Italian band CHRONICLES OF HATE was formed in 2016, with the purpose of connecting to their fans through lyrics about real life incidences of pain and suffering. "When human values are forgotten, hate takes place", to quote the band. "The Birth of Hate" is their first release, an album built on a mesh of old style metal and new style metal. While the ideology is the right place, I don't feel CHRONICLES OF HATE is in the right place with their sound. This band takes their influences from bands such as IN FLAMES, and AT THE GATES; with their sound being influenced by Swedish "Gothenburg Metal".

"Deadly World" - With a slow, melodic start this song has some vague chanting as well as distant sounding drum beats. A mystical sort of entrance, like clearing your head from a drug induced fog only to be promptly dumped at..... "Devastation...Rise!!" - Blast beats and heavy hitting chords. The drum in this song does stand out though. Its momentum carries the tune artfully. However, even though the amazing drum work and melancholic guitar notes are present, the vocals just don't sit well. The vocals are too raspy and not solid enough. "The Better Way" - I am not sure what CHRONICLES OF HATE was going for with the weird little sound twist at the beginning of this song, it doesn't set it up very well. Some of the notes played in this song work, some don't have that flow; the guitar is all over the place in this track. I still feel the drummer of this band is 100% their backbone. The vocals just don't drive home a desire to listen again here.

"Bet on Tragedy" - This song opens with some boldly played guitar notes, pleasing in their conception. Lyrical content is the same as aforementioned, raspy and not aesthetically pleasing. It is also worth noting that many of these songs blend together, similar sounding. This is no exception to that as the chords are the exact same in some places as the song before this one. "The Birth of Hate" - The magic of a good drummer is immediately evident here, the beat that backs the tremolo plucking on guitar throughout the song. The vocals the same tempo and beat as before, the same abrasive sound. Altogether, it just doesn't fit or flow with itself well.

For many bands a first album is hit or miss. Oftentimes it doesn't quite hit the mark where it was intended to. This goes with the territory of a growing band. The hopes that the next album will shine better than the last being the driving motivation to succeed. The thing that stands out the best is the drum work, as I mentioned before. The guitar has some solidly played chords, beats, and breakdowns; however, is somewhat generic. And lastly, the vocals absolutely are not right. The power of a song is its ability to make someone feel, and hopefully sing along with it. I can't see singing along to these vocals.