Hate Inc.
Fragments

It is not at all easy to emerge in a genre such as industrial, especially when combined with rock and grunge influences; yet, to cut to the chase, someone seems to have the potential to do so, and the results achieved so far are of excellent quality. The "Hate Inc." have now become a prominent reality from Puglia, and with their first EP "Fragments," produced and mixed by Victor Love (vocalist of Dope Stars Inc.), they have succeeded in bringing to life the aforementioned musical melting pot.

Before beginning to describe the album, it should be noted that modern industrial fundamentally or almost exclusively rests on the adrenaline-driven emotion of the expressed sound. To better convey the idea, aside from a mass phenomenon like Rammstein, most of the other more or less known entities neglect the textual component to give space, sometimes even invasively, almost exclusively to music, to loops of guitars, to the 'mosh' effect, so to speak. In the case of Hate Inc., a great deal of the praise for this first album goes to the lyrics written by leader Vincent Vega, who perfectly engages with a more contemplative approach to industrial, making it more interesting and intriguing from the very first listens.
The opening track "Fragments" names the album. Clever and winning, the track veers towards a pessimistic and self-destructive grunge rock. In my opinion, it is the most successful piece, not due to a lack of quality in the following tracks, but due to a catchiness that makes it appealing to everyone from the outset. There are slaps at the worldly hypocrisy that the rock scene unfortunately offers today, as in "Harangue," and there is no lack of the sense of self-destruction of a track like "Learn To Love (Yourself)," the second track of the EP, which harks back a bit to M.Manson and a lot to various Deathstars and Rammstein, albeit in a more rocking and less 'programmed' style.
The album closes with the excellent "Art Of Suffering," a track reminiscent of early Korn which, when analyzing the lyrics, is perhaps the most complex piece of the demo. "When a love is born, it begins to die" is the eloquent key phrase of the piece, which speaks of the transformation of pain into an almost self-satisfied status. The vocal style and low guitars are, in this case, closer to Nu Metal, except in the intro and more generally in the 'non-sung' parts, all perfectly seasoned with an almost impeccable production.

I close by admitting that mentioning great icons of the past and present such as Manson, Korn, and Rammstein may seem apparently exaggerated and not very credible, but the seriousness with which the band has decided to pursue this artistic path, which led them to work with an Italian figure of prominence in industrial, namely 'Victor Love', is already a synonym of ambition and acumen, the rest is up to you to discover by accessing the band's MySpace, and why not, by following their live shows, which for now see them performing with excellent results in various rock clubs in Puglia.

Rating: 8