The schism between punk and metal long ago receded into a historical blip momentarily keeping both genres on parallel paths, rarely intersecting and often openly antagonizing each other… oil and water, basically. The advent of thrash in the mid-1980's established a furtive bridge between the two conflicting sides, facilitated by openly metal bands like Metallica and Exodus incorporating direct hardcore punk influences into their music, a favor that would soon be reciprocated by more overtly punk groups like D.R.I. and Cryptic Slaughter absorbing thrash into their sound.
While metal weathered that marriage to great success, it flat out ruined a lot of once-great punk bands by the late 1980's, particularly the ones that regressed further back into the metal family tree, becoming something more akin to mainstream metal or even glam: such venerable outfits as D.O.A. and Discharge emerged from the decade with near-irreparable harm down to their reputations and fan bases. If there was one area of the country where crossover punk/metal was still a sanguinary scene, it was NYC, where newer groups like Madball and Biohazard combined forces with older local bands that had emerged into the late 80's relatively unscathed: Cro-Mags, Crumbsuckers, Ludichrist, etc.
Of those bands, only Biohazard really found massive acceptance among the metal crowds – honorable mention to Pro-Pain, though – and with other national ensembles like Suicidal Tendencies and the aforementioned D.R.I. turning away from the crossover sound in favor of a purer thrash approach, punk found itself unfairly disregarded among headbangers throughout the 1990's, more or less.
Enter New Haven's favored sons, Hatebreed, whose 1997 debut Satisfaction is the Death of Desire had a huge influence on the nascent metalcore movement, even if the metal community didn't immediately take heed of these new table-turners. Taking a full five years to follow up that album, the band really started to find traction with 2002's aptly titled Perseverance, from whence the track "I Will Be Heard" enjoyed a receptive audience following its inclusion on the soundtrack of that year's Vin Diesel-starring smash film, xXx.
From there it's been a consistent if predictable roadmap of album/tour/album cycles leading up to their latest release, The Concrete Confessional. Characteristically brief at 33 minutes, the 13 songs here provide more consistent predictability with a renewed focus on anthemic, uptempo numbers combining brisk rhythmic tempo with catchy riffs that segue effortlessly between hardcore and thrash, with the occasional nod to 90's groove metal a la Pantera or Machine Head. "Seven Enemies" and "The Apex Within" offer traditional NYC-style hardcore, the latter even throwing in a singalong "whoaaaah-oh" vocal hook, while other cuts like "From Grace We've Fallen" and "Looking Down the Barrel of Today" tip the scales more heavily toward metal.
Though generally well received, Hatebreed's previous album The Divinity of Purpose was frequently downvoted for being a bit repetitive, particularly when weighed against the entirety of the band's catalog, and while The Concrete Confessional is no reinvention by any means, there is enough variety of material and reinvigoration in the band's energy to establish it as one of the best Hatebreed albums of the past decade.
Score: 8/10
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viD6JMRGbbM[/youtube]
