Friendship - Hatred (2017)

This is one of those releases I forgot to mention on my best of 2017 list, because I mostly focused on releases I had already reviewed. However, this release definitely deserved to be on there because it fucking rules! The sheer intensity and brutality of 'Hatred" is hard to beat. The band's name is cheeky when compared to the actual music. I would like to think of it as the opposite of Friendship, as it is much closer to the album's name "Hatred". When we hear the combination of the heavy blasts from the drums, and the feedback from the guitars, almost replicating the sound of machine gun fire, we know what we're getting into with this album, and it's a fucking war zone!
This fucking blast can be heard throughout, and it is crushing and relentless. I can contribute this to the way that the drums were mixed on this. The kick drum is unusually deep, and heavy as fuck. When it hits you, it's rapid, and it invokes a mood of hatred over the listener (in this case me), creating an atmosphere of pleasing agitation and aggression. Also let it be known that even when the drums aren't blasting it's listener into submission, and they are slowed down to match whatever the guitar riffs are playing, they still fucking crush. Speaking of guitars, the riffs are tasty as fuck, and dare I say catchy. I mean as catchy and memorable as riffs can be for power violence/grind. There's a bit of Dark Hardcore in there as well, but I mean who gives a fuck when it comes to labeling something like this? It's punishing and ruthless, and it's exactly the type of shit I want to be listening to. I would also like to add that the vocals and feedback add another layer of ferocity to the songs. I mention feedback, because it's often used as an instrument of its own, and really adds something special to different songs.
Overall, if you haven't heard this yet, do yourself a favor, stop what you're doing, and put this shit on right now! I've got a whole year of waiting to see if anything can live up to this, because it's that fucking good. Highly Recommended! Cheers! -Samir