Review by Brian McLean
Florida death metalists Hate Eternal, featuring former Morbid Angel guitarist Eric Rutan, have released their third CD titled I, Monarch through Earache Records.
The reputation Hate Eternal has been earning by creating nothing but pure brutalness continues as with their previous two releases, Conqueror the Throne and King of All Kings, both through Earache.
There’s intensity on the disc, just not as direct and in the listener’s face as with the previous releases. Two of those songs that would fall into that category would be “I, Monarch” that is the first video for the disc and “Faceless One,” an instrumental that wraps up the disc.
Selected remaining tracks, such as “Two Demons,” “Behold Judas,” “To Know our Enemies,” and “It is our Will” with the progressively slow ending, fall into the venomous and vicious categories. Actually the remaining eight all fall under the furious umbrella.
As expected, Rutan’s vocals are not only aggressive, they are to the death metal extreme and yet it’s not over done. Drummer Derek Roddy’s performance is a non-stop double bass assault that is incredibly fast.
The newest addition to the Hate Eternal family would be bassist Randy Piro who replaced Jared Anderson. Piro rounds out this extreme line up of musicians and it’s not surprising the damage this trio from the Florida panhandle can create.
With Rutan handling the production duties at his own studio, the anticipated results are what were expected, a deathly heavy release packed full of aggression. When compare to the previous release, the sound on I, Monarch is much fuller and thicker. It’s a sound that seems like nothing would be able to penetrate it.
Earache will be offering the release in various formats including a special edition disc housed in a slipcase with different art work that includes a poster, the standard jewel case version, and a limited edition 1000 run picture disc.
There will also be a limited 1000 pressing run of a seven inch piece of black vinyl for America and clear vinyl for Europe that contains two exclusive demo tracks as well as a sticker for each piece in the run.
I, Monarch is not a release for the weak metal fan or newcomer to genre, it’s a release for the fan that enjoys being brutally and aggressively assaulted via sound. The disc will wear on the listener’s senses and if not properly prepared the listener may not appreciate what Rutan, Roddy and Piro have delivered.