Good Polish death metal (seems redundant, doesn’t it?) on a good Polish metal label. I needed this, as from what I can recall it’s been a while since I’ve had a filling meal from one of Poland’s head chefs. Calm Hatchery’s Sacrilege of Humanity is modern, chunky, and memorable. Chew your food for Christ’s sake!
Played with precision and chops, the tunes here hit like a police battering room through a crack house door. Familiarly Polish in its death metal approach and reminding in some ways of Decapitated, there is also a strong USDM presence, including a vocal approach from Szczepan that recalls Ross Dolan’s (Immolation) later years’ work, albeit crossed with typical Polish guttural oomph, and delivered with some intelligibility. You can even hear shades of Nile at various points, as is the case during the galloping pestilence of “Lost in the Sands” Technical, yes, whether the bursts of arpeggio sweeping or the tightly angular transitions and cadences, but Sacrilege of Humanity never loses the forest for the trees; not by a long shot. Songs like “Messerschmitt” (the alternating vocals on the chorus are perfect) and the downright infectious “We are the Universe,” which grabs my attention each and every time, are built for memory retention. Calm Hatchery has taken care to make the accent and changeups as impacting as possible too, as demonstrated by the use of gang shouts on “Them.” Sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference.
I recall a time some years back when it seemed like every other death metal album that came out of Poland reached the gold standard. That’s not to imply that Poland isn’t still a hotbed of death; only that Sacrilege of Humanity brought back those memories with a vengeance. Solid through and through, Calm Hatchery has made a death metal fan’s death metal album. Are you with me out there?
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This really sounds interesting, I can’t listen to a lot of death metal, especially tech, because of just bland songwriting, so I’m gonna check this out.
good review, but you said “battering room” instead of “battering ram” just thought I’d let you know!
on Dec 14th, 2010 at 05:55aaah this sounds interesting.. The last Lost Soul record blew me away and if this is half as good then I’ll be a happy man ! Great review Scott !
on Dec 14th, 2010 at 08:58Nice review, Scott!
….And thanks for the lead……..
Calm Hatchery??? I’d have bet my life it was Czech, but guess some borders bleed………
on Dec 14th, 2010 at 17:06Thanks for the heads up on this one. I had thought the band had passed away into oblivion but this is a nice suprise. I sometimes go back to their last one, but the production was kind of… iffy I guess would be about right. I can’t wait for this, good review man, straight to the point and honest.
I do miss the steady reliablity of Polish death that seems to have faded a bit over the years. Sure some bands remain consistant or even grow stronger, as is the case with Lost Soul imho, but others seem to have lost the fire or disappeared completely. What the hell happened to Devilyn!? Their last was amazing, I hear from Unique Leader that they were working on a new album that was supposedly even better and then they disappear like a fart in the wind. And regardless there are some bands that just need to get some new shit out despite where they’re from. Anata, Akercocke, Necrophagist, Martyr, Capharnaum, Crotchduster, Severe Dementia, Sceptic, Spawn of Possession, Visceral Bleeding and many more. *Sigh* And while I’m close to the topic, Arsis needs to get its shit together cause I feel fucking cheated, like a one night stand. One and a half good ablums an ep that was alright and then a flaming spiral into a sea of torrential shit. God damn life is cruel sometimes. /Rant
on Dec 14th, 2010 at 18:37just based on the cover art and the band’s name i would’ve never checked this out cause it looks like it would’ve been some of that modern melodic horsehit or a power metal album. but i’m going to check it out thanks to the review.
on Dec 19th, 2010 at 13:27WOW, I listened to this tape and it completely rocked me out. Unbelievably intense, and it did remind me a little of Lost Soul but with some Nile in there.
on Jan 5th, 2011 at 21:35