Review - Hate Crew Deathroll

Awash in clichés, it's amazing that this five-piece actually makes a unique impression. Here's the checklist: They're from Finland, they're named after a bizarre murder case, they liberally combine epic keyboards and chunky riffs, their album is called "Hate Crew Deathroll," for chrissakes. Yet, despite some laughably by-the-numbers stuff, the material on "Hate Crew" is surprisingly interesting. Must be something about the Scandinavian winters, but bands from the region have a lock on merging majestic doom and gloom with fist-pumping rage and COB is no different. Yeah, the twinkly keyboard lines are silly, but they do add just the right amount of symphonic counterpoint to the grinding riffs of bulldozer-powerful tracks, including "Triple Corpse Hammerblow." And yes, the song is called "Triple Corpse Hammerblow."