Via-Nocturna, 2006
Genre: Death Metal
1. Stone Wings of the Emperor
2. Beauty of Pain
3. El-Alamein
4. God of Shadows
5. Obexob (The 22nd Hour)
6. Execution
7. Evolutionary Burning
8. Psycho Desert
9. I'm Coming for Your Throne
Despite their name, Calm Hatchery is anything but calm. In fact I find their name downright strange. Just look at the cover; a military vehicle with, what appears to be, old astrological/occult symbols... why does this imply a calm hatchery? I give up trying to figure that one out... just like I give up trying to find their demo. So we begin with the first full length!
I'm pretty biased towards Polish Death Metal, so my review may not be as objective as others. I really find Poland to be producing some of the finest Death Metal in the world and it doesn't matter if they're unoriginal in approach... I just can't get enough of this stuff. That being said let's take a look at "El-Alamein"
This album is filled with a lot going on. They certainly blend together a lot from the Polish scene and try to present it together in a coherent manner. For the most part I think they succeed, but you can tell this band is still growing ideas. Usually the first step is to work with your influences pretty closely then branch out from there. So far I think Calm Hatchery is bringing us a solid blend of Vader, Decapitated and some later Trauma. They also seem to throw in some more traditionally solid Thrash riffing for good measure from time to time. As varied as that type of blending could be, I think they actually managed to pull it off pretty well. The songs seem to have very good flow thematically and things don't feel out of place. Some of their riffs actually inject a bit more atmosphere than the aforementioned bands and I thought this was something that stuck out very well.
In terms of musical performance this band is top notch as far as I can tell. The vocals took a brief getting used to. They don't really sound like the standard growlers I'm used to from the States or Sweden, for example. Eventually you see how his vocal performance blends in with the music very well. The guitars and drums are quite spectacular. Everything seems to be mixed pretty well too, the vocals don't overpower any parts and I can clearly hear the guitar and drums at all times.
In the end this is definitely a band worth checking out. I'm looking forward to seeing what this band will do in the future because I feel like this album is just overflowing with potential to do something extremely good in the future. Until then!
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