Review by ChadL on May 8, 2002.

From a country who's metal scene is known primarily for spandex wearing power metal wankers rehashing Iron Maiden riffs, Germany's Sanitys Dawn's second effort "Mangled In The Meatgrinder" is here to punch you right in the face with their take Carcass / Impetigo school of gore/grind.

Right from the opening track, you know you're in for one hell of aural assault, and believe it or not, it's a fun one. The style here is not one that is original, as they play old school gore/grind ala "Symphonies Of Sickness" era Carcass. This is not to say that they are a rip off of the former band, because they take what Carcass started and speed it up, not to mention add their own flavor to it. What is unique about Sanitys Dawn is that unlike many of their peer in the gore/grind scene, they actually posses a great amount of musical talent. While some bands simply turn up the bass drum and bottom end guitar and bass in the mix to suffocate and cover up the sub-par musician ship and top it off with gurglely vocals, Sanitys Dawn has a very clear sound that allows every instrument to be heard in all its blood drenched glory. Although the instruments are audible, the album still has that organic, old school sound which really helps the atmosphere of the music. Creative riffs and excellent song structures abound throughout the sixteen tracks on this 41-minute album. The rhythm section is extremely tight and devastating in its approach, keeping you headbanging throughout. The vocals are mostly gurgling (if you don't like those kind of vocals, don't dismiss this album yet, as they are done well, and fit the music perfectly without sounding too ridiculous), along with some really cool sounding burps! Many bands that play this style have a tendency to put the vocals much too loud in the mix, but the vocals on this album are the perfect volume.

This style might not appeal to every metalhead, but for what they do, along with Exhumed, Sanitys Dawn does it well. Despite the gross out lyrical content and brutal music, this album has a really upbeat vibe running through it, and it's just fun to listen to when your in the mood for something raw with an old school attitude to it. And as a great little break from the brutality, there is a 10 second or so polka breakdown, complete with accordions in the last song, before it pummels you once more. Don't be surprised if it makes its way into your CD player often.

Bottom Line: For fans of Carcass, Exhumed or similar bands, this will be a welcome addition to you collection. Defiantly at the top of the heap in the gore/grind scene.

Categorical Ratings Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Originality: 7
Production: 9
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.2 out of 10

Review by Maciek on March 23, 2015.

It feels like yesterday when excited I listened to first sounds of "Solarflesh" and kept on listening to it for next week over and over again. And here we've got another masterpiece from Hate called "Crusade:Zero". And it seems that now bands that have been on the scene for a while spark a lot of discussions regarding the style, the development and how frequently they change their style and whether they should do that or not. Being a fan of metal for nearly 30 years now I have mixed opinions myself about many bands and from some of them I would expect some change, but with some of them I'm happy if they stay the same. And I don't expect anything else from any other metal fan. That's the beauty of art - everyone is entitled to their own opinion, especially artists themselves. And we have quite big choice of metal nowadays and it's much easier to find whatever you like and either you stick to one favourite band or you keep on changing your favourites every week. I definitely wasn't expecting what I heard from Unleashed on "Where is Your God Now?", but in my opinion those blackened elements actually are something I like in their Scandinavian death metal.

But I digress. Hate's "Crusade:Zero" is their ninth album and they follow the same path since the album "Anaclasis", and it's so good that if I was a castaway and had only their last 5 albums on my mp3 including this one, I wouldn't need anything else. Well, maybe a charger. I remember listening to the latest Behemoth last year and had an impression that their tempos have become a bit slower, same thing seems to have happened to Hate, but not to that extent and "Crusade:Zero" fits my preferences a bit more, I don't know what it is, but Hate's album is more headbanging-recommended to me.

There are obviously few changes, but the band maintains the same high level of technical perfection, with that amazing eerie atmosphere thanks to the sounds in the background which just enhance the material, but do not distract the listener from brilliant guitar work and drumwork. After second and third listening you start noticing those tiny details that Hate's version of death metal is known for and it's getting better and better with each new album. The drumwork is brilliant, I'm sure that Pavulon would show at least a distance of a marathon if he had a pedometer attached. That's another change - Hexen left the band nearly a year ago, which made me wonder if the new drummer would fit his shoes, but it sounds like Pavulon was a great choice. Well, to be honest, if you recorded two albums with Vader ("Necropolis" and "Welcome to the Morbid Reich") you probably have a VIP pass to any death metal outfit...

Anyway, to sum up, this is another perfect Hate album, with all the elements expected from their style, powerful riffs, blast-beats, crushing growling from ATF Sinner accompanied by good solos and atmosphere which wants you to play this album few times in a row to catch all the details and remember them well. Nearly an hour of brilliant death metal with tracks full of head-banging tempos and complex riffs. It goes straight to the list of my favourites and so far "Leviathan" is my favourite track.

Rating: 9 out of 10