HATCHET — Dawn of the End (review)

HATCHET — Dawn of the End album cover Album · 2013 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
adg211288
Dawn of the End is the second full-length album by US thrash metal act Hatchet. Released in 2013, the band behind this album is very much Hatchet Mark II as the line-up has almost entirely changed with only frontman Julz Ramos playing on both of Hatchet’s albums, and he actually only becomes the vocalist of the group as of this album since he only played guitar on the debut Awaiting Evil (2008). Dawn of the End has therefore been a long time coming, especially for such a young band.

I haven’t heard the debut album, but I guess whatever they, or maybe I should just say Julz Ramos, did to get here must have worked like a charm. Dawn of the End is as true an album to the thrash metal genre as you’ll ever find and with the one exception of an acoustic piece in Revelations of Good and Evil it’s an absolutely full throttle album of old school energetic aggression with strong musicianship, something which should not be understated despite the general playing it safe vibe the album gives off. The songs that Hatchet play might not break the mould but do sound pretty demanding and are not without their technical or melodic edge.

Speaking personally though, thrash metal and I have never been the best of friends. No matter how strong the musicianship in a thrash band I usually end up not being able to fully appreciate them because of the prevalent aggressive vocal style, which is the style that Hatchet’s Julz Ramos uses. Yet somehow I’ve found myself liking this guy. Maybe after all these years the thrash metal vocal style is finally opening up to me. Or maybe he’s got that special something that even gets a naysayer on his side. I think I’ll leave that up to you readers to decide, all that matters right now is that Hatchet are here to kick your arse in true thrash metal style. They have the musicianship, they have the attitude and they most especially have the songs to do it, with some personal favourites from the very much high quality album including Silenced by Death, Screams of the Night, Signals of Infection and Vanishing Point.

Dawn of the End has proved to be one of those enigma albums for me. On paper, I shouldn’t like this. I should appreciate what Hatchet did here on my professional objective level, but I shouldn’t like it. But I do. Tell a lie, I don’t like it, I love it. This is an infectious sort of album that will keep you coming back for more and more. An exceptional grade rating is deserved.

89/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/hatchet-dawn-of-the-end-t2886.html))
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed