Of all of the great death metal scenes out there, Poland’s
appears to be the most underappreciated. There are countless bands, and yet, it
never got the same acknowledgement that huge scenes like Sweden’s, Florida’s, and
New York’s had. Even I am only vaguely familiar with it; Vader, Decapitated, and
Behemoth seem to be the bands that Poland is known for and are pretty much all
I’ve heard. And then there is Hate. They’ve been around since the early 90’s,
and are back with their eighth album, “Solarflesh”. While I don’t know any of
their other material, this is an appropriate introduction to a band that is a
clear contender for Poland’s best death metal band.
At just under 50 minutes, Hate offers some brutal, yet
accessible death metal. The most obvious influence is the Floridian scene, in
particular, Deicide. Vocalist Adam Buszko sounds like a modern, Glen Benton,
with a bit less character in his voice. Many of the riffs also sound like
they’re from Deicide’s line of work. The slightly technical riffing that pays
little attention to common music theory is going to have you headbanging furiously.
Found among the moments of brutality are dissonant chords that just refuse to
resolve. Hate also makes heavy use of slower, mid-range trills more often than
any other band I’ve heard. Combine these
with the ever-common atonal tremolo picked riffs, and you have all of the
elements that make great death metal. In addition, “Solarflesh” integrates
pinch harmonics pretty consistently without sounding ridiculous (ala brutal
death metal or metalcore). To top things off, Hate don’t ruin the album by
having endless amounts of blast beats. They are definitely there and plentiful,
but are used to increase the intensity, rather than to try and sustain it for
the entire album. My sole complaint with this record is the same one I have
with most death metal: aside from a few moments (the opening of “Festival of
Slaves” being one of them) there is little attempt to differentiate any of the
songs. I haven’t really mentioned any of the songs yet, and that’s because
there isn’t much to mention. The overall sound applies to all of them and the
songwriting does nothing to push one song ahead of the others. It’s enjoyable
while it lasts, but it is something that works against this album.
Ultimately, “Solarflesh” is still one of the better death
metal records released recently. They take all of the great elements of the
genre, discard those that ruin it, and put together a satisfying album. Fans of
all old-school death metal should enjoy this, but Deicide fans in particular
will definitely love it. In spite of the lack of memorable moments on this
record, it is still one worth hearing, and is likely to be one of the stronger death metal albums this year.
Be sure to check out and like Hate on Facebook!
Highlight
All of it!
Final Rating
4.0/5 or 80%.
