Hatebreed

Covers albums are a great/old standby. A band can relieve the pressure of expectancy for new material, get their ya-yas out with a few favourites and still manage to pull in a few bucks with another album to sell. That's why this seemingly easy path can also be quite treacherous. Some bands shouldn't play other people's music and certain songs shouldn't be re-imagined. Surprisingly, hardcore purveyors Hatebreed have taken a cue from Slayer's Undisputed Attitude on For The Lions, picking well-known bands but not necessarily their most obvious track. The end result is a great selection of 18 tunes, including Misfits, Black Flag, Sick Of It All, Madball, D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies and even an amusing Obituary number. On a performance level, the band are just as tight and imposing as with their original music, with Jasta even branching out for a few clean vocal patterns. However, because the band adhere so closely to the original versions there are occasional moments where Hatebreed succumb to sounding akin to when your high school band covered these acts. Even the subtle injection of their style/sound fails to propel this past being pure imitation.