Review of "Solarflesh" by HATE

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(link available February 5th)

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http://www.hate-metal.com

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1. Watchful Eye of Doom

2. Eternal Might

3. Alchemy of Blood

4. Timeless Kingdom

5. Festival of Slaves

6. Sadness Will Last Forever

7. Solarflesh

8. Endless Purity

9. Mesmerized

On their latest album "Solarflesh", HATE unleashes a merciless maelstrom of brutality and impenetrable darkness. The band revolving around frontman ATF sinner clads dark visions and nightmares in an aggressive Black Death Metal sound that is brutal and technically ambitious. The powerful production gives the haunting riffs, thundering drums and inhuman grunts the perfect sound. The new songs are diverse, dynamic, full of details, and offer the listener a gripping experience for the entire album. "Solarflesh" is the triumphant return of the extraordinary Polish artist, and will enthrall Extrem Metal fans all over the world.

The album starts off with an epic intro, by the name of “Watchful Eye of Doom.” With spoken word and great ambience to add to it, is goes into a great blackened riff that went well with tribal-esque drumming. The next track had me hooked twenty seconds in, as “Eternal Might” brought a great mix of grim black metal vibes with the brutality of death metal. The riffs were great with dirty grooves and evil bits and the drumming doesn’t let up at all either. Showing exactly what I enjoy from bands such as HATE, the guitar tone and layering in “Alchemy of Blood” add to the menace, especially during the hammer-on and pull-off riff. There are some great solos half way through and the drumming with accompanied guitar was amazing as well. Great catchy bits and nice gritty riffs make “Timeless Kingdom” an interesting listen. The drumming is also impressive with its speed and brute, as was as nice slow bits that go with the guitar. “Festival of Slaves” starts off with some great tribal intro with nice singing to get this track ready and then goes right into the intenseness. The blast beats and drum fills are beastly on this track and there are some crazy riffs and catchier bits as well.

For the most part the next track, “Sadness Will Last Forever,” is slower than the previous ones but still keeps it badass. It’s a longer track coming in at seven minutes, but it is still a very awesome track nonetheless. A well done acoustic bit gets “Solarflesh” started, which leads into the snare march and groovy riffs that then turns into a more brutal rendition. The guitars are most impressive on this track in my opinion, especially the technical diddles. I found the bass on “Endless Purity” really fun to listen to. I either haven’t been paying much attention or this is the first track that it has some great parts. The guitar chugs and blackened riffs are also ear bleeders. I found the female vocals and the riffs that went along with them made the final track, “Mesmerized,” a great one. I wasn’t a fan of the first riff, but as soon as they changed it up I felt better about the track. It isn’t as great of an album ending track as I hope for but it was still pretty good.

This album is everything you would expect from a blackened death metal band and delivers it with perfection. HATE combines death and black metal in ways that I have not heard done so well since Behemoth and not listened to lately since Weapon. The blend creates an almost inseparable duo of dark and grim with brutality and speed, making the two genres just seem like a natural pair. I highly recommend picking this up.