RAGINPIT MAGAZINE

Hate Eternal - Fury and Flames
Metal Blade
Release Date: February 2008

Track Listing:
1. Hell Envenom
2. Whom Gods May Destroy
3. Para Bellum
4. Bringer of Storms
5. The Funerary March
6. Thus Salvation
7. Proclamation of the Damned
8. Fury Within
9. Tombeau (Le Tombeau de La Fureur et des Flammes)
10. Coronach (Outro)

In the 1990’s, Florida was known as the hotbed for death metal and many legendary albums were produced by bands originating from this state. Hate Eternal is one of those bands; formed in 1997 by former Morbid Angel guitarist Eric Rutan. Fury and Flames is the 4th studio release by the band - their debut on new label Metal Blade Records. Going through various lineup changes over the years, this album’s lineup consists of founder Eric Rutan on vocals/guitar, Shaune Kelley on guitar, Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) on bass, and Jade Simonetto on drums.

Before receiving this release, I had read in the press that Rutan considers Fury and Flames to be their most diverse and emotionally charged work to date due to the untimely passing of former Hate Eternal bassist/founding member and friend Jared Anderson in late 2006. I must say that there is truth to this statement by Rutan. Overall, I hear a lot of aggression in the riffs and anguish in the vocals. You may be saying that it’s death metal, it’s supposed to sound aggressive and this is true, but hearing the claim that there was a lot of emotion put into the songwriting, one can’t help, but try to hear if the claim rings true and it did. I can hear the pain and hate seething through in Rutan’s vocal articulation and the songs are ferociously written.

There aren’t really any tracks that stand out to me as highlights, but that’s because this album as a whole is excellent. I’m not familiar enough with Hate Eternal’s previous work to draw comparisons, but overall, this is a fast, heavy, in-your-face album to which you have no choice, but to bang your head. Production-wise, Fury and Flames is up to par with Rutan‘s previous production work, but the bottom line is that it could be better. I was discussing it with a friend of mine and we agreed that the bass seems lost in the mix and when you have a genius in Alex Webster throwing down on the low end, it seems to be a mistake by burying the bass, so that is a bit disappointing. Regardless, this album is on my mp3 player to stay.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Jack-n-Cokes