Self-released
Negativehate began in 1995 and have had a lot of ups and
downs and especially lineup changes, but the one thing that remained after all
of this was the guarantee of music that is challenging and full of emotion and
talent. Based in Monroe, NY the band is comprised of Mike Stewart
(keys, vocals), Eric Stewart (bass), Chuck Scandura (guitar, vocals), Sergio
Sanchez (drums), and Freedom Scheyd (guitar, backing vocals).
The music is a mix of many styles; ambient, prog rock,
alternative and post metal, but it all seems to work in their favor creating a
sound that will astound and confound in places. The songs are mostly long and
do have meandering parts like “The Expansion of the Universe (via magnification
of the infinitesimal)” does, but you find yourself just going along and
floating during those moments and then when it gets heavy and the growled,
almost death metal vocals come in, it fits perfectly. The songs on the album
are conceptualized after a story of the same name also written by the band, so
it has a definite meaning to it and actually makes for a great listen. This is
not an album to throw on and party along to, unless you have really weird
parties….and I want to party with you! This is one of those listen to it in one
shot to get the full effect of the music, even though you will find tracks that
stand out more for you, like I did with “The Expansion of the Universe (via
magnification of the infinitesimal)”. The songs do flow from one to the next
without a lot of difference between them, but that’s not a complaint, it just
makes the whole thing work in ways that most just can’t seem to do.
Give your ears a treat and freak them out a bit with the
time changes, vocal variations and other non-traditional sounds on here and let
them grow and evolve into something better than just holes where sound goes in,
but turn them into something special and lovely, but demented at the same time.
A great listen and one that just seems to get better the more I listen to it.
-Rick Ecker
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