Hate - Anaclasis: A Haunting Gospel Of Malice And Hatred

*=Staff's pick	Anaclasis Necropolis* Hex* Malediction Euphoria Of The New Breed* Razorblade Immortality* Fountains Of Blood To Reach Heavens*

Genre	Death Metal	Adam The First Sinner	Vocals
Tracks	8	Adam The First Sinner	Guitar
Runningtime	35 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Listenable Records	Cyprian	Bass
Release	24 Oct. 2005	Hellraizer	Drums
Country	Poland	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	---

Formed in Warsaw back in 1990 by the front man Adam The First Sinner, Hate has always been a reliable source for polish death metal in its purest form. As several other polish bands, Hate have gained their extreme strength by looking over seas and picked up the very best parts from the US style and combined it with the melodic parts from the Scandinavian scene. Today I would say that polish bands in general have outnumbered the inventors from the west and the north and left them behind.

I don't think that there is a genre that has a so dominating nation as when it comes to Poland and death metal. The reasons for this may be as many as the stars but one thing is certain, three bands stand out more and more after every release in the genre. Namely Vader, Behemoth and Hate. Add the colleagues from Decapitated, Mutilation, Dies Irae, Yattering and Dissenter etc. and you'll start to see a picture of a coming global domination. Musicians from this land together with the very essence of death metal are nothing but a phenomena.

The fellows in Behemoth and Vader have with their latest releases set the levels high, really high. So it is with interest I check out how Hate are going to take up the hunt with their latest album, Anaclasis: A Haunted Gospel Of Hatred And Malice. Produced and created at the Hertz Studio, Bialystok, Poland by Slawek and Wojtek Wieslawski. The quest is not only to keep up with the early mentioned bands, Hate have also a quite good album of their own to follow up. Awakening Of The Liar was in my ears a killer. Perhaps a bit monotone sometimes, but it was filled with aggression and rage enough to create heart attacks.

Anaclasis kicks of with the title track, a kind of slow song in Hate proportions. The heavy production goes forward like a Tiger Tank at the fields of Kursk in the second world war. It fits the down tuned guitars absolutely perfect. The second one Necropolis takes off at the speed the previous track ended in. A brutal yet melodic piece of excellent death metal. Heavy riffing and great arrangements on drums.

I admit that after listening to the first song I became a bit nervous, thinking if they really had changed course into a more soft style. Luckily my wonderings was totally wrong. Hex convinces me and I capitulate for my doubtful speculations. Hex consists of extremely cool arrangements on guitars and some cool melody lines and exactly how far can the voice of Adam The First Sinner go? There are big improvements on the vocals since last album. Meaner vocals than this are tricky to find, and the word 'mean' lays like a mantra or as a thick black shadow over the whole album.

Compared to Awakening Of The Liar, Anaclasis is better in not just one way. This album has more faces than the previous and there is a bit more variety and diverse in its song structures. Anaclasis feels interesting all the way so to speak. Hate seems to put big efforts in creating their metal with a touch of Core. Almost in a "Slayer" way. Heavy and slow but still very mean and aggressive. Lay to this the fact that the melodies are performed equal to the way Vader spits forth their tunes and the same cool set up and structure that have made Behemoth a leading act. These parts combined makes the very soul of Hate and the result is nothing else than great death metal.

Together with a pleasuring production, what more could you ask for? Harsh and mean music, the way death metal should sound in other words. My highest superlatives goes to the last song, Fountains Of Blood To Reach Heavens. A mighty piece of art that makes the difference for this album in quest of being a nine or a ten on the scale. A song I honestly can say that I am strictly addicted to. The markings with the drums in the beginning on this song are something I just cant get enough of and there is a cruel ending.

The only negative about this album seems to be the fact that the first seconds in every song on the album has a bug or delay. Otherwise I put Anaclasis: A Haunting Gospel Of Malice And Hatred in the same folder that holds classical masterpieces such as Behemoth's Demigod and Nile's Annihilation Of The Wicked.

Almost perfection, and so far the best I've heard in the genre this year.

See also review of: Crvsade:Zero , Awakening Of The Liar

Production	Vocals	Compositions
8	9	10

Summary
10 chalices of 10 - Tim