Hate Eternal - Conquering the Throne
Wicked World, 1999
Gloon:
Eric Rutan (Morbid Angel, Ripping Corpse) + Doug Cerrito (Suffocation) = Hate Eternal and one of the most anticipated releases in years. Not enough can be said about either of these men, in their respective 'full time' bands they have created some of the most brutal, technical and original Death Metal ever, so how does Hate Eternal fare in the shadow of such greatness? For starters it's fast, fucking fast!!!!!! leaving present day Morbid Angel for dead, cuts such as 'Dogma Condemned' and the opener 'Praise of the Almighty' are some of the quickest, nastiest tracks these deathend ears have heard. Eric Rutan's stamp is all over this one with his unique wailing solos and hyper speed riffa ramma, there is of course also a far dose of Morbid Angel present, though what these days doesn't? Eric handles most of the song writing duties and also makes his vocal debut with bassist Jared Anderson backing him up. Doug however is more than just a spectator penning both 'Nailed to Obscurity' and 'Dethroned' which both contain tiny hints that Doug still hasn't forgotten his Suffocation days. So to the verdict, with all this talent and hype does Hate Eternal make the cut, yes. 'Conquering the Throne' is one gem of a Death Metal release and deserves the praise it receives, however 11 songs is a little too much and some tracks just aren't as remarkable as others, still a must for Death Heads everywhere.
Favourite Tracks - Dogma Condemned, Nailed to Obscurity, By His Own Decree
Rating - 8.5/10


Hate Eternal ‘King of all Kings’
Earache, 2002
Gloon:
In 1999 Hate Eternal burst onto the scene with their blistering debut ‘Conquering the Throne’ and left a lasting impression on this death head and many others. Now three years on Doug Cerrito is gone and Eric is fighting on his own after his shock departure from established veterans Morbid Angel to concentrate fulltime on Hate Eternal. Like many bands before them Hate Eternal had the unenvious task of following up a hugely successful debut, and also like many before them found recreating the magic can be harder than it seems. “King of all Kings’ kicks off with the title track which follows the powerful formula laid down in ‘Dogma Condemned’ revolving around repetition and build up. The following track ‘The Obscure Terror’ even manages to recapture the feel and magic of the debut, but from there on it gets…….uninspiring. While there are no doubts surrounding Rutan and Co’s technical ability and musicianship, there are cracks in their song writing and regard for their listeners. The following tracks belt along at dizzying speeds and create some truly awesome moments however as songs they fail to capture the audience and end up becoming samey and too ‘by the numbers’. If Rutan left Morbid Angel to pursue his passion in Hate Eternal, why then did he seek to create an album so ingrained in Death Metal clichés? Its disappointing that such great musicians as Rutan, Anderson and Roddy are that they failed to push the envelope further than their predecessors and current headliners. King of all Kings is a superbly played, flawless display of technical death metal at its best, however don’t expect anything original or genre breaking. Good but ultimately disappointing.
Favourite Tracks – King of all Kings, The Obscure Terror, Powers That Be
Rating – 7.5/10


Hate Eternal  ‘I, Monarch’
Century Media, 2005
Gloon:
True to his word Rutan returns in his undying quest to push his personal vision of death metal supremacy to the rabid masses, unfortunately his vision is becoming increasing dour and un palatable. ‘I, Monarch’ shares much of the same strength and weakness of its predecessor ‘King of All Kings, on the upside its technically brilliant, brutal and blisteringly fast however on the downside the songs are again unstructured, disappointing and uninspiring. A perfect example of this is the jumbled mess that is ‘Behold Judas’, which tries to cover sloppy song writing with off kilter and clumsy vocal delivery resulting in a frustrating listening experience. Theres still some cracker cuts on offer though with opener ‘Two Demons’ and ‘The Victorious Reign’ being standouts however once again lazy song writing surfaces with the now flogged repetitive approach as seen on previous releases surfacing in less effective fashion, through the title track in particular. So basically this is in essence a typical Hate Eternal release, if you don’t own any of their previous efforts than you will enjoy the brutality on offer however for those of us that were there at the conception then its just a passing release. High standard but not essential, Hate Eternal will need to do more next time round to remain relevant.
Favourite Tracks – Two Demons, The Victorious Reign, The Plague of Humanity
Rating – 6.5/10
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