Metal Underground.com

The debut five-song EP from extreme metal band Bonded Through Hate is an important milestone for the band. Not only is it the collaborative effort of two years of writing, but just before its release, guitarist Ron Kuczuk was admitted to the hospital with a life-threatening illness. So, "Doomsday: The Rise of Valhalla" almost became the EP that didn't see the light of day.

Three months later and Kuczuk is still in the hospital, overcoming something just as brutal as his music. This EP was probably the most anticipated release from a Connecticut metal band, and it's easy to see why. Bonded Through Hate is a decimating force, playing homage to early death metal and New England's rich tradition of hardcore music with "Doomsday: The Rise of Valhalla." This is also the first release of the new Connecticut label Ear One Productions.

Starting it off with the ripping single "Killing is My Name," Bonded Through Hate sets the tone for what will be a pulverizing excursion of hardcore slam riffs. Vocalist Allyan "Necrobutcher" Lopes, who sings in a ski mask, belts out this nasty snarl to a track that features great mosh pit energy with its two breakdowns. Likewise, the title track is non-stop death thrashing that plows through like a locomotive of riffs.

The drums and guitars play well off of each other, possibly because Kuczuk and drummer Justin Lanteri used to be in Tyrant Trooper together and have a long history of composing with each other. Lanteri employs a lot of high hat and double bass throughout this song and the rest, while Kuczuk slams out the riffs with his guitar wielded like a weapon of death.

Sometimes with the percussion being so loud and at the forefront, the sound of the bass and the guitars gets buried here and there. So, the solution is to turn it up louder. "B.T.K." is a track about the bind, torture, and kill murderer - complete with soundbites, screams and ominous killing noises - put to a faster, thrashing beat.

There's also the slower, death thrash rhythm of "To Die or Live," which proves that slower is sometimes heavier. In that song, you can picture a large swirling sea of bodies in a giant pit. In "Alone in Flames," Necrobutcher's voice fluctuates from a lower end, like Jan-Chris de Koeijer, to a sneer, much like Mille Petrozza, after the all-out assault of the drums.

Bonded Through Hate has a loud thrashing sound that is kept interesting through their usage of hardcore rhythms and energy. For a debut EP, this is indeed a good one. "Doomsday: The Rise of Valhalla" is indeed a force to contend with, having the sheer force of metal and the pulverizing beat of hardcore music.