Since they released their stunning Deaf Dumb Blind debut album back in 1993, Sweden's Clawfinger have always had a reputation for producing intense, thought-provoking, politically-motivated and above all,  intelligent  music. Now on to their sixth album (released on Nuclear Blast Records), possibly the heaviest of their career, it's suffice to say that not much has changed. The fire that has always burned within them is still very much alive and kicking.
Ever since they opened their debut with a song called Ni**er, a scathing criticism of racial prejudice in our so-called tolerant Western society, they have never been a band to shy away from baring their souls through their music. The first chords of Hate Yourself With Style ring out with opening track The Faggot In You, which launches an attack on repressed homosexuality. If this appears to be a bold statement then more is to come as sixth track Right To Rape deals with the shocking reality of society's indifferent (and often disgusting) attitudes towards the survivors of sexual assault. Not content with this, in album closer God Is Dead they also let us know, in no uncertain terms, that religion is not their cup of tea.
If there is any real observation to be made about the music itself, then it has to be said that Hate Yourself With Style doesn't deviate a great deal from the band's distinctive sound. Despite the addition of a few intense, faster numbers, the direction of the album is pretty much business as usual. This may be a source of frustration for fans who have followed the band since their early days and have seen both the industrial and rap-metal explosion come and go, but this is an album which is focussed, hard-hitting and most of all, honest.
While some may see this album as a lack of progression on Clawfinger's part, the truth of the matter is that this is a band doing what they do best and boy, do they deliver it with style! What we have here is an album which stands up loud and proud next to the band's legendary first two albums, managing to avoid genre categorisations, while still remaining true to the sound which made them so great in the first place. As the age-old saying goes: If it ain't broke...don't fix it!. A superb effort from a superb band.