HATRIOT — The Vale of Shadows (review)

HATRIOT — The Vale of Shadows album cover Album · 2022 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"The Vale Of Shadows" is the fourth full-length studio album by US thrash metal/melodic detah metal act Hatriot. The album was released through Massacre Records in July 2022. It´s the successor to "From Days unto Darkness" from July 2019. There´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as guitaris Justin Sakogawa has been replaced by Kevin Paterson. Hatriot formed in 2010 and originally featured Exodus lead vocalist Steve Souza in the lineup along with his two sons Cody Souza (bass) and Nick Souza (drums) and guitarist Kosta V. Father Souza left Hatriot after the first two albums to rejoin Exodus, and Cody Souza took over the lead vocal duties in addition to playing bass.

...like father like son though and Cody Souza sounded a lot like his father on "From Days unto Darkness", which features an Exodus influenced thrash metal sound with some more modern twists. "The Vale Of Shadows" sees Hatriot branching out a bit more though, and if I didn´t know any better opening track "Horns & Halos" could have been the marriage between The Black Dahlia Murder and In Flames. There are several other melodic death metal moments throughout the album, but the Exodus influence is also still heard, so this is a combination of Bay Area thrash metal and melodic death metal. It´s not the most groundbreaking or original sounding release, and you wouldn´t instantly guess that it was Hatriot playing if you didn´t know it, but it´s still a high quality release, featuring high level musical performances, a powerful, clear, and heavy sounding production job, and some solid songwriting. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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