• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Just to clarify, Hat is ‘Hate' in Norwegian, so it's not that these guys are just odious and hatefilled about the lack of quality headwear in Norway. Also, there are (so far as I can gather, anyway) no relation to Hat, the original vocalist of Gorgoroth.

Originally forming in 1993 under the name Ravner, they were inactive from 1996-2006, where they re-united under their new hateful moniker. Their name certainly suits their music too, as they play some of the most misanthropic Black Metal I've heard from the shores of Norway for a good while. Very much in the vein of the early 90s Norsk Svarte Metall scene, with dark, treble-filled speeding riffs flying around, often being reminiscent of an embryonic Gorgoroth. The Demise of Mankind is all about the venomous, bile-spitting, face clawing brand of Black Metal that came to encapsulate the early days of the 2nd wave in Norway, and they carry it off extremely well. The simplistic yet furious drumming when coupled with the bitterly tremolo picked riffage and cavernous vocals just make for that perfectly grim sound that any Black Metal fan worth his salt expects.

Well worthy in pretty much all respects, Hat are as frostbitten as the Norwegian scene gets nowadays, and in my opinion, anyone pining for a 40 minute hateful frosty blast could do far worse than to check them out.