HateSphere – Guillotine Review
By Dr. A.N. Grier
How HateSphere has continued to find success after over twenty-five years playing their tried, true, and dated brand of Scandathrash is beyond me. With a catalog as inconsistent in quality as an Arizona highway, these Danes continue pounding out records like Mormon men with fourteen-person families. After two decades of personnel changes, the best thing going for the band is the surprise behind the mic. But since 2023’s Hatred Reborn, there haven’t been any real surprises behind the scenes. Minus a new drummer, founder Peter Lyse Karmark continues to lead the charge, even bringing back Mathia Uldall for vocal duties. With a touch more melody than the previous record, this year’s Guillotine delivers ten new tracks to either push the envelope or just… be.
Against better judgment, this will be the fourth time I review a HateSphere release. But I initially requested this prison sentence because I enjoyed records like Bloodred Hatred and The Great Bludgeoning. Not to mention, I’ve been a genre lover from the early days of At the Gates, The Haunted, and Witchery. But man, it’s been a rough few records of mediocrity and staleness. Because the entire structure hasn’t changed in the last three years, maybe Guillotine will start a focused era of output. Wait, why the fuck am I being positive?
This twelfth album opens with the aptly titled instrumental “Chapter XII.” After the soft, reverberating guitars, the distortion kicks in, and we are provided with one of the best riffs on the album.1 The opener sets the tone nicely, slingshotting us into the purely predictable but solid “Dogma.” Wrapped up tightly in every element that defines the band, “Dogma” aggressively barks and growls; guitars hammer and swirl; and alternates between groove and melody. But in the end, it’s nothing special; it’s the standard we expect from HateSphere.
Thankfully, there are a few exciting numbers, like the back-to-back “Cleansing” and “Snake Charmer.” The first opens with a standard melodic introduction before firing off into a fun main riff. When the vocals arrive, the guitars come and go, letting the bass rise to the surface. After clawing through massive overlaid barks and growls, it ends with a headbangable chug of pure bliss. “Snake Charmer” is an extra minute-plus, delivering sinister vibes and a razor-sharp riff straight from Witchery’s Don’t Fear the Reaper. Toss in some melodicness and a good balance of back-and-forth antics, and it’s a pleasing piece. For something a bit more Soilwork-meets-Dark Tranquillity, ensure you check out the catchy and punchy “Human Scum.”
But as is the case with most recent HateSphere records, filler pieces or duds distract or poison the flow. Unfortunately, it really hurts when it’s the first single and the title track. The main riff of “Guillotine” is the laziest attempt at Pantera’s “5 Minutes Alone.” I mean, I like the tone and direction, but then it drops into that slow, dissonant, overused guitar sound that bores the hell out of it. The best part is the riff transition at the end, but, ya know, it’s a bit late. “Bottom Feeder” is another slogger with a decent vocal approach, but it tries so hard to be old-school death that it never develops further than the character. The closer is the longest on the album and one of the biggest letdowns. “Heresy” feels like the expected album epic, and the band thought so too, but like “Guillotine,” it goes on and on, moving up and down for no reason, and consists of bruiser riffs and bully vocals that won’t end.
With a typical Tue Madsen master and early 2000s compression, Guillotine is just another in a long string of mixed HateSphere records. It has some kickass tunes, some predictable ones, and others that try so hard they become forgettable.2 That said, denying their drive and prolificity would make me a poser because I still come back to see if the next record breaks the mold. Guillotine has some interesting tweaks that freshen the palette for us old-time fans, but nothing cracks the surface that hasn’t been done numerous times over. But I didn’t hate everything, and what I did like will be added to my HateSphere playlist.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 256 kb/s mp3
Label: Scarlet Records | Bandcamp
Websites: hatesphere.com | facebook.com/hatesphereofficial
Releases Worldwide: October 9th, 2026
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