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It's easy to hate bands that worship blindly at the feet of At the Gates, In Flames etc, but to Hate Fusion's credit they at least manage to mix the formula up enough to not sound like straight plagiarism, and their own twists on things tend to be pretty interesting. This demo consists of the kind of thrashy Melodic Death Metal not uncommon to South America, also played by their aggressive Brazilian cousins Criminal. While it's true a leading component of their sound is torn from Gothenburg's past, Hate Fusion redeem themselves by forging memorable guitarwork and being more proficient songwriters than the many Melodic Death bands complacent enough to mimic.

There's a little bit of old AtG mixed with the obvious Slaughter of the Soul-isms, and what really saves this demo from the heap of the forgettable is its refusal to be quite generic enough to be called generic. Sure, a lot of the melodies are imported straight from Sweden, but just when a riff or guitar lead becomes familiar it veers into new territory, the melody doesn't go where experience listening to this kind of music would dictate. That is what separates Hate Fusion from less promising bands. They aren't perfect by any means, but the potential for savage and original Death Metal is definitely there, and they won't have to discard their influences to make it happen. Hate Fusion have taken strong elements of the past and renewed them, injected themselves into the concoction, ended up with something familiar but only in a nostalgic sense; they give tribute to without aping. The overall product is far from mind-blowing, but this is only a demo. The band has considerable room to fine-tune their musical direction and I hope they continue to evolve.

Vocal styles utilized vary, from a deep bellowing growl to more typical Melodic Death shrieking, to some questionable clean singing that, while sounding slightly out of place and being a target for improvement, doesn't make or break the band.

I look forward to a full-length release from these Argentineans.