We gotta stop the hate! Not in this case, keep it rolling, man! Germany’s "Mr. Hate" is not what you’d expect at first listen. They don’t do hard-core and bellow out their frustrations of a world gone mad. Nor are they typical of the usual lot of European acts that boast fantastic storybook voyages put to highly technical, melodic, speed oriented rock. When you hear the music on their latest disc, “Fragments,” it’s obvious this is a group that came to rock and aren’t willing to settle for anything less.

Led by Carsten “Live long & prosper” Schulz, their sound conjures up the best of ‘80’s hard rock and groove a la Bulletboys and Tesla, and pushes it to the max with an outpouring of guitar driven power, melody and a strong group effort in backing. The first song that appears is the title track, “Fragments,” and sounds something like Ugly Kid Joe did when they first hit the scene early in the decade, with a fury of heavy bassline funk and a thick layer of backbeat. “Beg & Please” will bring forth memories of the best the glam scene had to offer, starting with the likes of Giuffria, but then you suddenly realize, there’s something lacking in the rock and roll industry today - where’s the fun? Where’s the ambition to create good, solid hard rock that’s directed only by that one purpose, without the aid of overrated sampling techniques, and overproduction that’s scarred the identity of the music? It’s refreshing to finally rediscover a band that’s found what we’ve been missing all this time, and yet is still musically ambitious.

“Gun In The Cradle” shows the temperamental side of the band as they preach about the obvious worries in today’s sick society, while the closer, “Man In Flames,” seeks a spiritual identity and sense of purpose from deep within with very profound lyrics put to a softer angle of music. Much of the recording reflects personal sentiment that exists within the band, thus their moniker, "Mr. Hate," is an all-encompassing topic of the trying times to arrive at where they are. As I understand it, The Tubes also had a little something to do with it, but I’m not going there. Fans of big time rock n’ roll that features plenty of crunching guitar grooves, tenacious singing and simplistic song structures will eat this one up. You’ll soon find that after about half way through this impressive effort, “Fragments,” there’s little room for hate, but rather quite a lot to like!