HATCHET - Fear Beyond Lunacy

November 10, 2015, 8 years ago

(The End)

Kelley Simms

Rating: 7.0

review heavy metal hatchet

HATCHET - Fear Beyond Lunacy

Hatchet’s third full-length release, Fear Beyond Lunacy, shows measurable strides in musical maturity compared to its raw-yet-promising debut album, Awaiting Evil. On its sophomore effort, Dawn Of The End, the Bay Area thrashers introduced a more aggressive and dynamically inspired affair. The vocal change from Marcus Kirchen to Julz Ramos made a lot of difference, as his nasally wails fit in more with the whole ’80s Bay Area thrash vibe. Hatchet fits in with newer retro thrash bands such as Merciless Death, Evile, Warbringer and Bonded by Blood while delivering an old school vibe of bands such as Exodus, Death Angel, Heathen and Forbidden. 

Instrumental intro, “Where Time Cannot Exist,” contains a great buildup and sets the tone for what’s to come. “Living In Extinction” displays an old style Bay Area thrashy tempo, tone and delivery. “In Fear We Trust” shows some creativity in the band’s songwriting style while “Killing Indulgence” displays the band’s menacing side. The fretboard work throughout the record by guitarist Clayton Cagle is pretty stellar, full of classic thrash riffing, melodic picking, and blazing arpeggioed harmonized leads. Although the band is highly proficient on their instruments, there’s not a lot of their own originality on display here. However, they are slowly gaining their own identity and they are headed in the right direction.



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