Kev Rowland

Hate was formed in Warsaw, Poland, in 1990 by guitarist and vocalist Adam The First Sinner (real name Adam Buszko, now normally abbreviated to ATF Sinner), guitarist Qack and drummer Mittloff. Between 1990 and 1995 they recorded three demo tapes before signing their first record contract. Over the years, they have been through various line-up changes, but the death of bassist Slawek "Mortifier" Arkhangelsky from natural causes while on tour in 2013, and the departure of drummer Stanisław "Hexen" Malanowicz the following year had a major impact, with just AFT Sinner and guitarist Konrad "Destroyer" Ramotowski left. Paweł "Pavulon" Jaroszewicz joined on drums for the 2015 album, ‘Crusade: Zero’ but things were still not right within the band, and ‘Tremendum’ finds just ATF Sinner and Pavulon from the last album, with two session musicians in Paweł "Apeiron" Michałowski on bass and Dominik "Domin" Prykiel on guitars.

Hate have been known for playing a type of blackened death metal that has also found favour with countrymates Behemoth, but for me this album finds them far more solidly within the black metal genre, but with some death influences. It perhaps isn’t surprising that even though they have been through some trauma, that all these guys know what they are about, and this feels like a major release from a major band. The production is superb, capturing a band that are tight and firing hard. Some black metal relies too much on pomp and ceremony, but here the balance is just right, with the reverb allowing the mid to think of black candles and ceremonies, but the guitar and drums are there in the foreground to keep bashing the listener on the head while ATF’s growls are perfectly pitched to work with the music, not against it.

They have been releasing albums for more than twenty years, have had more than that in terms of musicians in their ranks, but let’s hope that this quartet can hit the stage and show everyone that Hate are a force to be reckoned with, as they have come of age with this album.

J-Man One of Poland's more famous death metal exports is Hate, a Warsaw-based band formed back in 1990. Erebos is their seventh full-length album, and was released in 2010 by Listenable Records. Although I haven't followed the band much lately, I do like what I hear on Erebos quite a lot. Extremely heavy blackened death metal with a few modern touches is the name of the game here, and Hate delivers the style in the most elegant of all forms. Fans of the band, as well as people who enjoy blackened death metal in the vein of Behemoth, should check out what Hate has to offer this time around.

Erebos has been criticized as sounding too much like a Behemoth worship session, and even though there is a strong influence from these fellow Polish metalheads, I wouldn't consider this album to be a mindless cloning session. The black metal influence is usually kept to a minimum, allowing for the death metal riffs and deep gutteral vocals to take center stage. I hear a few touches of melody and modern influence throughout Erebos, and even though this is far from a predominately modern effort, this album isn't entirely rooted in the past either. The sleek and polished production especially gives Erebos a modern edge. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the triggered drums and compressed sound, but there's no doubt that this is a powerful and effective production.

So there you have it - Erebos is another impressive effort from one of the leading Polish death metal acts. Hate are a group of highly talented and gifted musicians, and they simply know how to deliver quality releases through and through. Even though it's not the most original or memorable album on the face of the planet, Erebos is a well-composed slice of death metal from some very talented musicians, and thus deserves 3.5 stars.

Vehemency Roaaar! Pure ass-kicking modern blackened death metal is to be found from here. No less, no more. If you haven’t gotten enough Behemoth’s latter era’s works, another Polish group - fittingly named Hate - is here on Erebus to provide some very crushing death metal too - and in spite of the very similar style these two bands play, Hate isn’t just a copycapt, knowing that the band was already playing death metal while Behemoth was still in its black metal infancy.

What grabbed my attention in the very beginning is the production: it’s really heavy and aggressive, and in spite of the triggered drums that I almost always despise, Erebus doesn’t sound really plastic like many other efforts in this field. For me, a stubborn lover of natural sound, plastic productions ruin whole albums, but Erebus gets my approval.

Needless to say, Erebus is executed with tight musicianship from the end to the beginning, and maybe there’s even too much technical calculation in the music as there’s some stagnation in the middle of the album where the constant bursts of energy don’t have the same impact anymore, but for the most part, the music holds my interest and sounds convincing.

In case you’re looking for proper innovation, I’m afraid that’s not what Erebus offers but, nonetheless, I find the album’s sheer power satisfying in itself. I’m usually not so much into death metal, especially this modern and (semi-)technical, but I do think Erebus is a rather successful release albeit nothing out of the ordinary.