Erik Rutan must be one of the most angry guys on this planet, despite the fact that he always is polite in interviews on the internet. But as usual we can recognize this band by its extreme brutality, you can be sure there will be no wimpy melodies, no clean singing, no cheesy parts. You know it´s gonna be brutal and this time is no exception. Erik & Co delivers throatcutting neverending brutality and their new drummer can easily run a marathon with his stamina. Their are slower parts to (give the listener) room for some breathing, but then again you will be hit by that fast train without any fucking mercy. In other words Hate Eternal sounds the way you want and probably expect. The problem for HE has never been the musicianship but the production and the songs.
On a few records like "Fury and Flames" you can talk of so called faceless blasting and a drumsound that is way too upfront, in the end it just becomes a blur of brutality. Their debut album and King Of All Kings but also Phoenix Amongst the Ashes are my favourites in their catalog. Effective and brutal, yet semi-catchy.
This time around the production is crisp and no intstrument is overshadowing the other, though the bass isn´t that audible. Yes you can hear if you pay attention, and wear a good pair of headphones but not that much. So overall the impression is good. Still the songs are a bit generic for me. I really like most of their stuff except the fact that it´s hard to top their best albums to date. If this is the first time you hear them you will probably love the record, because it´s not bad at all, it´s just the fact you´ve heard it before. As usual Erik Rutan has one of the best voices in death metal, extremely hateful yet very clear and crisp. Along with Ross Dolan and a couple of other guys he is the best growler around.
I will give this record a pretty good grade though cause it´s always good to kill your ears (in a good way) with some top notch brutality and the music and musicianship is always above average, so fuck my criticism in some ways and go listen to this with an open mind. The masters of brutality is back and they will destroy you!
7/10
