Cadaver | Hymns Of Misanthropy | Listenable Records

 Cadaver stands among the earliest Norwegian death metal acts, emerging in 1988 out of Fredrikstad with an ambition to merge the violent churn of death metal with the unpredictability of thrash and progressive elements. Founded by Anders Odden and Ole Bjerkebakke, the band began making noise just as the Scandinavian metal underground was beginning to take shape. Their early material bore the chaotic tension of Napalm Death and the angular dissonance of Voivod while maintaining a level of compositional rawness that aligned them more with the death metal circles than their black metal contemporaries.

"Hymns Of Misanthropy" is a unique entry in their discography—not a contemporary creation, but a completion of work conceived during the sessions leading up to their 1992 album "...In Pains." Unfinished demos and fragments from that era were left to decay until Odden returned to the original Studio Tomb in Råde, Norway. With the classic lineup reassembled, Cadaver recorded new parts to finally complete the material, giving birth to a long-shelved chapter from the band’s past.

What emerges is not a nostalgic replication but a window into the creative energy the band wielded during the early ‘90s. Tracks like “Maltreated Mind Makes Man Manic” and “Chained To His Fate” reflect the abrasive structures and contorted riffing that characterized the band’s transitional period between "Hallucinating Anxiety" and "...In Pains." There's an unrefined edge to the songs that fits their timeline—riffs that twist rather than gallop, vocals that feel anguished more than performed, and a rhythm section that often feels on the verge of collapse in the best possible way.

Despite being constructed decades later, the album retains the sonic values of its origin point. There's no modern production gloss, nor does it feel artificially “vintage.” The guitar tone is jagged and dry, the drums punch with urgency, and the vocals snarl with the same strained venom that once placed Cadaver apart from both the death metal mainstream and their Norwegian peers moving toward black metal.

There’s a sense of fractured continuity throughout—the material never feels built for commercial presentation. Instead, it feels like a buried time capsule cracked open just long enough to exhale one last breath. Tracks like “Sunset At Dawn” and “Death Has To Wait” offer variation without sounding misplaced, while others like “Drowned In Dreams” stretch into more atmospheric, suffocating terrain.

In releasing "Hymns Of Misanthropy," Cadaver isn’t trying to reconnect with former glory or retrace old steps. A snapshot of a moment in extreme metal’s development that was left in limbo, now finally reanimated. Fans of their early works will find the sound and spirit here familiar—raw, blunt, dissonant, and unstable in the most authentic way.

Cadaver continues to exist on their own terms—neither as a legacy act nor as revivalists. This album is another brick in their uneven, restless path—one that began before many others and refuses to fall into step with anyone.

Score: 7/10