Hackneyed - Burn After Reaping (2009)

Hackneyed is a young German death metal band who released their debut Death Prevails on Nuclear Blast last year. I completely missed that album, but here they are with the follow-up. Burn After Reaping is a groove oriented album, with both USDM and thrash influences, but it's fairly brutal and executed with competence. Though there are numerous generic chugging bits on the album, these are almost always used with some interesting results, a couple of off notes thrown here or there. This is far from a perfect release, but it is refreshing and energetic all the same.

The intro "Burn" is just some drumming, a few chugs and grunts, but the album really begins with "Finger on the Trigger", a bruiser with some Cannibal Corpse-like rhythms. Though the verse is pretty dull, the chorus breakdowns use some more interesting riffing, almost like a slow thrash. "Deatholution" features more of those double bass grooves interspersed with a good selection of chords for the pre-chorus. "Weed Flavoured Meat" has a thrashing bite to it with more of those Cannibal Corpse guitar fills that this band truly loves. There are 14 tracks on this album, so I'll just point out a few of the choice cuts: "Kingdom of Thoughts" is a dense melodic death metal track which uses a familiar but non-failing, climbing rhythm. "Home Meat Home" is just fucking sick, and I wish the rest of the album had lived up to this. Beefed up, aggressive death metal with thrashing hooks not unlike something from Heartwork, and of course...the breakdown. "Last Man on Earth" has some sweet slower riffs, and I like the vocal sample.

Burn After Reaping sounds very professional; it is, after all, a Nuclear Blast release. Since this is a young band, I hope the label puts some money into their investment because these guys definitely have loads of potential to arise as a figurehead for the rapidly expanding German death scene. I wasn't as impressed with this as Decapitated's Winds of Creation, but that's a tall order for a younger band. Hackneyed is worth checking out if you like riffy, well-composed death metal that doesn't eschew the pit parts for all the inevitable meatheads they will encounter at shows.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/hackneyed