HATE ETERNAL - Fury & Flames

Hate Eternal - Fury & Flames

10 songs
40:00 minutes
***** ****
Metal Blade

Bandpage

Erik Rutan is probably best known as part time guitarist for Morbid Angel and producer for extreme metal bands. When he’s not busy recording music for other bands, he is also the vocalist and self-taught guitarist who are back with their fourth album Fury & Flames, their first release on Metal Blade. Joined by Cannibal Corpse bass guitarist Alex Webster, we can expect from the beginning one of the fastest and most progressive death metal bands ever. I don’t know how drummer Jade Simonetto can keep this tremendous speed throughout the forty minutes of the album, but it sure enough is very impressive.

Apart from the mock symphonic outro, you are treated with perfectly produced East Coast death metal, which manages to sound warmer and more emotional than many of its peers. At times I feel reminded of the equally great Nile, although the latter have more variety and pathos in their music. But let’s just believe that Erik Rutan wanted to make a furious album that should be sure to inflame everyone who lays their hands on it.

Fury & Flames takes many times before you get into it, and then still you are not sure if there are hidden gems just waiting to be discovered. Unlike fellow progsters Meshuggah who also time and again convince with crazy and near impossible structures, Hate Eternal always remain accessible on a superficial level, even if at that, they might be a little monotonous. If you care to get your headphones out, you will be immersed into a sonic landscape that hides many melodic guitar harmonies and rhythmic intricacies underneath a lightning fast metal onslaught. I remain with nine points and strongly recommend this album to every death metal and progressive fan who is looking for new challenges in speed and structure.

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