With all the dross that parades itself as metalcore, and the seeming obsession of so many thrash bands to take technical playing ability to the ninth degree at the cost of songs, it's always reassuring to know you can rely on Denmark's Hatesphere to deliver the goods album after album.

Eschewing every trend known to mankind, Hatesphere play thrash as it was meant to be; fast, heavy and designed to make you headbang like a bastard. It amazes me that this band haven't got higher up the pecking order with their consistently excellent albums, and having more than held their own having shared stages with the likes of Exodus and more recently the like of The Black Dahlia Murder. I can only attribute their lack of progress to be due to their inability to hold down a steady line-up, going through bassists and vocalists like John Terry goes through his team-mates' women.

However with their current line-up boasting another new bassist and vocalist (Jimmy Nedergaard and Esse Hansen) they've delivered another top-notch album, which takes much of the aggression of previous album 'To The Nines' and combines it with some of their more traditional sound ala 2004's 'Ballet Of The Brute'.

Opener 'The Killer' sets the blueprint for the album from the off with guitarists Pepe Hansen and Jakob Nyholm peeling off riffs to die for. From the off, it's also clear that whilst Esse Hansen isn't the much lamented Jacob Bredahl he's perfectly suited to Hatesphere, with his aggressive but clear style complimenting the music perfectly. As each track begins to sound like a stand-out you'll find yourself really getting into the groove on 'Decayer' and 'The Wail Of My Threnode' before the closing trio of the title track and the quite stunning 'Need To Kill' and 'Devil In Your Own Hell' finish off a quite superb album. With another razor-sharp production job by Tue Madsen this album really is the equal of any bigger name album in any of the heavier genres and, with the live show to do their studio output justice, their upcoming tour, which includes a couple of UK dates, could be a bit of a must-see.

If you haven't checked out Hatesphere before and you've been a bit a bit underwhelmed by the output of supposed bigger names, check them and this album out. I promise you will not be disappointed.

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