House Of Hatchets – 'Reach' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. The Moth Song

2. Epitaph

3. The Sick And The Damned

4. Lilith

5. Uprising

6. Burn

7. Open Ocean

8. Black And Blue

9. Asylum

10. Last One Lost

Going in, I didn’t have any expectations for this, the debut album from House Of Hatchets. I’d never heard of them, and was expecting something competent and maybe showing some future promise. I wasn’t expecting the sheer noise and groove that smashed into my ears the moment I put this album on. In fact, it was an album that, like the old days, made me stop doing whatever else I was doing at the same time and just solely focus on the music.

Opener “The Moth Song” really starts off strong, with a groove and a build throughout that really just gives you every reason in the world to bang your head, and the album doesn’t let up from then on. Sound-wise, the album reminds me of bands from that brief moment in the early 2000s when Metal (or, more accurately Nu-Metal) was everywhere. I’m not suggesting that House Of Hatchets belong in the now dead Nu-Metal genre, but the production style and polished finish reminds me of the production style at around that time – which I always liked. It’s not too polished, it doesn’t shave the rough edges off the sound, it just makes it all feel very coherent.

As far as standout moments, each song has some genuinely great sections – whether it’s riffs, or vocal parts, or some fantastic drumming, every track has its highlights. For me, the top moments on the album itself are the aforementioned “Moth Song”, “The Sick And The Damned” with its hugely singable chorus and “Uprising”, which brings an uplifting sound whist the lyrics “We stand for nothing, we feel too much” counterpoint that uplifting feel beautifully.

That’s not to say that the rest of the album is bad by any means! The whole thing provides a great Groove Metal feel and stays strong right through to the end. It’s an extremely strong debut from a band that should (if there is any justice in the world) smash through and become as popular as they deserve to be.