Creeping Fear - Hategod Triumphant

“Hategod Triumphant” is the 2nd full length release from France’s Creeping Fear, and this death metal crushes. While their take on the genre is nothing new or revolutionary, they take the best of groups like Cannibal Corpse or Abysmal Dawn and inject a ton of groove into the music to make each track as interesting as possible. The opening ‘Collapse’ is even a little deceiving with its slow opening that gives almost a doomy feel before the drums explode in and then one feels like they are listening more to something in the vein of Cannibal Corpse or Hate Eternal. The production is a little fuzzy but not so much it sounds like a buzz saw effect in the vein of Dismember or early Bloodbath. The music is still raw though and heavy as hell. Other tracks like ‘Hate Crush Consume’ are a little more one’s run-of-the-mill death metal and don’t have as much of an intriguing effect.
However ‘Deceitful Tongues’ turns things around by showcasing quite a bit of melody that makes things more than just a fast riff fest. Granted it is only in the solos mostly, but the band tries to mix things up a bit by slowing down the pace a bit and adding as much head banging groove that they can to make one nod their head. While certainly not a sword to the face like some of the other tracks, many like this one serve up just the right level of mid paced death metal that should make fans happy. Others like ‘Summoned in Hellfire’s Blood’ do the same even though the riffs can be a bit repetitive. The drums also tend to shine during the slower/ mid paced tracks as well so they aren’t overtaken by the guitars, and some of the melodies are dark, foreboding, and mesh perfectly with the overall tone of the album.

Creeping Fear also try to add a bit of atmosphere such as the chiming bells on the title track, enhancing the evil sound, and it is a shame they don’t do it more often. Little bits like these can give listeners a break from the overall ear bludgeon and also serve a cliffhanger before the riffs or vocals jump in. With its grim yet fantastic mood, this track takes a little bit of Marduk to probably become a fan favorite. Others like ‘Wearing the Skin of the Wicked’ speed things up but sound a little less interesting without the atmospheric elements which help separate Creeping Fear from the run of the mill death metal group. Vocally, the pitch is just right with the raspy snarl but it just stays at that. Lots of other death metal bands tend to mix things up and Creeping Fear tend to just keep it one sided throughout the whole album. That being said, thankfully the mid range approach is enough that is can be understood without being too guttural, like in slam death, and also not too annoying, such as some of the squeals or shrieks in Six Feet Under.

Overall, this album is a solid death metal piece that is worthy to appeal to fans all the way from Dark Funeral to Deicide. Lyrically, the album is the typical crush all, hail Satan vibe, but they try to at least be poetic about it. Compared to their last album, this one is just as strong if not stronger. A hellfire of a grim yet clear picture of death metal that takes everything from the 90s death metal one loves so dearly and makes it infectious with some very sick riffs.

4 / 5 STARS


1. Collapse
2. Hate Crush Consume
3. Deceitful Tongues
4. Hategod Triumphant
5. Wearing The Skin Of The Wicked
6. We Belong To The Crypts
7. Summoned In Hellfire’s Blood
8. From Wombs To The Battlefield