HATE ETERNAL

Formed in 1997 by legendary ex-Morbid Angel guitarist Erik Rutan, Hate Eternal have established themselves as contemporary death metal protagonists within the scene, despite various line-up changes over the years. A busy man, Rutan briefly rejoined ex-band mates for Morbid Angel's 2006 European tour, although remains completely dedicated to the cause and success of Hate Eternal. In recent years, he's also become something of a prolific producer with his own Floridian recording studio, so it comes as no surprise that he assumed production duties for Hate Eternal's latest release, 'Fury & Flames'. And it's the skilled production of the album that is vital to its efficacy. A relentless listening experience from start to finish, the seemingly contiguous, though inventive, blast-beats present throughout every track by talented sticksman Jade Simonetto, together with the virtuosic death metal riffing could descend into an unlistenable mess in the hands of a less skilled producer, but Rutan does a fine job. The incessant blast beats are perhaps a little too dominant on an initial listen to the tracks, but not in the mix, rather compositionally, as they do often detract from the intricacies of the bass and guitar. However, each subsequent listen - and I hasten to add this must be very LOUD to fully appreciate the intended effect of the audible brutality - reveals new twists and turns previously latent within the songs. As 'Fury & Flames' winds down during the final bars of penultimate song 'Tombeau...', it's almost as if the closing track, 'Coronach', a short keyboard led piece of music, has been purposefully placed at the end of the album to cleanse the listener's ears of the hellish cacophony preceding it. Overall, I would highly recommend 'Fury & Flames' to anyone in search of music that is genuinely heavy, and those who like music that doesn't ever sacrifice songwriting and musicianship at the expense of blast beat infused death metal extremity. Stunning.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Metal Blade Records

Album

FURY & FLAMES

Review by Mark Holmes

RUNNING TIME:

40:00

RELEASE DATE:

25th Feb 2008

TRACK LISTING

1) Hell Envenom
2) Whom Gods May Destroy
3) Para Bellum
4) Bringer of Storms
5) The Funerary March
6) Thus Salvation
7) Proclamation of the Damned
8) Fury Within
9) Tombeau (Le Tombeau De La Fureur...)
10) Coronach

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

USA

"...the skilled production of the album is vital to its efficacy."