You know right from the first brutal notes & blastbeats a Hate Eternal record, and that's the case right from the start of "The Violent Fury", the first track on the bands new Season of Mist platter Upon Desolate Sands. These songs have that signature sound, brutal, technical,rampaging death metal, with Erik Rutan's trademark growls and guitar style, not to mention production style, plus the blazing drum work of Hannes Grossman, and J.J. Hrubovcak's tumultuous bass lines. Now seven studio albums into their career, Hate Eternal aren't trying to re-invent the wheel or surprise their fans with something completely different, so rest assured Upon Desolate Sands is much what you'd expect from them...killer death metal. "Vengeance Striketh" is pure extreme metal bombast, Grossman blasting away under a volley of larger than life riffing from Rutan, and "Nothingness of Being" smashes and pulverizes everything in its path with crushing grooves, Rutan's brutal growls and behemoth guitar riffs. In fact, this tune has an intensity going that's not too far removed from vintage Nile, that's how damn heavy it is. Speed demons "All Hope Destroyed" and "Portal of Myriad" blaze with dizzying aggression, while "Dark Age of Ruin" contains some of Grossman's most acrobatic drum work on the album, Rutan & Hrubovcak's impossibly complex riffing flying in every direction. For maximum headbanging fury, it doesn't get much better than the gargantuan title track, Rutan putting things into overdrive with some of the albums most grueling riffs and tossing in a blazing solo to top it all off. "For Whom We Have Lost" ends the album on an emotional note, a melodic, atmospheric instrumental with some poignant lead guitar lines, heavy riffs, and blastbeats...nice touch.
Upon Desolate Sands offers no real surprises, but it doesn't need to, Hate Eternal doing what they have always done best, and that's deliver uncompromising, brutal & technical death metal that's all about bone crunching, precision splendor. They deliver it in spades here, so don't miss this latest feast of extreme metal from the masters.
Track Listing
1. The Violent Fury
2. What Lies Beyond
3. Vengeance Striketh
4. Nothingness of Being
5. All Hope Destroyed
6. Portal of Myriad
7. Dark Age of Ruin
8. Upon Desolate Sands
9. For Whom We Have Lost
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