I am very fortunate here at Moshville Times where the reviewer can pick and choose whose album to review, so when I saw Hate was up for review, I grabbed it with both hands. There are two musical genres that take up most of my life, namely death metal (which you all knew anyway) as well as dark ambient. I longed for a band that would create music that would combine them both together and that is what drew my attention to Hate.
Hate are a band that I have followed since 2005 with the Anaclasis album because they fulfilled my wish of including dark ambient with death metal, as I feel that this could be incorporated more in the over-saturated death metal scene and create something original and keep the scene alive. Even though the dark ambient element has now left the Hate sound, the songs themselves have matured into something so much stronger than what they were over ten years ago.
Hate have been active since their inception in 1990 and are now about to release their tenth album, Tremendum, but they have never really managed to climb the ladder to the top tier of death metal bands. They have been punching a brick wall for almost thirty years now, especially with Hate being always regarded as Behemoth clones. I always felt that this is unfair as Hate always added an extra touch and substance to their songs which more than merits a stronger fanbase. What also annoys me is that Hate sound as they are way before Behemoth ditched their pure black metal leanings, so let’s put to bed the Behemoth clones and appreciate the sheer professional musicianship shown throughout the whole album that is Tremendum.
It is also well known of the untimely death of the band’s long time bass player Mortifier, which led to the band breaking apart with Adam being left as the sole member. Adam has reignited the spark within himself and looked deep within Hate, going back to their roots, asg musicians that will enhance the reputation of all things Hate and spread the word of chaos and destruction to the world.
“Asuric Being” starts things off with militaristic drumming before a more black metal riff kicks in, followed by Adam’s vocals bringing the death metal sound back to the band. Double bass and precision blast beats from drummer Pavulon mixed with a production and sound that is perfect for Hate. They do like to mix the tempo of the song a lot and they do this remarkably well with “Asuric Being”. Hate has enlisted Dean Paul Arnold, of none other than Vital Remains fame, to play a few solos on this album and with this song in particular, the solo just shreds. It then returns to the fast pace set throughout the whole of the song, but I felt that it was most powerful in the last verse where the song slowed right down, with Adam spitting forth his lyrics to maximum effect.
“Indestructible Pillar” starts things off again at relentless pace but rather than this being a barrage of noise, this has been moulded into technical brutality of the highest order. Again it could be said there is more of a black metal riff in the main structure of the song, but it’s when you hear Adam’s voice, you realise that this is how to mix black and death metal perfectly. It’s pretty much at full speed again with Pavulon’s relentless and impeccable drumming until you get to Dean’s solo before atmosphere and grimness takes over.
“Svarog’s Mountain” starts off again with atmosphere and grimness before building up momentum and blast beats again. The time changes have the listener instantly hooked into the song. A lyric that sums up this song beautifully is “Restless miasma awakened from slumber” and that’s what happens here. It builds up the emotion within you that just gets your body losing control, playing double bass with your legs, getting the air guitar out and moshing your head on your keyboard until there are no keys left. Supreme stuff again from Hate.
“Numinosum” starts off in similar fashion to its predecessor and culminates in blast beats as before, but I feel of the two similar tracks, it’s this one that has the best overall feel and structure to it for me. “Fidelis Ad Mortem” is next and is more or less blast beats all the way through, depicting the constant war of life and death in the world. The best part of the song for me was the end where Adam sounded the most hateful that he has throughout the whole album, over deep blistering riffs and thundering double bass. This will be on every live show Hate play; I am sure as it will be an instant crowd pleaser.
“Into Burning Gehenna” is next and its blasts all the way with black metal riffs evoking chaos through the speakers, with probably the fastest moments in the album so far. Pavulon really is an outstanding musician behind the kit and deserves huge credit for his part in the new Hate sound. “Sea of Rubble” gets those headbangers moshing to the stomping riffs mixed with melody. This is truly stunning work and certainly gets the nod of approval from me. This is the slowest track on the album and has once again a stunning solo from Dean Paul Arnold. This is definitely one of the standout tracks for me of the album.
Straight into “Ghostforce” and it’s Adam’s iconic voice alongside blast beats all the way for the most part of the song, evoking Adam’s lyrics of eternal war. I feel that the best riffs from the whole album are from this song and the time change and structures again are a particular highlight, with session guitarist Domin shredding the solo as he has done with his contributions through this album and we have a song that has everything an extreme metal fan would want.
We come to the end of the album with “Walk through Fire” and again we have Adam spitting venom and sounding as angry as he could be, growling over incessant blast beats from Pavulon once again. You may think that all of these songs sound the same, but they are so unique, professional, tight and note perfect that you just have to appreciate the sheer musicianship on show here. The Omega is a vital component to everything Hate and the symbol evokes the driving force within each of us, dispersing the need for religion in our lives and igniting the flame within us and choosing our own path. A fitting end to an outstanding album by Hate. Yes, I am upset that dark ambient is no longer part of the Hate sound, but they have transformed into something much bigger and better than that.
Hate, although technical and brutal, master the technique of building up emotions to the songs and alongside the thought provoking and outstanding lyrics and themes written by Adam. They deserve far more recognition and acclaim than ever before. With Tremendum, I am very confident that all of the hard work, blood and tears along the way have finally paid off for Hate. You have been warned!
Tremendum is out on May 5th
