Death metal history carries weight, and few names carry more of it than Grave’s earliest material. So when a new project surfaces under the name Hating Life, expectations are immediately set: HM-2 filth, down-tuned riffs, and a deep reverence for the genre’s late ’80s and early ’90s foundations. On debut release Revenge From Beyond, those expectations are met—while still leaving room for something personal to emerge from the decay.
Hating Life is the creation of Santiago Cavero, guitarist and founding member of Spain’s long-running old-school death metal outfit Ataraxy. Describing the project as a spontaneous return to more primitive roots, Cavero credits simple tools—“a Gibson Les Paul and an HM-2 pedal”—for unlocking a flood of riffs, melodies, and ideas that didn’t quite fit within Ataraxy’s more defined identity. The result is death metal that’s deliberately putrid and raw, steeped in the atmosphere and tone that first drew him to the genre.
That lineage isn’t hidden. The opening track is bluntly titled ‘Into the Grave,’ a nod Cavero describes as both tribute and declaration of intent. “The first Grave material was and remains a clear exponent of the kind of death metal that truly motivated me to compose the tracks for this,” he explains. Still, this isn’t a hollow exercise in reenactment. While rooted in classic influences, Hating Life acknowledges the present, shaped by decades of listening rather than a single frozen moment in time.
Cavero handles all instrumentation on Revenge From Beyond, while longtime Ataraxy collaborator Javier Manzano steps in on vocals and lyrical duties. Recorded between Cavero’s home studio and the rehearsal room, the release was captured and mixed by Cavero himself, prioritizing immediacy and atmosphere over polish. The result feels dense, oppressive, and direct—death metal stripped to its essentials without losing intent.
Lyrically and thematically, Revenge From Beyond embraces death metal’s fixation on violence, barbarism, and mortality, not as nostalgia but as obsession. “We are simply two guys who are passionate about death metal and how death, human barbarism, and violence are all reflected in it,” Cavero notes. From its Grave-laden opening to the title track’s crawling menace, the release wears its influences proudly while standing firmly in the present.
Released February 27 via Pulverised Records, Revenge From Beyond is a concise, uncompromising statement—less about reinventing death metal than reaffirming why it still matters.
Stream ‘Revenge From Beyond’ below.
