UMUR "Hatesphere" is the self-titled debut full-length studio album by Danish death/thrash metal act Hatesphere. The album was released through Scarlet Records in April 2001. Hatesphere was formed under the Cauterized monicker in 1993, but changed their name to Necrosis the same year. They released three demos under that monicker before changing their name to Hatesphere in 2001.

So it´s safe to say that these five guys aren´t new to the scene or to playing their instruments even though this release is their debut album, and that´s obvious when listening to the album. The musicianship are on a high level on all posts. Lead vocalist Jacob Bredahl delivers aggressive and raw shouting vocals with passion and conviction, while the rhythm section play powerful solid beats and the two guitarists deliver both tremolo picked riffing, more thrashy rhythmic ditto (even a couple of excursions into more groove oriented territory), and a blistering solo here and there too.

Stylistically Hatesphere play a combination of melodic Gothenburg influenced death metal and brutal thrash metal. Think of a mix of early Soilwork and early The Haunted and you´re halfway there. It´s first and foremost about aggression and power though, so the melodic element of the band´s sound is secondary to that, which also means that this is not a melodeath album, even though it bears traits of that genre. The material are generally well written, but also a bit one-dimensional and as a consequnce the tracks can be hard to tell apart even after several listens. So while the music is catchy and powerful while it plays, it´s not anthemic enough in nature to stick beyond that.

The sound production is raw and powerful (credited to Jacob Hansen and Hatesphere). It´s a suiting professional sounding production for the music featured on the album. "Hatesphere" is upon conclusion a both powerful and promising debut album and while there are some issues with the material being slightly one-dimensional, it´s not a major issue in this type of music, and overall it´s still a great album deserving a 3.5 star (70%) rating.