Time Signature We shall all be witnesses...

Genre: industrial melodic death metal

The Project Hate MCMXCIX is not a new band; they've been around for a long time and are obviously very experienced. Still, this album is my first experience with the band, and, if the saying "first impressions last" holds any truth, then this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I guess that the music on this album is a mix of melodic death metal and industrial metal, which means a combination of upbeat thrashy and melodeath-style sections (even the guitar has the typical Gothemburg-inspired heavy sound) and techno- (the Prodigy-kind [excuse me for not being well-versed in the terminology]), electronica- and industrial-based sections. In addition there is plenty of groovy, heavy and oldschool riffage accompanied by atmospheric keyboards, guitar melodies and solos, distorted bass-lines, and male growling and female clear singing. The drumming is kind of interesting if you focus one it, as Tobben Gustafsson seems mildy Portnoy-inspired, meaning that he operates with a lot of little, but effective, details.

Jörgen Sandström's growls and screams are pretty standard, but not weak, and I think that he's good at what he does. Her Silly stage name aside, Ruby Roque is a phenomenal rock singer who has a powerful voice and can really belt it out, but she's also capable of doing very complex vocal melodies along the lines of John Arch and Anneke van Giesberg (Roque and Giesberg actually have similar voice qualities).

The songs are all quite long, complex in structure and, dare I say, progressive. They never become boring, yet the band somehow manages to maintain a stylistic cohesion.

This album is recommended to all fans of modern heavy metal music.

The Block Summoning majestic war

Most albums cease to impress me after a couple of listens. Some still amaze me, but I can never find new things that I like about albums after enough listens. But, The Project Hate MCMXCIX’s newest album, Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis), still has new sounds/things that still impress me, and I keep finding new things that I like about this album. Even up until this listen right now, I find it amazing that this band can switch from a keyboard ballad type sense to death metal, all in one minute, like on “Bring Forth Purgatory”.

“Bring Forth Purgatory” is perhaps the best example of great musical talent on this album. As I said before, the opening keyboard lines are quite spectacular and flow right into the death metal section. The great part about this section, though, is that the keyboards crescendo to what seems like the climax, but then drop back down. I still can never be ready for when the death metal part comes in, making this song so lively and unpredictable. The guitar work on this album is also pretty good, too. Like most death metal albums, Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis) is very guitar and drum driven, and both are played very well by Lord K. Philipson and Tobben Gustafsson, respectively. The most unpredictable part of this album, of course, was a women vocalist.

I never thought that a women vocalist would sound good in heavy metal, let alone death metal. But, Ruby Roque proved me wrong. Her voice blends very well with the musicians, even though they are playing much heavier and darker riffs compared to her singing. And yes, it is actually singing, not growling; they have someone else to dot the growling. Though much deeper, Jörgen Sandström’s growling goes very well, hand in hand with Ruby Roque’s singing. This gives, Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis) a unique feel to it that is hard to find anywhere else in the death metal scene.

The production by Unisound and Dan Swanö is pretty good and I really enjoy it. I don’t know if they intentionally wanted the production to be a bit raw, but I did notice some small rubbing sounds throughout the album.

But other than that, this is a very solid album. I have to say, my introduction to The Hate Project MCMXCIX has been a great one! For fans of technical of just plain old death metal, this is a must have. For their really good release The Hate Project MCMXCIX gets 4 stars, and an album that might stay in my top ten of 2011.

J-Man Bring Forth Purgatory

Despite having been around since 1998 and releasing seven studio albums since then, Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis) was my introduction to The Project Hate MCMXCIX. Although I sincerely regret not checking out this fantastic band before their eighth album, this is a perfect example of an applicable situation for the phrase "better late than never". If you're not allergic to Swedish melodic death metal with progressive and industrial touches, Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis) is an album you'll definitely want to look into. The Project Hate MCMXCIX manages to seamlessly mix brutality and beauty without coming across as one of those wannabe modern death metal acts. I can't say I was expecting anything less than excellent when I took a glance at the star-studded lineup, but I can now confidently conclude that many, if not all, of my expectations were succeeded. From the excellent mix from the legendary Dan Swanö to the tight musicianship and memorable compositions, virtually everything about this album is excellent. Highly recommended to all open-minded metal fans!

The music on Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis) is firmly rooted in the Swedish melodeath scene, though there are plenty of experimentations outside of that genre. The most obvious example is the frequent industrial interludes with programmed drums and synthesizers. Another obvious influence in The Project Hate MCMXCIX's music is from progressive rock/metal. All of the songs here are rather long - the shortest is just under 9 minutes, and the longest is over 13 minutes. Every song has multiple sections with mood changes and symphonic tendencies; I'm actually reminded a bit of Crimson II-era Edge of Sanity from that respect. And finally, the female vocals from Ruby Roque add a bit of a gothic tinge to Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis). All in all, this is not an album for death metal purists, but people who enjoy most of the metal spectrum should love every minute of this. Of course, as you should expect from a "semi-supergroup" of this caliber, the musicians are excellent. I especially have to applaud Lord K. Philipson for the excellent performances on so many instruments.

The mix/mastering from Dan Swanö is really excellent. Unisound has been quite busy lately, and I can confidently say that almost everything coming out of that studio impresses me in one way or another. The sound is absolutely perfect on Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis), so kudos to Dan for creating yet another killer production!

Conclusion:

Bleeding The New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis) impressed me since the first time I heard it, and repeated listens haven't diminished that feeling in the slightest. Although the overall sound here will undoubtedly turn off death metal purists, open-minded metalheads should find a lot to enjoy here. It looks like we already have an early contender for one of the top extreme metal albums of 2011! 4 big stars are well-deserved here. If you've been missing out on these guys (as I had been), now's the time to give them a spin!