I have to admit to being a bit partial to a covers album now and again, though not every band should attempt them; that would be silly. I quite like the idea of groups putting a cover at the end of an album as well but prefer them to do so with something completely unexpected. Stand up Children Of Bodom, I’m talking to you, Ministry too. Hatebreed have not exactly gone out of their way here to do anything particularly whacky; they have simply picked 18 songs which no doubt are all favourites of theirs. Quite a lot of these are pretty safe and even in some cases clichéd but at least they have delved into both metal and hardcore as well as the odd thrash and punk crossover territories to keep things interesting. A lot of these songs will be known to the average listener and it has to be said that Jamey Jasta and crew have got many of these nailed. Even some that I did not specifically know were easy to guess as to who the original artist was (and that’s before I studied the track listing too).
So you would probably guess that the likes of Slayer, Metallica and Pantera are going to be there right? Well 2 out of 3 are and the album starts with a solid thrashing ‘Ghosts Of War’ and has me breathing a sigh of relief that they did not pick the more obvious Slayer one that every other fucker does. Metallica’s ‘Escape’ does a fine job with the guitar riffing but the vocoder sounding effects on the vocals are pretty horrible as far as the chorus is concerned. Luckily prior to this one a classic mosher ‘Suicidal Maniac’ (yeah come on, you know) should still be leaving you smiling and remembering those bruises from the pit. Sounding like football terrace Oi we have The Misfits ‘Hatebreeders’ (see what they did there) offering one of the ballsiest covers, which should have everyone singing along even if I did at first think it was Cock Sparrer or Sham 69.
Probably my favourite song to get the treatment here is Black Flag ‘Thirsty’ already covered so well on the ‘Rise Above’ album by Lemmy. Well he’s not ever the sort of person to get out-drunk but Hatebreed give it their best shot and conjure up some of Hank’s meaty aggression to boot. I thought the Crowbar cover ‘All I Had I Gave’ was excellent, they really get both the sludgy sound and the vocals down well here; you would be an idiot if you did not recognise this one as being the NOLA doomlords.
Agnostic Front ‘Your Mistake’ gets a blistering rendition although it’s obviously one the band have probably been playing for years, similarly ‘Shut Me Out’ by SOIA is another great hardcore number that makes the mark. As far as metal is concerned we have Obituary ‘I’m In Pain’ getting a nasty, gnarly work-over but is there really any need for yet another ‘Refuse/Resist’? The Sepultura song has literally been kicked to death by everyone and their mum’s already. I did not particularly know some of the latter numbers courtesy of Judge and Subzero but found myself bouncing around to Bad Brains and Merauder nicely.
With summer coming fast (hopefully) this is perfect BBQ listening after a six pack and a steak; and although it’s all beer, meat and potatoes on offer in a musical sense it should entertain the straightedgers out there too as they tuck into salad and soda.
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