Search - Lock Up :: Hate Breeds Suffering

Another Instant Classic ? More Hateful Than The First!!!

Ken | Youngsville, LA USA | 02/22/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Lock Up: the art of stiffening the arms during the execution of an elongated blast beat" - as defined by Nick Barker, blast beat virtuoso. Upon reading this on the band's webpage, I finally understood the mystery behind this supergroup's name. An apt name, too, considering that these guys worship the old-school blast to violent excess... not that that's a bad thing, either!!
1999's "Pleasures Pave Sewers" was Lock Up's old-school flavored Death Metal / Grindcore "revival-arrival". In short, the band erupted into existence as a necessity brought upon by frustration of the current state of extreme music, i.e. the "smug faces," the convenient angst," the "generic guitar sound," (directly quoted, by the way) and so on. Barker (Dimmu Borgir/ex-Cradle Of Filth) and Napalm Death madmen Jesse Pintado (ex-Terrorizer) and Shane Embury had made a pact to bring back the good old days when blast beats weren't assaulted with the likes of keyboards, orchestras, or generally "wimpy" vocals. Unbelievably, they knocked out thirteen unrehearsed death-grind tracks in one studio take, and after Peter Tagtgren laid down his equally volatile deathgrunts, Lock Up's "beast of blast" was unleashed upon an unsuspecting public.
After the dust settled for a couple of years (as well as after fulfilling their main bands' obligations) Barker, Embury, and Pintado were back to focusing on Lock Up. News of impending shows and a second album thankfully put to rest the initial worries that this was a one-off side project. The only pitfall, however, was a sudden vacancy at the lead microphone. Thus, the obvious difference between "Hate Breeds Suffering" and the debut is vocalist Tomas Lindberg, who replaced the ultra-busy Peter Tagtgren for a live show and ended up being a permanent member, despite his also-ultra-busy duties of being the new frontman for The Crown, The Great Deceiver, and Disfear (pretty busy guy, I guess).
As with the debut, "Hate Breeds Suffering" must be discussed in terms of the people involved. It's obvious that the caliber of talent within these tracks is virtually immeasurable. You'll simply be hard pressed find Death Metal and/or Grindcore played by better musicians, so expect to be totally blown away. Likewise, the writing itself is pure brutality at its finest. Believe it or not, compared to its predecessor there's more of a sense of urgency within each of these tracks. On average, the tracks are shorter, and that much more fierce for it. There's even less of a tendency for the tracks to slow down, which is a relative term anyway, since "slow" isn't much less than a blast beat on this album.
"Feeding On The Opiate" maliciously destroys the starting gate as it proceeds to acknowledge that the debut - somehow - just wasn't raw and hateful enough. The listener isn't given much of a chance to breathe easily except for a few briefly slower excerpts in "Detestation", "Dead Sea Scroll Deception", and a barely handful more. But on such tracks where the warp factor isn't engaged for a short time, they kick back in with such a vengeance that it almost seems they're making up for lost time. Furthermore, it seems as though all elements of traditional melody were systematically eradicated from the riffs, creating a truly sadistic effect. Guitars are still brought to the forefront, however, by quick lead riffs ala very early Slayer, yet still annihilating any hope for melody. Finally, and just as with the debut, there are no solos. In short, this monster is unbelievably even more evil than the first. Shorter. Faster. Uglier. Completely depraved.
Tomas's voice, if you're not already familiar with the almighty At The Gates, is still more of a vicious, lacerating, angry death-shout as opposed to the deep, guttural death-grunts of Peter Tagtgren. It's obviously not any worse or better, just a totally different style. His performance on "Slaughterous Ways", especially the trademark blood curdling scream at the beginning and end, brings back fond memories of "Slaughter Of The Soul". It wouldn't surprise me if demonic possessions had occurred while recording the vocals of "The Jesus Virus", "Horns Of Venus", and especially "High Tide In A Sea Of Blood" (which also gets my vote for coolest song title in quite a while).
So, once again Lock Up has created an instant classic. Unrelenting, savage, vicious, brutal, horrific, and sickeningly - no, frighteningly - GOOD... and I still believe all these are mere understatements when contemplating this magnificent, malicious monstrosity. The notion that I keep resorting to is this: Lock Up is a band in which each member is his own boss. They're not doing this to present an image, garner a reputation, collect a paycheck, or fulfill anyone else's musical vision. Quite simply, this is their unbridled passion. After their day job obligations are fulfilled (you know: Dimmu Borgir, Napalm Death, The Crown, etc...), this is what these guys do to REALLY let loose. Thus, you have an album bursting with ingenuity, vitality, sincerity, and integrity. Simply put, five stars just aren't enough to rate this awesome album. I'd give "Hate Breeds Suffering" a TEN, easily."

Grindcore Insanity

B. Fanciulli | United States | 12/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This grindcore supergroup is made up of Shane Embury from Napalm Death (bass), Jesse Pintado from Terrorizer/Morbid Angel (guitar), Nick Barker from Cradle of Filth (drums) and Tomas Lindberg (vocals) from At the Gates. The Embury and Pintado influences definitely prevail over the latter.



This is some of the most powerful, extreme grindcore I have ever heard. Imagine Madball (NYC hardcore band) playing a full set of Napalm Death and Terrorizer covers and you'll have a good idea of what's in store here. These guys are TIGHT.



The production is excellent, with emphasis on Barker's non-stop double-bass rolls, making the blast beats very intense. His skills were clearly underutilized in Cradle and now Dimmu Borger. Lindberg's vocals lack breadth; however, the anger and conviction he conveys adds to the intensity--check out Detestation! His voice is a nice alternative to the classic Cookie Monster grunt-scream-grunt-scream grindcore style. This is a must-have for grindcore fans."

Hell is unleashed and so is lock up

B. Fanciulli | 07/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lock UP is the best death/thrash metal band out. Nikolas Barker(dimmu borgir, old man's child)lives up to his great expectation. The guitarists are awesome and the singing for anyone who likes The Crown and at the gates will love linderberg"