review: Hate Eternal--Fury and Flames

Hate Eternal aren’t reinventing death metal. They’re just playing it exceptionally well. Fury and Flames is so dense, fast and outrageously heavy that it could easily have sounded like a noisy mess, were it not for its excellent production, courtesy of band growler/guitarist Erik Rutan. Crisp but not overly polished, the recording keeps each instrument distinct in the mix. Even the bass, often all but inaudible on death metal albums, hums clearly, which is fortunate because bassist Alex Webster can groove; he’s not merely adding thickness to the sound. The other half of the rhythm section, newcomer Jade Simonetto, gives a jaw-dropping performance, rattling off blast beats and fills with machinelike speed and precision. Rutan and guitarist Shaune Kelley punctuate their furious riffing with haunting leads, and the musicianship on Fury and Flames impresses constantly. The album’s only drawback is its uniform sound. With the exception of the outro “Coronach,” there’s no sense of dynamics here; the songs are balls out heavy the whole time and they’re largely indistinguishable, so you’ll either enjoy all of them or none at all. Death metal fans will love every one.