Hatebreed – Perseverance

01. Proven
02. Perseverance
03. You’re Never Alone
04. I Will Be Heard
05. A Call For Blood
06. Below The Bottom
07. We Still Fight
08. Unloved
09. Bloodsoaked Memories
10. Hollow Ground
11. Final Prayer
12. Smash Your Enemies
13. Healing To Suffer Again
14. Judgement Strikes
15. Remain Nameless
16. Outro
17. Condemned Until Rebirth

This is amphetamine: avoid playing in near vicinity of hypertension and coronary artery patients.

Ok, enough pumping. Let’s get down to business…

Hatebreed’s Perseverance (2002) isn’t just an album; it’s an eruption of raw conviction and distilled rage, a straight shot of pure adrenaline dose like epinephrine. From the opening riff, it rips you from your comfort zone, locking you in the unforgiving grip of “I Will Be Heard”. This isn’t a song; it’s a manifesto, with Jamey’s roar slicing through the silence like a siren call for the dispossessed. That innuendo—“Now is the time for me to rise to my feet!”—transforms personal struggle into collective defiance. His delivery isn’t mere screaming, it’s exorcism.

When the title track kicks in, it escalates the defiant spirit, invoking the same unbreakable will as Pantera’s Vulgar Display Of Power and Biohazard’s Urban Discipline. Each riff from Sean Martin is blunt, striking chords like a jolt to the system, and when “A Call For Blood” and “Below The Bottom” bellow out, the mood turns belligerent and hostile. Perseverance represents the Connecticut powerhouse at their peak, channeling the speed and structure of Slayer with the streetwise ferocity of the NY hardcore scene. The riffs are devastating, a blend of scorching intensity and rhythmic precision that leaves you in awe. Meanwhile, Matt Byrne’s drumming is the beating heart behind this record, unyielding, hammering each track into submission with surgical accuracy.

Look, this isn’t about technical pyrotechnics or complex arrangements; Hatebreed doesn’t usually waste time on frivolities, as you could see in “Healing To Suffer Again” and “Proven”. Nothing was done to tone anything down for mainstream appeal, and it is as unprecedented and ballsy as you will hear outside of extreme metal circles. For me, this is easily the most brutal slam dunk metal album to come out on a big label since the early ‘90s.

This is also one of those records you rip through the speakers at the gym and start clamoring along to.

Spin it and let me know what you think of it.