I think it is safe to say that this is the Hatebreed album we’ve been waiting for since “Perseverance”. Hatebreed did some serious damage with their first two full lengths. Those records left such a lasting impression on the hardcore scene due mainly to the brilliance of simplicity that Lou “Boulder” Richards brought to the song writing. The bruise that “Satisfaction” left after it beat us all down 11 years ago stands out the most. Then “Perseverance” was like the second beat down. As in a fight you have just lost, when you gain enough strength to get back up on your feet, your opponent has decided that you haven’t had enough and delivers a successive ass-whipping. There was no ass-whipping to be had, however, with “Rise of Brutality” or “Supremacy”. Both were good records, they just lacked the muscle we were used to. So that leads one to question if all the muscle came from Boulder? “Self-titled” is the first proper full length that the song writing credit can be given to Frank “3 Gun” Novinec (ex-Integrity/Ringworm/Terror) who has been with the band since before “Supremacy” (though to my knowledge did not contribute to the song writing). I believe it is thanks to 3 Gun that the “muscle” has been brought back to the Hatebreed camp on this new album. It must be mentioned that the re-addition of former guitarist Wayne Lozinak I’m sure brings back the original Hatebreed feel. Lozinak lent his writing ability on the first three proper Hatebreed releases which were 2 split 7”s and the “Under the Knife” EP. Needless to say, this is a return to form. The song “Everyone Bleeds Now” is so typically Hatebreed you just can’t get enough of it. The dive bombs on that song are just ridiculous and they hammer down one after another. What stands out the most on “Self-Titled” is the attention to the metal riff, beginning with the first track “Become the Fuse” and the gauntlet of songs “Between Hell and a Heartbeat”, “No Halos for the Heartless”, “Every Lasting Scar”, “Merciless Tide” and rounding off the album with a cover by none other than “Escape” by Metallica. Cheers to Hatebreed for giving us another feeding frenzy of pure metalcore and our favorite since “Perseverance”!