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Album: "Technical
Difficulties" (1999) |
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Reviewed by: Darklight Take guitars, bass, drums and mix in some electronic programming and overlay it all with clean high pitched male vocals and you basically get this Hate Dept. release. The music here is basically alternative/heavy rock with a good helping of electronics. This CD reminds me of other electro rock bands such as ORGY and VIDEODRONE. It's definitely got a more commercial sound to it. These songs would fit perfectly on the radio and MTV. There is a mix of both energy packed guitar thrashing songs as well as more slower paced melodic songs. There are also a lot of drum & bass and funk elements included here as well. Seibold is a good singer, but his high pitched tone lacks a powerful punch. So when he tries to sound angry and aggressive, it just doesn't come off very threatening. His voice actually works better when he sings with melody. But even the heavier rock songs here have a dancey funk feel preventing anything from coming off too dark. So this music definitely has a somewhat tame alternative feel to it. This is very structured electro rock music with some creative twists and turns along the way. Each song manages to sound different with unique elements that allow them to stand out. Every song is good here except for the comical funk/jazz "Fireflies". It shouldn't be here. The songs that I like the most are "Superdrama", "Anger Impulse", "Release It", "Hit Back", "Seedling" and "Fiend". These songs have a heavier rock edge with a serious side. Basically they are less funky. This makes them better in my opinion. This band is quality and they do make some good solid music with catchy structures. But I feel that their debut release "Meat Your Maker" is still their best CD as it's their most raw and powerful album with a lot of anger and aggression with a darker more serious side. While this CD has elements of it, it's also a little too commercial sounding with too much funk overtones everywhere. I do admit as far as electro rock is concerned, Hate Dept. are one of the best bands at it. But I would rather see this band get more heavier and angry and release more aggression like they use to. I do like this CD, but clean and polished structured electro rock music just really isn't my thing. But I do find myself wanting to listen to this every once in a while for something different from my usual diet of electro industrial/EBM music. Coldwave and electro rock fans will really enjoy what this CD has to offer. Only
$8.38...
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Album: "Omnipresent"
(1996) |
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Reviewed by: Darklight Hate Dept.'s first release "Meat Your Maker" put the band on the map as one of the more popular guitar driven aggressive electro punk bands around. The album was packed pull of angst driven guitar heavy aggro electro punk songs. Well, their second full length release "Omnipresent" is a lot different. Only four songs off this album include the energy found on their debut album. The songs I'm talking about are "The Dead Peddler", "New Power", "This Doggy Bites", and "Rejoice". The rest of the album is full of extremely slow and melodic songs. Most of them feature both male and female vocals. The band almost has an alternative sound now. This album is very polished, and could very easily appeal to the mainstream. I don't know what happened in the last couple of years, but the hate is no longer in Hate Dept. But it's obvious that the band has matured. Each song here is very melodic, catchy, and harmonic. I actually like the direction that they have gone with this album. But I still like their angst driven electro punk music as well.
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Album: "Meat
Your Maker" (1994) |
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Reviewed by: Darklight This is electro punk in its truest form. Distorted vocals, grueling guitars, heavy drum beats, and slight synths and electronics for that cyber edge. Every song on this album is fast paced and aggressive. There are no slow songs or instrumentals here. My favorite songs on the album are "Beat Me Up", "Acid Drops", "Drew", "Drive: A", "Bored And Stupid", "I Am Truth", and "More Like Me". But the other three songs "Start Digging", "Defensive", and "Kick" are great, too. They just don't stand out as much. The bottom line is that this is just one of those classic albums that you have to put in your collection if you're a fan of this style of music.
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