Hate Eternal - Fury and Flames
Released: February 19, 2008
Label: Metal Blade
Band Website:www.myspace.com/hateeternal

Review by Nathan Dufour

So, a new Hate Eternal album graces my ears. Or rips them apart. Either way, this death metal monolith can really do no wrong. Helmed by Erik Rutan, who has been through more crap recently than your neighborhood septic tank technician, Hate Eternal is a band that has not compromised in the least in order to see their vision of ultimate destruction come to a rotting, stinking, pussing fruition. With Fury and Flames Hate Eternal have no doubt delivered their finest work. This album is their Reign In Blood.

I did have a few problems with I, Monarch, and they were primarily production based. I found that the drums were pushed so far forward that everything else got a little muddled and to be honest I find the same thing with Fury and Flames. I do, however, have the ability to change my EQ settings, so this very minor gripe is very quickly remedied. Also, Erik Rutan is one of the most respected producers in the game right now so I should likely stop nitpicking his choices before something awful happens.

Having a sheet of lyrics is generally an excellent idea for death metal and for those who care about what Cookie Monster is going on about. Being that my current battery of the aural cavity is via digital download I am really, really curious. Apparently Rutan let go of sticking to lyrical formulas generally adhered to in death metal, focusing not on death but on how he is actually feeling. Considering that the drums swirl like some diabolical type of chocolate and vanilla frozen treat while guitars slice and dice with the outright power and deftness of a fiery sword, not to mention the bass guitar in constant rumble like God with acid reflux, I simply can’t imagine Erik Rutan growling about puppies and rainbows. But it could happen. And I am curious.

Fury and Flames also incorporates a sense of melody, dynamic, and undeniable groove into its decidedly morose proceedings. Check out "Fury Within" and marvel at the understated guitar squeal followed by an almost swampcore groove that pulls you straight into Hell’s nearest bayou before spitting back up your breathless corpse to endure a pounding of blastbeats more vicious then being nibbled by piranha. Seriously unexpected, and seriously good. This album is unlike previous Hate Eternal outings simply because of tricks like that: a wall of noise it is not. A thinking man’s death metal, it is. Cue Yoda mosh. Hate Eternal have, officially, made an album that will be the best death metal album all year, mark my words. Fury and Flames has something in it for fans of all sorts of metal, and high praise is needed for such an amazing outing. If I had to rate it, and I feel like I do, this album would be a 10/10, a watershed release that everyone else will only hope to lightly touch on. Truly amazing, and truly unique, all that we can hope for is that Hate Eternal keep doing what they do so well. And that is, completely destroy the competition. They are the kings of all kings.

Visit Hate Eternals official website: www.myspace.com/hateeternal