HATEBREED — The Concrete Confessional (review)

HATEBREED — The Concrete Confessional album cover Album · 2016 · Metalcore Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"The Concrete Confessional" is the 7th full-length studio album by US hardcore act Hatebreed. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Entertainment in May 2016. It´s the successor to "The Divinity of Purpose" from 2013 and features the same lineup as the predecessor. "The Concrete Confessional" was produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris. "Zeuss" has produced every album by Hatebreed since "The Rise of Brutality (2003)".

Stylistically "The Concrete Confessional" features few surprises if you´re already familiar with the last couple of albums by Hatebreed. It´s aggressive and groove laden hardcore featuring quite a few thrash metal styled riffs (Slayer often comes to mind, when isolating the riffs). Lead vocalist Jamey Jasta has a powerful and raw delivery, which is slightly one-dimensional (save for a short clean vocal part on "Something's Off"), but very effectful. In true hardcore style the lyrics are dealing with subjects like corruption, political issues, social injustice, and how to overcome personal problems.

The material on the 13 track, 33:28 minutes long album is generally memorable and well written. Most tracks are instantly catchy and you can shout along to them almost immediately. The quality is generally high but there are some tracks which stand out more than others, and some tracks which aren´t fully up to par with the best material on the album. It´s not that there´s anything bad on the album, but some tracks just feel a bit like filler. But maybe it has more to do with the relatively one-dimensional nature of the tracks, and the fact that my attention begins to wander about half way through the album, because of lack of variation between tracks. So it´s a more overall stylistic issue than an issue with individual tracks. When that is said the short playing time and generally short length of the tracks help "The Concrete Confessional" to be an entertaining album through most of the playing time. I´d mention the two opening tracks "A.D." and "Looking Down the Barrel of Today" and the closing track "Serve Your Masters" as some of the highlights of the album.

The sound production is clear, detailed, and very powerful. The massive heavy sound is perfectly designed for the music. Upon conclusion "The Concrete Confessional" is another quality release by Hatebreed and they prove once again why they are such a prolific act on the scene. As mentioned I could have wished for a bit more variation in the songwriting department, but it´s nothing too serious and looked upon individually every track on the album is entertaining and well written, so a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is fully deserved.
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