Hearse - In These Veins
Candlelight Records - CDL381 - September 18, 2007
By Jack Deming
After many repeated listens to Hearse's latest effort In These Veins, I find myself at a complete loss of how to convey the simple fact that this album isn't even worth the space on your harddrive. If I could write a two word review, I would simply write the words 'thoroughly unremarkable', and like that, the responsibility of reviewing this black hole of musical creativity would be gone. Oh, if only. Right, so I'll try not to make this review as much of a waste of time for you to read as the album was for myself to listen. Most bad reviews focus on the obvious and visible flaws in a piece of music, but do not devote much attention to the simple question, 'what about this album makes it worth listening to as an individual piece of music?' In the case of In These Veins, absolutely nothing.
What we've got is a typical Motorhead influenced death thrash band fronted by notable ex-Arch Enemy growler Johan Liiva. Sound somewhat interesting? I thought so too. However, Hearse have a limited concept of variation or dynamics, making for a very primitive sound. Consequently, excluding some predictable instrumental buildups in a few tunes, In These Veins stays at one pace from the first to the last track. Johan's vocals are decent, but not memorable or passionate. The guitars. Hmm. Fuck it, I honestly can't be bothered with trying to describe something so unworthy of description. Moving forward. Drummer Max Thornell is skilled enough, but he seems intent upon wedging the same overused drum fill into every bit of empty space that he can find, which as you can imagine gets quite annoying. Interestingly enough, recent studies have shown that if you were to line up every clip of rock and metal music to use this particular drum fill in the last half century and broadcast the .mp3 file into outer space, it would not only play for several decades, but within 5 minutes all sentient beings in the universe would be obliterated from sheer boredom. If that sentence didn't already do the job.
Admittedly, Hearse can play off the heavier, Motorhead riffage schtick pretty well, and if that's something you're really into, give it a shot. If you want something that is the slightest bit thought provoking, not so much. In the end, In These Veins is just another piss poor piece of music needlessly populating metal's increasingly sterile gene pool, and yet another review leaving me wondering, 'Why did they even bother?'
Official Hearse Website
Official Candlelight Records USA Website
Candlelight Records - CDL381 - September 18, 2007
By Jack Deming
After many repeated listens to Hearse's latest effort In These Veins, I find myself at a complete loss of how to convey the simple fact that this album isn't even worth the space on your harddrive. If I could write a two word review, I would simply write the words 'thoroughly unremarkable', and like that, the responsibility of reviewing this black hole of musical creativity would be gone. Oh, if only. Right, so I'll try not to make this review as much of a waste of time for you to read as the album was for myself to listen. Most bad reviews focus on the obvious and visible flaws in a piece of music, but do not devote much attention to the simple question, 'what about this album makes it worth listening to as an individual piece of music?' In the case of In These Veins, absolutely nothing.
What we've got is a typical Motorhead influenced death thrash band fronted by notable ex-Arch Enemy growler Johan Liiva. Sound somewhat interesting? I thought so too. However, Hearse have a limited concept of variation or dynamics, making for a very primitive sound. Consequently, excluding some predictable instrumental buildups in a few tunes, In These Veins stays at one pace from the first to the last track. Johan's vocals are decent, but not memorable or passionate. The guitars. Hmm. Fuck it, I honestly can't be bothered with trying to describe something so unworthy of description. Moving forward. Drummer Max Thornell is skilled enough, but he seems intent upon wedging the same overused drum fill into every bit of empty space that he can find, which as you can imagine gets quite annoying. Interestingly enough, recent studies have shown that if you were to line up every clip of rock and metal music to use this particular drum fill in the last half century and broadcast the .mp3 file into outer space, it would not only play for several decades, but within 5 minutes all sentient beings in the universe would be obliterated from sheer boredom. If that sentence didn't already do the job.
Admittedly, Hearse can play off the heavier, Motorhead riffage schtick pretty well, and if that's something you're really into, give it a shot. If you want something that is the slightest bit thought provoking, not so much. In the end, In These Veins is just another piss poor piece of music needlessly populating metal's increasingly sterile gene pool, and yet another review leaving me wondering, 'Why did they even bother?'
Official Hearse Website
Official Candlelight Records USA Website
