Hour of Penance is a four-piece brutal death metal band from Rome, Italy. Since their inception in 1999, the band has released five studio albums. Sedition, their latest effort, is set to be released via Prosthetic Records.
Despite the fact that they have been around since the late 90s, Hour of Penance has, unfortunately, not gotten the recognition that they deserve. After the crushing defeat they experienced on the poll to choose the band to open this year’s Summer Slaughter Tour, however, they came back on a positive note and are prepared to release Sedition, a monster of an album, upon the world in just a few short days.
To me, Hour of Penance is like Fleshgod Apocalypse, another death metal band from Rome, without all the orchestral arrangements, clean vocals, and synth parts. This comparison is by no means a bad one, as I enjoy both Fleshgod Apocalypse and Hour of Penance quite a bit. Hour of Penance is pure death metal at its finest. Sedition, is no exception and is filled with everything one would expect from brutal death metal: fast blast beats, crushing low growls, and frantic, yet calculated, guitar riffs.
Hour of Penance’s previous two albums, The Vile Conception and Paradogma, are both fantastic death metal albums and I thought it was going to be somewhat difficult for those albums to be topped. Sedition, while not as enjoyable as The Vile Conception, is a worthy chapter in the ongoing Hour of Penance saga. Despite the loss of former vocalist Francesco Paoli (who had become Fleshgod Apocalypse’s vocalist and guitarist in 2007 and remains as part of that band to this day), Hour of Penance was able to craft an excellent album with a noticeable change in sound. Paolo Pieri, their new vocalist, has a style similar to that of Paoli and delivers some stellar growls.
All in all, Sedition is a wonderful album and is worthy of high-praise. While it’s not the best album that Hour of Penance has ever released, it is close to the top. Any longtime fan of the band, or just fans of death metal in general, should definitely give Sedition a listen or two if they get the chance.
