A fantastic surprise to say the least! It was by sheer chance that I "discovered" the existence of HATESPAWN after reading about their "plans" to prepare a split release with my countrymen DEAD CONGREGATION. Needless to say that I was curious to find out more since I already started having some reasonable expectations knowing Anastasis’ taste in good old Death Metal. HATESPAWN are consisting of two ex-IMPENDING DOOM members: Andreas Kaufmann (A. Deathmonger) and Patrick W. Engel (Angel of Disease). They have managed to release a split 7inch with SIGNUM DIABOLIS (Engel’s one man band) in 2005 and two years after, they released the demo tape "Ascent From The Kingdom Below". To be honest, I haven’t been exposed to the material of IMPENDING DOOM before, so I cannot – obviously – make any comparisons between the two bands, but anyways, the fact remains that HATESPAWN’s material managed to blow me away! Starting with the "exterior" / aesthetics part of the demo tape, I think that both the sinister Chris Moyen artwork plus the nice logo of the band prepare the listener for the atrocious content of the demo. To put it nice and short: HATESPAWN perform dark old school Death Metal with fucking guts and killer attitude that gives the impression that this band belongs to a different decade or something. I wouldn’t start comparing them with other bands, because that’s something they don’t deserve. It’s obvious that HATESPAWN have properly absorbed the tradition of the ancient masters and have managed to filter all those great elements that made past releases so damn special. It’s also obvious that they have been influenced by bands such as ACHERON (they even deliver a ‘Prayers Of Hell’ cover), AUTOPSY, old MORBID ANGEL, NECROVORE and their likes, but without copying them or sounding like them. Contrary to that they successfully use that influence as a source of inspiration to deliver pure Death Metal with the same sinister vibe and grotesque spirit as these bands once managed to achieve. What really got me into this band, is that they have realized that what’s mostly important in a serious Death Metal release is to have damn effective guitar riffs and HATESPAWN did some really good work in that department (contrary to 99% of the stuff that gets released nowadays). I guess that’s a release that people seriously into good old school Death Metal wouldn’t want to miss, a true underground gem, that brings memories of older times. I only hope that this material gets released in LP format. Contact: www.myspace.com/hatespawnofficial