Hate Breeds Suffering

This is Lock Up's second album and their first with Tomas Lindberg (formerly of At the Gates) on vocals. They promise old school, high-intensity grindcore and that is basically what they deliver. The album gets off to a bang with the opening track, "Feeding on the Opiate," with its surprisingly catchy guitar riffing and possessed, screaming vocal refrain. Following this track are fifteen more blasting assaults, none more than three minutes (the entire album clocks in at less than thirty) and, unfortunately, none quite as memorable as the opener. The songs are all solid and expertly performed. After all, these are some of the better musicians in this particular business, but there is a tendency to get formulaic with the guitar parts and the vocal patterns at times. On the plus side, the production is excellent (especially in capturing the dirty guitar tones), while the overall aggression on display here comes across as very real and convincing. So while it's not exactly new or groundbreaking, Hate Breeds Suffering is still recommendable for metallic grindcore fans looking for a quality fix.