Hatesphere

Denmark's Hatesphere ranks among the select few acts reviving the spirit of 1980s speed metal through the Scandinavian neo-thrash wave led by Arch Enemy and the Haunted. The ensemble originated as Cauterized in 1993 when Danish high-school friends Claus Nielsen on vocals, Peter Lyse Hansen on guitar, Frantz Dhin on guitar, and Jesper Moesgaard on drums first assembled. Over the following ten years the outfit experienced repeated shifts, swiftly taking the name Necrosis while rotating members and circulating multiple widely exchanged demos.

Stability finally arrived with Hansen, Moesgaard, vocalist Jacob Bredahl, guitarist Ziggy, and bassist Mikael Ehlert Hansen, allowing the newly christened Hatesphere to sign with Italy's Scarlet Records and issue its self-titled debut in 2000 followed by Bloodred Hatred in 2002. That second release introduced drummer Morten Toft Hansen in place of Moesgaard, yet preserved the group's blend of thrash, death metal, and neo-thrash elements that had begun attracting a modest audience. Further personnel adjustments ensued when Ziggy departed for guitarist Henrik Jacobsen and Anders Gyldenøhr arrived on drums, limiting the band to the 2003 EP Something Old, Something New. Hatesphere reemerged at full strength in 2004, delivering its third album Ballet of the Brute across North America via the respected metal independent Nuclear Blast Records.