HateSphere

Denmark's Hatesphere is one of a handful of bands reigniting the flame of '80s speed metal by way of the so-called Scandinavian neo-thrash movement (spearheaded by the likes of Arch Enemy and the Haunted). Started as Cauterized in 1993 by Danish high-school chums Claus Nielsen (vocals), Peter Lyse Hansen (guitar), Frantz Dhin (guitar), and Jesper Moesgaard (drums), the group underwent various transformations (quickly adopting the new moniker of Necrosis and continually exchanging personnel) over the ensuing decade, issuing several heavily traded demos along the way.

Finally stabilizing into the lineup of Hansen, Moesgaard, vocalist Jacob Bredahl, guitarist Ziggy, and bassist Mikael Ehlert Hansen, the newly renamed Hatesphere found a home with Italy's Scarlet Records for the release of their eponymous debut album in 2000, and 2002's Bloodred Hatred. The latter saw the replacement of Moesgaard with new drummer Morten Toft Hansen (that's right, another Hansen), but otherwise held steady in the band's part trash, part death metal, and part neo-thrash hybrid style, gaining them a small following along the way. But there were more changes ahead for Hatesphere, who, after replacing Ziggy with guitarist Henrik Jacobsen and welcoming yet another new drummer in Anders Gyldenøhr, managed only an EP named Something Old, Something New in 2003. They returned to full force in 2004, however, unleashing their potent third album, Ballet of the Brute, in North America through famed metal indie Nuclear Blast Records.