HATEFUL are a three-piece hailing from Italy, crafting their thrashing Death Metal with strong technical overtones since 1997. Some readers of VOICES may remember the CD sampler “Tworzenia, Resurrezione, Démence” released by Nihilistic Holocaust in 2006 which featured three tracks of the Italians (review here). Finished four years later (yes, another old recording reviewed today – but good music is timeless!), “Coils Of A Consumed Paradise” stands as the first full length album consisting of thirteen tracks of evil, technical Death Metal. Despite being labeled as brutal technical Death Metal here and there (being distributed in the US by Sevared Recs might have to with it), it must be said that HATEFUL deliver their material in a winding, twisted manner which has much more in common to the approach of technicality prevalent in the early to mid-nineties especially when it comes to the riffing, think of the classics such as PESTILLENCE, DEATH, early MONSTROSITY or partly also old MALEVOLENT CREATION or MASS PSYCHOSIS. On the other hand, the general structures and the dynamics of the drum patterns like the use of fills or tempo changes within the riffs owe quite a bit to the more progressed (or progressive) approaches of SUFFOCATION and even IMMOLATION (e.g. the beginning ‘Built On Nothingness’ or parts of ‘Piercing Through Shadows (Inception)’), mixing grooves with blasts. The riffs nevertheless lean more towards old school but fairly complex and layered territory, think of HELLWITCH or POLLUTED INHERITANCE before they went completely bonkers. Despite the high level of intricate and elaborate songwriting and the incorporation of varied fills and breaks, the songs keep flowing and cascading. The soloing elaborates on the riffs and adds dark sounding ominous harmonies, giving even more depth to the songs and not just scales for the sake of sounding “technical”. Both Daniele Lupidi and Marcello Malagoli deliver solid, classic and slightly mid ranged Death Metal vocals in the old David Vincent / less guttural Ross Dolan category. As you may have already guessed from the diverse references, HATEFUL are not content to just mimick an already established sound but meticulously construct their own brand of technical Death Metal – and very convingingly so! Endowed with a cool, natural sounding production “Coils Of A Consumed Paradise” should be a treat for anybody into intense technical Death / Thrash Metal with actual songs. The packaging rounds this album off, featuring a great surrealistic painting created by main man Daniele Lupini himself, echoing the twisted and bizarre forms of surrealist painters such as Max Ernst or Yves Tanguy. So, this is an effort of a very high calibre in terms music, artwork and overall artistic vision. You can get this gem at the band´s bigcartel store for a mere 8 Euros or for 15 Euros together with a shirt. HATEFUL are currently working on their next album which will definitely be reviewed here as well. www.facebook.com/hatefuldeathmetal, http://hatefulstore.bigcartel.com, www.myspace.com/hatefuldeathmetal