ALBUM REVIEW: Hour Of Penance - "Cast the First Stone"

By Theron Moore
 
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 27/01/2017
Label: Prosthetic Records

“Cast the First Stone” track listing:

1). XXI Century Imperial Crusade
2. Cast the First Stone
3. Burning Bright
4. Iron Fist
5. The Chains of Misdeed
6. Horn of Flies
7. Shroud of Ashes
8. Wall of Cohorts
9. Damnation Memoriae

The Review:

Hour of Penance is the Mount Everest of badass, circle pit, death / thrash third rock from the sun can offer.  In fact, if you look close enough, you’ll see a trail of dead and broken bodies they’ve left in their damaged path. Just follow the bones, the blood trails, they lead back to “Cast the First Stone.”

There’s not a bad song on this record, and this coming from a guy that’s super critical of everything I listen to.  I get tired of repetition, cut and paste.  I get tired of hollow, plastic, bullshit.  “Cast the First Stone” has heart and soul.  Hour of Penance scored a gem here, they nailed it.  You get that from the get-go with “Burning Bright” throwing fist to face till “Damnation Memoriae” ends the record in proper fashion, A-Bomb dropped, nuke missile launched, end times upon us. 

Nothin’ but good energy here.  And power.  You feel the power of the band firing on all cylinders, start to finish, on “Cast the First Stone.”  When a band knows how to craft songs, write music and fully grasp the mechanics of their genre, it’s a wonderful, special thing.  Not every band does that, can do that, that’s why bands often fall short and fail.  Not Hour of Penance.  And not their new record.  This thing is a head crusher.

HOP knows metal.  “Cast the First Stone” is a killer mix of death AND thrash, crossover, if you will, but fully realized and well executed.  I’ll drop the usual bullshit tags like “brutal,” “aggressive,” “cuts like a knife” – wait, that’s Bryan Adams, right?  Ah, hell with it.  Still sounds death metal.  Fact is, none of these generic statements come close to describing how truly heavy and ass kicking this record, this band, really is.

Every once in a while, you get a band who understands metal.  And they make a record.  And it kicks ass.  Hour of Penance’s “Cast the First Stone” IS THIS record.  It’s right up there with Havok’s “Conformicide,” which I got an advance listen to, which most likely will be the best record of the year.  My opinion?  Love Havok, but prefer Hour of Penance.  Any band that sinks as much heart, their soul, not to mention, integrity, into a record, you got my vote for band AND record of the year.  This is it.  Buy or die.

“Cast the First Stone” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook