Hypnosia
Extreme Hatred

October 2001
Released: 2000, Hammerheart Records
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: EvilG

Sweden’s Hypnosia are: Cab Castervall (lead / rhythm guitar & vocals), Mike Sjöstrand (drums) and Hampus Klang (lead / acoustic guitar & bass guitar). The band has been brutalizing ripping corpses since 1995 and EXTREME HATRED is just their second full-length. For just three guys, this CD serves up some godly old school thrash!



The CD blasts forth with opening track “Extreme Hatred” which sounds like a rawer version of old Kreator. “Circle of the Flesh” has an awesome intro with some cool guitar harmonies. After the somewhat “sane” intro the more death styled riffing comes in. Some tremelo picked sections cross the death/thrash boundary. “The Last Remains” has some deadly thrash riffing, the type that puts a big grin on my face! I hear hints of early Sepultura on this one. I’m reminded of “Inner Self” in a place or two but hardly a rip off…this is just fucking godly riffing! The lead guitar in this one is very melodic and sounds very much like the melodic leads you would hear from say Kreator’s EXTREME AGGRESSION album. Only problem is it’s too bloody short, more leads please!! The vocal style on here is also reminiscent of Mille on early Kreator a la “Pestilence.” “Comatose” begins with riffing that reminded me of THE LEGACY era Testament. The rest of the song again screams out early Kreator and for that I am in my glee…even if this is Kreator worship; they put a spin on it and combine it with other thrash and death influences to keep it from being overly repetitive. So no, it’s not really something new but it’s very well done and sounds very classic…I can’t help but love it. “Act of Lunacy” has an awesome time change just before they come into the verse that begins with the line “Schizophrenic Fate.” The album even has an instrumental entitled “Gates of Cirith Ungol” that mixes together some clean guitars with distorted for the first section. In places “The Call of Ktulu” is brought to mind but only for a moment as the song picks up in speed with more extreme riffing. There should have been more solos in the song though, and in fact more on the album as a whole – a minor complaint but still.



Fans of Kreator, OLD Sepultura, Sodom, Destruction and just good old rip roaring thrash metal will love this band! Recommended!



Official Hypnosia website: hem.passagen.se/hypno