Brood of Hatred's Thoughtful Death Metal Enters "The Golden Age" (Early Album Stream)

For as much acclaim as death metal garners for its fat riffs and fatter grooves, there’s an introspective element exemplified by acts like Brood of Hatred. Muhammed Mêlki’s third album under the Brood of Hatred title is inquisitive: on The Golden Age, the Tunisian one-person band uses blunt edges to pry deeper into his mind. Below, listen to the entire album ahead of its release this Friday through Gruesome Records.

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The Golden Age is at its best when it is at its most dynamic. Tracks like “Uncertainty” follow a tit-for-tat framework. Mêlki sequences post-metal lows in-between progressive death metal waves. However, the calmer portions are only tranquil in volume. The drums stride at a blistering pace while the guitars are more than happy to serve as anchors. Spaciousness like this is found in a lesser contrast on “The Mask of Death.” Mêlki tosses the melodic guitars underneath the chaos in a concentrated opening sprawl. Yet it’s in the track’s middle section where Mêlki brandishes his multi-layered compositions: he commands a revolving door of tempos, tones, and rhythms that are stacked as if they could tumble at any moment.

The Golden Age‘s overall tone is more pensive than it is aggressive. The gruff vocals infer that Mêlki is grappling with affairs beyond the physical realm—matters that he must reckon with through an undulation rather than slamming his head into the wall. But, to soothe those who were frightened by the notion that The Golden Age might not have fat grooves, allow “Genesis” to purge your mind of all doubt.

Mêlki comments:

This album is a milestone marking a personal transition with some new ideas that I will be developing more in the future.

Through “The Golden Age” I’m summarizing many emotional and musical patterns, but the journey is far from over yet.

The previous Album “Identity Disorder” that came out in 2018 was personally very demanding and intense and through this new release, I’m looking towards a fresh vision of sound.

The naming of the Album is not just a label but a central piece to the idea of revolution and evolution. “The Golden Age” is about looking towards the future and not the past as some might be led to think.

Music has many meanings and the pleasure of making music is in expressing and exploring those meanings. It’s a long and tedious journey, taking months sometimes, and there’s a piece of yourself that you leave with the music forever. “The Golden Age” track took me 7 months to write.

The people you work and collaborate with are very important. When you make music with others, you’re sharing an intimate personal experience in the form of music and I’m very thankful to “Gruesome Records” for believing in the “Golden Age” idea.

The Golden Age will release on February 25 through Gruesome Records.