CoC : Lock Up - Hate Breeds Suffering : Review

Lock Up - _Hate Breeds Suffering_
(Nuclear Blast, 2002)
by: Paul Schwarz (8 out of 10)

_Pleasures Pave Sewers_ [CoC #46] was no bad grindcore record, but it was -not- the continuation of Terrorizer some made it out to be -- and from a line-up featuring Nick Barker (drums; Dimmu Borgir, ex-Cradle of Filth), Peter Tagtgren (vocals; Hypocrisy, Pain, Abyss), Shane Embury (bass; Napalm Death), and of course Jesse Pintado (guitar; Napalm Death, ex-Terrorizer), one would have, or -should- have, expected something a little better. _PPS_ mired itself too often in uninspiring repetition. It quickly stopped receiving spins from me, and I consigned Lock Up to the same obscure corner of my mind as Napalm Death, at that point, resided in. Nine months later, _Enemy of the Music Business_ stomped my doubts about the later into the dust -- naturally casting Lock Up in a somewhat more favourable light. Then I heard that Tomas Lindberg (he who spat out _Slaughter of the Soul_) had replaced Tagtgren as Lock Up vocalist -- suddenly, I was really excited about the prospect of a second Lock Up album. That _Hate Breeds Suffering_ has turned out to be one of the best grind records in years is not surprising; but once again, despite the quality on offer, it's Lock Up's short-comings which are most conspicuous. Certainly, the four-piece have succeeded in nailing sixteen songs of rarely relenting musical violence into an under-thirty-minute coffin -- in fact, they've even brought the reality of Lock Up considerably closer to its Terrorizing [sic] origins -- but Barker, Embury, Lindberg and Pintado still have essential maintenance work to perform before they'll make a true classic together. _Hate Breeds Suffering_ is a damn cool blast of grindcore, but it's oh-so-close to being a classic grindcore -album-. Still, perhaps we don't -need- Lock Up to go that extra mile -- if, indeed, they are even capable of doing so. For now, I think, enjoying _HBS_ without thoughts of the "wider picture" will be your best option.

[Pedro Azevedo: "Tomas Lindberg replaces Peter Tagtgren on vocals, and there they go again for another half-hour of hyperblasting grind driven by drummer Nick Barker. The previous album, _Pleasures Pave Sewers_, started really well but tended to lose my interest rapidly after a few tracks. _Hate Breeds Suffering_ shares with its predecessor a format of short tracks and similar style throughout, but overall does come across as a more convincing effort than _PPS_, partly thanks to Lindberg's vocals. I'm still waiting for Lock Up to create a record that's consistently as good as the best tracks on these two albums, but until then _HBS_ will do nicely."]

(article published 3/7/2002)

ALBUMS
5/3/2000	P Schwarz	8.5	Lock Up - Pleasures Pave Sewers