Album Review: All That Was Promised – Hath

April 2022, already. Where did that time go? Oh wait! I know! Listening to old favourites and just hanging out and enjoying some well-deserved R&R. But we’re back baby, yeah!! Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing more reviews on some of the excellent new material from a few bands I’ve been listening to since we last met, but for now let’s just get the endorphins moving around and catch up on a superb band that I reviewed back in 2019. And now I’ve discovered that Hath have released their follow up to the absolute belter album Of Rot and Ruin, with their 2^nd full release, All That Was Promised.

Hath hail from New Jersey, and I’ve been saying everyone should get on to them because they were going to be a hugely successful outfit. So, is the title of the new album a declaration of promise they’ve decided to carry on from the first album, and can they match its effectiveness? Let’s take a tour and find out, eh?

Boldly, and without fear, I press the play button. I find myself fully immersed in nine tracks, which amount to around fifty minutes of hellacious soundscapes, excellent song writing and musicianship, and the most obnoxious guttural vocals, all magnificently combining to provide a bone breaking, neck snapping storyline for each track. This, along with a crushing overall heaviness, brings magnificent bruising of the ear drums. I kid you not! This is so primal and unrelenting that you’ll wanna pin your ears back and run through brick walls using your head as a wrecking ball.

As every good band should, they have grown and evolved, but have also stayed true to their roots, which makes All That Was Promised a deeply pure source of listening pleasure. To that point, by developing a heavy and intense atmosphere, opening track “The Million Violations” leads you with an ominous intro which then erupts into what becomes the signature brutality of the whole album.

“Kenosis,” “Lithopaedic,” and “Iosis” are so vicious and overpowering that, as I sit listening, I have gone from 6’4” to around 4’ even just due to the sheer weight of the surrounding sounds. I do believe they have formed their own gravitational pull. Along with body bruising riffs and incredible drumming, what you get is an eruption of unbelievable precision amidst the chaos that engulfs you whole. All of this is generated by the superb production.

“Decollation” further shows us the band’s strong musicianship. Despite its Black and Proggy feel, this doesn’t take away from the extreme body pummeling that you’re exquisitely subjected to throughout. The tumultuous beatings, combined with ferocity continue with “Casting Of the Self,” “All That Was Promised,” and finally the heavy as shit “Name Them Yet Build No Monument.”

This ends our tour of Hath’s, dare I say it, masterpiece of an album. So, did Hath deliver All that was Promised? Hell yeah! And then some. This is without a doubt one of the best albums I’ve heard already this year, and will absolutely be a contender for my album of the year. It has everything that exemplifies why we all listen to Metal. Now, stop just sitting there and get onto Hath! Support every bloody thing they do!

Rating: 5/5