Metal Underground.com

Hadean is one of those bands that reaffirms why metal heads listen to this genre in the first place, but also shows that sometimes the most talented bands can infuriatingly slip through the cracks. From the polished sound to the tight musicianship and on to the interesting take on melodic metal, Hadean’s debut album is a triumph not just for heavy metal, but for music in general.

The tracks contained on “Parasite” have easily recognizable influences from well-defined genres, such as thrash and power metal, as well as from more amorphous entities, such as prog, but overall the album has a unique sound. Each style that the band draws from is molded in a different direction so the music is something all its own, rather than just another addition to a specific sub-genre. At the end of the day, “heavy metal” is just about the only tag that adequately describes the album, even if it leaves out all the other musical leanings that can be heard on the disc.

Vocalist Michael "Fry" Haas tends to go a route that is most closely aligned with power metal, although his singing isn’t nearly as high pitched as many other musicians who call that style home. To mix it up there are also occasionally rougher sounds delivered that don’t quite go all the way into growling, instead staying somewhere around what might be expected from a heavier thrash album.

Songs like “Earth” keep up that trend of mixing various melodic styles together, using several laid back and guitar heavy segments that bring to mind a blend of Iced Earth and Pain of Salvation. “Proclamation (Clouds)” is the knockout track of the album, combining fast paced and headbang-worthy material with enough melodic elements to keep it sounding like the rest of the music around it. The song’s only downside is the voiceovers played underneath the music. While it may fit the concept of the album, it also detracts from the music a bit and gets annoying after repeated listens.

Clearly Hadean isn’t trying to be an extremely technical metal outfit, but the ability of these musicians is something worth mentioning. Each member is exceedingly proficient at what they do, whether during soft acoustic segments or fast head banging outings, and they all handle their instruments with skill and grace.

It’s not often that a debut album is as well produced, performed, and delivered as “Parasite.” Simply put, Hadean deserves to make a meteoric rise out of obscurity and into the forefront of melodic metal.