The entrance to Hell in Dante's oft cited "Inferno" says: "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate" or "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter here". Dragged Into Sunlight's first track, 'Boiled Angel', is the sonic equivalent to this literary despair. The disturbing sludginess ends a little after a minute and then it is too late. You are sucked in. Instead of having Virgil at your side though, you have the anonymous (and apparently masked) members of Britain's Dragged Into Sunlight to guide you down through the Circles of Hell. Difference here is that Dante was allowed to leave - can't say the same for you. Their intent seems to be to count you as one of the damned.

This album has EVERYTHING that I dig - thick guitar riffs, sampling of weird sound bites, devastating rhythms. The production is top notch, as one might expect from Billy Anderson (not to forget a dude named Tom Dring who is also credited with production duties). The guitars are thick and murky, catching the miasma that few bands truly can achieve. The vocalist (apparently, Dragged Into Sunlight purposefully does not list the contributing band members) sounds as if he (I am just presuming male gender forgive my error if I am wrong) has been smoking unfiltered cigarettes, gargling with razors, and has been imbibing 160 proof whiskey since birth - either that or he is not human at all and orcs do exist. The key thing that stands out for me is the drumming. There is a depth to the drums that leads me to suspect that DIS may have actually recorded them from the 9th Circle of the Inferno. All in all, "Hatred For Mankind" is serious slab of despair driven musical misanthropy.

Dragged Into Sunlight could not be classified as a black metal band despite how raw and visceral they sound. They might be more of the sludge core but they don't totally fit their either. They actually have too precise a sound despite how murky they are. There is nothing tinny or one dimensional about their songs. They effortlessly move from grinding to a slow churning, all the while maintain a fluid rhythm that does not ever get tedious. The songs are well crafted to deliver the most extreme sound I have heard in a long time. If I were to try to corner their sound and categorize them, I would have to say they sound like Buzz*oven jamming with Anaal Nathrakh. Being as this is technically a re-release of their first album, I can't wait to hear what they offer next. The best songs: truly the whole album but if I had to pick, then 'Volcanic Birth', 'To Hieron', and 'I, Aurora'.