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Hate Eternal | King Of All Kings

Good effort within its genre limitations.
CD, Earache/Zomba

Tekst: Brian McManus

Publicatiedatum: 22 december 2002

Right off the bat, let me be honest and say that I don't listen to a lot of straight-up death metal. Do I listen to it? Yes. More than a couple times a week? Seldom. Why? Simply because it's rarely interesting. For example, let's take Cannibal Corpse. Musically, this band is great, and Corpsegrinder belts out some extremely sickening shrieks through some of the best phrasing I've heard. But let's get real. How much pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop pop from the drummer's snare does it take before your mind is totally numbed and you just want to enter the gallery of suicide (excuse the pun)? Sure, it's fun to listen to every so often, but to make it a part of your everyday life, like so many people can, I just don't understand. I hesitate to pull the "image" card, but . . .

Now, take Hate Eternal. Where exactly do they stand? Still in the same genre of death metal, but in my mind far ahead of the pack in terms of listenability and musicianship. I actually had low expectations for this CD at first. I heard maybe a song or two from this band, but nothing to make me want to delve deeper and want more. Then, a paltry live performance (which, in retrospect, was likely caused by the poor sound engineering, which often plagues bands at that particular venue) didn't make my mind shift in either direction. At the time, I knew they were good, but I wasn't sure why; rather, I didn't remember why. Now I do . . . and I know why I was stupid for not checking them out earlier!

Right as the intro track 'Our Beckoning' ends, 'King of All Kings' breaks in and starts an avalanche of infectious riffs, insane drumming, and solos that range from blazingly fast to slow and melodic. The drums are blasting a good chunk of the time, but there's just something that Derek Roddy does that sets him on a higher plateau than other death metal drummers. And Rutan's guitar tone is fantastic! It has all the qualities one could want: not too mushy, but not underdistorted; warm, but crisp at the same time. People would likely kill to get their hands on some of the studio tricks he's using to optimize his sound.

Over the course of the CD, songs come and go, each with their own attractive quality. They're all packed with great riffs, and interesting song structures, but usually there is one stand-out part in each song to keep them fresh and from blending in with each other. The problem lies in that by the time the album is done, you forget which song had that really cool part you loved so much . . . and you forget what that really cool part you loved sounds like! The only solution to this problem is to give the CD repeated, multiple spins over a long period of time until you are completely familiar with it. Otherwise, you'll find yourself skimming through the disc for "that one part where Eric plays that one riff . . . where is it...????" I say this with the notable exceptions of 'Chants In Declaration' and 'Rising Legions of Black . . . " two songs that are written so well, and executed so perfectly, and arranged in such a way that you cannot help but sit back in complete awe and bewilderment.

There has been talk that Hate Eternal is a band living off of their members' names and their status in the scene; that they are nothing special, bring nothing new to the table, and are milking their names for all they are worth. After listening to this CD several times, I have a hard time buying that. In reality, the logical theory would have to be that this allstar lineup of Eric Rutan, Jared Anderson, and Derek Roddy (the one man who has been argued to be the closest incarnation of god this planet has seen) simply has more to offer than your other generic death metal bands. I don't like to quote from the promotional pages sent with the CDs, but something caught my eye on this one that explains perfectly what Hate Eternal is about. "Any band can blast away for 30 minutes . . . but only truly inspired bands can win over a knowledgable public."

King of All Kings is an album that can pass by unnoticed if you have other tasks to perform (this album, and the newest Winds CD, eluded my attention until I was reminded of it while I was reading the other day). On the other hand, it can be extremely enjoyable when you tune into it and take time to get into what is going on. This is likely an album that most metal fans would enjoy, but few would rank as an all-time favorite. It has it's qualities, but, with this genre, it is difficult to stand out from the rest without entering an entirely different genre. I'd suggest taking a chance on this one. You may not love it, but you'll like it enough not to want to trade it away.

And imagine that!!! I've gone the entire review without mentioning Morbid Angel!!!

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/hate-eternal/king-of-all-kings/2158/
Meer Hate Eternal op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/hate-eternal