Album Details

• Artist: Hackneyed
• Album: Death Prevails
• Label: Nuclear Blast
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2009-07-27

Average age of members in Germany's deathcore band Hackneyed: 16. Youngest member? 14. Amazing. Especially when you sit down with their debut record Death Prevails and hear the sheer amount of skill the band possesses. They must have been indoctrinated into the realms of extreme metal at a young age to be able to pull off some of what they do here. Now, here's the thing: for their age it is an impressive feat of an album. For your typical death metal band, its just that: typical, nothing too special but a good start for these youngsters to catapult from into something bigger.

Their sound is fairly recognizable in today's death metal scene, combining gorish lyrics with grindcore "pig" vocals (you'll know them when you hear them. often referred to as Cookie Monster vocals), blast beats and constant shifts in riffs, melodies, tempos, etc. You've heard it many times before but the youngsters in Hackneyed certainly don't do it poorly. With track titles like "Gut Candy", "Axe Splatter" and "Bone Grinder", you should know what you're in store for. The latter song has a sweet ending to it where a symphonic overture rises up over the brutality and the contrast is my personal highlight of the album. The band plays adequate deathcore across 9 tracks (which only clock in at around 30 total minutes), and its when they push the envelope a little on tracks like the aforementioned "Bone Grinder", "Neon Sun" and "Worlds Collide" that they really shine.

All said, Hackneyed have a bright future in their immediate sights. With a new album coming in just less than a month's time from now (August 14th), it will be interesting to hear what evolutionary steps (if any) they've taken in the past year. You won't be able to tell unless you see them or read about them that the band is so young, and to begin your very fresh careers on a solid (if unspectacular) note like Death Prevails is an omen for good things indeed in the future. 

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