LEHAVOTH — Hatred Shaped Man (review)

LEHAVOTH — Hatred Shaped Man album cover Album · 2003 · Brutal Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Hatred Shaped Man" is the debut full-length studio album by Israeli death metal act Lehavoth. The album was released through Fadeless Records in April 2003. Lehavoth was formed in 1995 and initially played black metal. They went on a longer hiatus towards the end of the millenium as a consequence of the members serving their 3 years of military service (which is mandatory in Israel), but came back together in 2000 and recorded a demo, which resulted in them getting signed. "Hatred Shaped Man" was recorded at Soundlab Studios in Sweden with producer Mieszko Talarczyk (Nasum, Genocide Superstars).

The music on the album is brutal and technically well played death metal. There´s great rhythmic variation throughout the album, which includes everything from mid-paced brutal grooves to blast beating. While the music is predominantly old school death metal oriented, Lehavoth incorporates other more contemporary influences to their music, which makes "Hatred Shaped Man" quite a different sounding and adventurous release for the genre. This is definitley not your average Cannibal Corpse or Suffocation clone although Lehavoth is equally extreme and brutal sounding. Usually with artists from the middle east you´ll be treated to some native instrumentation or sections, but there´s none of that on "Hatred Shaped Man", and Lehavoth could as such have been from any place in the world. They have what I´d characterize as a universal sound.

The vocals vary between brutal growling and more aggressive tinged growling. They are delivered with fierce conviction and are relatively intelligible. The fierceness of the vocal attack, is equalled by the instrumental part of the music which is also delivered with furious aggression and brutality. In many ways "Hatred Shaped Man" is a very extreme release (probably even for seasoned death metal listeners).

The sound production on the 10 track, 29:45 minutes long album is harsh, powerful, and detailed. A very suiting sound for Lehavoth´s raw sounding music. So "Hatred Shaped Man" is in every way a successful release feauturing great material, high level musicianship, and a professional and well sounding production. Add to that the above mentioned adventurous element and the fact that even though they are rooted in old school death metal, they are not retro sounding. On the contrary their sound is pretty refreshing. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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