Sometimes hopeful careers are ended before they even begun. Well, I’m not sure if the career of HATECROWNED might have been great. But judging from their first (and only) album “Newborn Serpent”, the duo from Tripoli, Lebanon, is a loss for the Black Metal scene. It’s not that the band re-invented or revolutionized the genre with this album. But the album has a refreshing old school sound that summons the spirit of the mid of the 1990s, when Black Metal made the first progress. The primitive and evil music of the churchburners took a more mature direction back then and other influences than so called “True Black Metal” became more and more accepted. Especially some melodies, both fragmentary and distinctive, added a new and great note to the old sound. And this era of Black Metal is very well depicted on “Newborn Serpent”. Somehow I feel reminded of the underrated and pretty overlooked THE ABYSS, particularly their first album “The Other Side”. HATECROWNED had a similar feeling how to integrate some melodies into a harsh Black Metal song. The jangling vocals are another thing both bands had in common. But HATECROWNED sounded unique enough to find their own niche in the Black Metal scene. There are so many nice ideas and exciting turns in the songs that make “Newborn Serpent” one of the best albums of the genre I listened to in the past months. So, even though the band split up recently, give their album a chance. Check out http://hatecrownedofficial.bandcamp.com or www.facebook.com/hatecrowned. Or visit the label to save your copy of the album, limited to 500 copies, at: www.satanath.com