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HATE “Bellum Regiis”
HATE “Bellum Regiis”
By Dr. Abner Mality
Poland’s HATE, always looking for that big break but never quite getting there, has been nothing but prolific over the last 25 years or so, releasing a dozen albums of varying but generally solid quality. Here comes #13 and there is a sense that this could be a pivotal release for the band.
Their simple name might suggest a furious assault, but HATE chooses what one could almost call a stately path of mid-paced death/thrash. The links to bands like MORBID ANGEL and countrymen VADER are there, but HATE focuses more on the slower, more deliberate riffs of those bands. And so there is a feeling of ancient power and even majesty flowing over “Bellum Regiis” (which means “War of Kings”). They never floor the gas pedal just for the sake of it and with occasional keyboard flourishes and operatic female vocals, this is metal that’s on the contemplative side.
HATE does retain crushing heaviness due to a crystal clear production, so they never come close to being soft. This album really divides itself almost exactly into two parts. The first four tunes are longer, more diverse and focusing more on that mid-range trudge. The title track sets the stage and then “Iphigenia” ups the ante even more. One great advantage HATE has always had are the grinding vocals of Adam STF. Like Dave Ingram in BENEDICTION or John Walker of CANCER,his deep growls not only transmit authority but are very comprehensible as well. Despite that, I found the songs “The Vanguard” and “A Ghost Of Lost Delight” to be following too closely in the same pattern, resulting in some monotony.
The eerie brief track “Rites Of Triglav” serves as a divider between the first and second half. In the second half, the songs become shorter, more direct and slightly faster. This is where HATE excels. “Perun Rising” is an awesome power packed tune, a real war anthem, “Alfa Inferi Goddess of War” keeps the crunch and the compact size. “Prophet of Arkhen” picks up the pace and the album ends with the most raging and furious track, “Ageless Harp of Devilry”, where VADER similarities predominate.
Is “Bellum Regiis” the blowaway album that HATE needed? It is not an “instant” album, but if you give it time to cast its spell, it surely has its moments.
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