HAVOCHATE
THIS VIOLENT EARTH
ROOT OF ALL EVIL

LINKS:
rootofallevil.com
For all of the respect that New York has earned for being the birthplace (or one of them anyway) of punk and hardcore, Gotham is often overlooked for its metal influence. Just one example is Metallica, who spent some of their formative years crashing with native sons Anthrax.
Following in that legacy is HavocHate. Playing straight forward, in-your-face heavy metal, HavocHate has released their Root Of All Evil Records debut, This Violent Earth. This release is actually a ‘finished’ version of the album. The band had independently recorded the disc back in 2001 and brought in James Murphy (from Death) to help produce and mix it once they signed.
Vocalist Jon Mallek sounds like a higher pitched Tom Araya (Slayer) with his raspy yells. But, much like in Araya’s band, duel guitars often steal the show. Manning the axes are Freddy Ordine and Mario Rodriguez. The pair is solid throughout This Violent Earth chugging, thudding and opening up into sweet wide-open solos (“When God Dies”). Dave Ludwig holds up the bottom end on bass with Ovie Rodriguez on drums. Where a good portion of Ludwig’s work follows along with the guitars, Rodriguez plays at a quick yet steady pace with occasional double bass kicks, allowing the guitars to do their business.
Living in the polluted, overpopulated Big Apple area certainly had its affect on the band. Song titles like “Kill Or Be Killed”, “Right To Die” and “Years Of Abhorrence” show just how sick of society this band is. In that philosophy and in much of their sound, HavocHate clearly mirrors old school thrash metal. In a scene swarming with metal pretenders, having a modern Overkill like HavocHate around will do well to keep the flame alive.

----Scott Olivenbaum