If you didn’t enjoy 2019’s Of Rot and Ruin by Hath, I don’t know what to tell you. Despite the fact that I don’t much care for “Star Wars” and I thought the band was called “Hoth” in an homage, I still gave it a listen. When I realized my mistake, I was glad to be wrong, but even more glad that the album kicked some serious ass.

Here we are a year on and we have their latest album. Just kidding. It’s a reissue of their first ep, entitled Hive. It’s remastered and also includes a bonus track called “Arctopus.” We couldn’t be that fortunate to have a new full length this soon.

The first track is called “Apparition,” which includes a very brief intro, then right into a sludgy groove. The death metal roar kicks in shortly after that and we’re off and running. The underlying guitar verse sounds a lot like death metal by Mastodon. “Mastodeath,” if you will (but you don’t have to). About halfway through, there’s a clean guitar break, which doesn’t last long before going back into the blasting. When “Give in to the dark one” is screamed, I think it’s in your best interest to listen.

“Apparition” segues well into track 2, “Replicated,” which sounds more like a straight-ahead death metal song after that introductory “UGH!” It doesn’t take long to transition into another solid groove, which still maintains a Mastodon quality with an old school death metal vibe. That is, of course before going into the flamenco-like (ish) section a little less than 3 minutes in. This section turns into a strong sense of foreboding before another “UGH” gets us back into the death metal.

To end it all, we have two tracks which could be known as the “closer.” However, the original closer would have been “Hive,” which is a steady banger with a repeatable hook. It’s clear with about a minute left, as the rest of the music fades out, the guitar is left, then it fades into a short piano burst, this was definitely the correct choice to close it out. The last track is the bonus track, “Arctopus.” I must say, this would have been a pretty good closer, too, which, in this case, it is.

Overall, having not heard the original, I can say the master on this pops from the speakers. “Arctopus” is a little bit louder, which is noticeable, but it otherwise fits in with the rest of the EP. Personally, I agree with the band and am glad this is being released in a physical format. If you’re into their LP, I would recommend strongly picking this up. I know I will be doing the same.

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