I remember Hath from the time of the release of “Of Rot and Ruin”. The album caused much buzz among the metalheads. Combining sludge with caveman riffs with blackened influences - Hath quickly stood out as a unique band from their debut release itself. Over time, the album has gained a lot of love and fan-following. Finally, the masters of Caveman riffs are back with their second album “All That Was Promised” and without further ado, let's jump into the discussion.
The album opener “The Million Violation” begins with a clean intro, slowly bleeding into the sludgy riffs with a massive wall of sound - a perfect opening for the album. With their technically profound riffs and blast beats-double bass accompanying it, Hath creates the humongous soundscape of sheer heaviness and holds their ground strong. Throw in some filthy bass line too in the latter half to spice things up!
“Kenosis” showcases brutality at-front with its dissonance based tremolo riffs. The atmospheric world building Hath does with their sound perfectly shines through every moment. The vocals with its growling lows and sheer power stands out the most to me. Halfway through the song, the vocal melodies add beauty to the beastly music. Tracks like “Lithiopaedic” and “Iosis” showcase some intense blackened-death action with lots of blast beats, even with slight Opeth-ish touch to song-structures and often busting out in moments like Akhlys and Anaal Nathrakh.
“Decollation” leads into the second-half of the album, carrying forward the crushing heaviness, already prevalent before. Halfway through the song, a jazzier vibe takes over with drums and guitar, before rebuilding itself for the heavier outro. The real beauty of “All That Was Promised” lies in the last three tracks. “Lasting of the Self” begins with a hauntingly beautiful acoustic intro (the melody is reminiscent of “Progeny” from their previous album) slowly giving way to the heavier atmospheric blackened dimension, so much that I was even hearing melodies of Aquilus in my head! With almost two minutes of mellowed jazzy buildup, the title track “All That Was Promised” brings back their elements of heaviness, crafting some catchy memorable riffs.
I’ve always felt Hath to be the torch-bearer of Opeth’s death-metal phase - the acoustic interludes to song-structures, even adding blackened elements from bands like Anaal Nathrakh. The massive wall of sound of Hath has definitely leveled up and improved from their previous release “Of Rot and Ruin”. While the album is definitely a powerhouse of brutality, the issue of memorability remains a bit. Tracks like “The Million Violation” and “Casting of the Self” stand out to me - aiding the fact that acoustic intros and melodies seem to be relatable for me. With this being said, Hath definitely proves why they are are masters of caveman sound in metal once again, and “All That Was Promised” definitely acts as a memorable record to their discography.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Website: https://www.facebook.com/HathBand
Genre: Progressive Blackened Death Metal
Worldwide Release: March 4th, 2022.
