Band:	Hostility
Album:	Set In Stone
Style:	Death metal, Groove thrash metal
Release date:	August 03, 2010
A review by:	Troy Killjoy

01. Leader Of The Rejects
02. Aces & Eights
03. Dividing Line
04. Baton Symphony
05. Resented Legacy
06. Flesh Doll
07. Said And Done
08. One By One
09. Hard Luck
10. Something Wicked
11. My Terms

Groove / death metal
United States
Voltaic Records

Line-up on the CD:
Gregory Haran IV - vocals
Tony Vorrises - guitar
Brandon Sigmund - bass
Blake Ferris - drums


Hostility definitely picked a good band name, one that accurately describes their sound: hostile. This American post-Pantera/Sepultura worship band creates some easy-to-headbang-to material with unrelenting aggression and infectious groove. There's no experimenting with foreign instruments or introducing soothing elements like pianos or soprano vocals, what we are presented with here is simply unabashed anger.

Set In Stone is the band's follow-up to the critically acclaimed Uncompromised, which featured mixing guru Colin Richardson. This time around the band brought in Juan Urteaga (Testament and Exodus) to engineer and mix the album. Both mixers have dealt with Machine Head in the past, so it's likely that they were brought on board by Brandon Sigmund.

The change from their previous release, though small, is noticeable. There is less purity in regards to the thrash aspect, as the band picked up a more God Dethroned style of shredding, at times even operating in hardcore/nu metal song structure territory, though it is such a limited dosage even Justin Bieber could handle another hit.

Unfortunately the aggression wears thin well before the near-50 minute playback reaches its end. There just isn't enough variation or dynamics brought to the table to keep the listener interested for the entire ride. While Hostility certainly have what it takes to break sound barriers, they will need to mature in the songwriting department for future releases if they ever want to escape the underground and join the likes of the bands they idolize.


Website: http://www.myspace.com/hostilityus