HATE ETERNAL — Phoenix Amongst the Ashes (review)

HATE ETERNAL — Phoenix Amongst the Ashes album cover Album · 2011 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Time Signature
The eternal ruler...

Genre: brutal death-grind

Brutal, chaotic, blastbeat-ladden death-grind is what this release has to offer. And while really brutal music can be awesome, I think that there is a certain threshold in terms of how far you can take it. Hate Eternal, deliberately I am sure, take it below this threshold, which has both positive and negative results I think.

I know that blastbeats is a trademark of Hate Eternal's, so an abundance of them is to be expected. I think, however, that there are too many blasting parts on this album. There are so many that it kind of stops being brutal - I guess it is just a question over over-saturation.

But there are also a lot of interesting elements on this album. For instance, groovy riffage is combined with blastbeats, which creates an interesting tension, and dissonant chords are also extensively used, which certainly challenges the listener. To me, it seems that an essential part of the style is experimentation with how far you can take your music in the direction of chaos without it disintegrating completely - some very good examples of this are "The Art of Redemption" and the title track.

A lot of interesting stuff, to be sure, but to me the music becomes the most interesting when Hate Eternal exit blastbeat country, because then the music attains a more palpable and definable texture.

The high level of abstraction requires a high level of musicianship, and the musicians that perform on this album have that.

This is a challenging listen, but if you are into very brutal music and also like to be challenged as a listener, then I recommend that you check out this album.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
None of their earlier releases have convinced me of their appeal. Besides an extremely high level of musicianship, there´s little in the actual music that rocks my world. Way too monotone and lacking hooks. From your review this album sounds like it continues that tradition.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed