Hackneyed is a quite interesting case. They are all 16 years old except for one who is 14! A similar to Death Angel’s situation more than 20 years ago. Only that these Germans are into death metal or at least that’s what they say. A music that’s been degenerated in our days.

These kids have the support of a big label, the mighty Peter Tagtgren and in addition to these they have despite their young ages some technical knowledge. They feel like experimenting with different death metal styles like the Swedish but mostly Cannibal Corpse. Their sound might remind you of early Deeds Of Flesh. However fast they wanna go, they can’ reach this extremity. Only some times. And of course since they are young and inexperienced they end up using thrash riffs that definitely don’t match the Barnes/Mullen voice they want to approach.

It’s an early point for a very strict judgement since it’s only their first effort though they could deceive a newcomer in the scene as more interesting than what they really are. They need a lot of work on the matters of their mat production and some settling down on something specific ‘cause they sound confused in their influences. Even if the album was only for half an hour no riff was memorable besides an irrelevant Six Feet Under-like groovy part that confused me more! And if Peter thinks they sound stunning I’d rather add them in the very long list of unremarkable German death metal acts. We’ll just have to wait for their next work.

P.S: Are these under aged kids supposed to drink beer on tour???