]
HATEBREED
“The Divinity Of Purpose” CD
(Razor & Tie/2013)

1. Put It To the Torch
2. Honor Never Dies
3. Own Your World
4. The Language
5. Before The Fight Ends You
6. Indivisible
7. Dead Man Breathing
8. The Divinity Of Purpose
9. Nothing Scars Me
10. Bitter Truth
11. Boundless (Time To Murder It)
12. Idolized And Vilified

http://hatebreed.com/