Hate Eternal - Phoenix Amongst The Ashes

Published May 05 2011

*=Staff's pick	Rebirth The Eternal Ruler Thorns Of Acacia Haunting Abound The Art Of Redemption Phoenix Amongst The Ashes Deathveil Hatesworn Lake Ablaze The Fire Of Resurrection*

Genre	Death Metal	Erik Rutan	Vocals
Tracks	10	Erik Rutan	Guitar
Runningtime	41 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Metal Blade	J.J. Hrubovcak	Bass
Release	10 May 2011	Jade Simonetto	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Producer	Erik Rutan
Similar artists	Morbid Angel

Phoenix AmongstThe Ashes is the fifth full-length album from American death-metal band Hate Eternal. Main man Erik Rutan played guitar with Morbid Angel for a total of eleven years, and with this in mind it's no mystery where the main influences come from.

Over the years, Hate Eternal have really become more and more of an archetype of the frustratingly boring "new wave of technical American death metal" - sterile death metal without any memorable riffs or actual songs. Some of the guitar solos aren't all that bad but they don't really fit in and to me they feel more like an attempt to copy Trey Azagthoth of Morbid Angel than anything else.

One song that actually does capture some sort of interest from my part is ironically the last one, The Fire Of Resurrection. It has a cool marching-drum intro and there are actually some good riffs there. It's probably the only song that gives me the feeling of a successful Morbid Angel-inspired song, rather than a boring Morbid Angel-ripoff.

Anyway, the production is a step up from the 2008 release Fury And Flames, but scarcely so - barely deviating from that same sterile, modern sound. In conclusion, there is a great emphasis on speed, technicality and brutality - but the songs aren't there.