If there’s one thing you can count on from the Danish death/thrash band Hatesphere, it’s consistency. Five albums in now, showing absolutely no signs of wearing or watering down their tried and true sound, though are beginning to display a bit more versatility, incorporating some slower, more groove oriented songs into the mix on their latest effort, Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes.

Album opener “Lies and Deceit” will not sound foreign to fans of the band as it’s a speedy thrasher with killer riffing and vocalist Jacob Bredahl’s easily recognizable hardcore-ish delivery. The new found versatility starts to show though on follow up track “The Slain”, as well as “Feeding the Demons” and the excellent swamp tinged “Drinking With the King of the Dead”. For those that looking for more of the balls to the wall thrash approach, there’s no need to worry, as “Damned Below Judas”, “Forever War” and “Floating” follow in the same vein as the album opener, and pack that furious punch you seek. “Absolution” is mostly another riff catchy speedster, though ends on a slower, more atmospheric note, which is a great way to close out an album such as this.

At the end of the day, I doubt that anyone that previously wasn’t impressed with Hatesphere is gonna be singing a different tune after hearing Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes, but will be more than enough to keep prior fans happy. For this writer, when it comes to quality death/thrash, it doesn’t get much better than Hatesphere.

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