Hate
“Cain’s Way”
(World War III)
With chord progressions more reminiscent of Anthrax than death metal (the opening song apes “Spreading the Disease”) it’s at least encouraging to know that Hate derives musical influence from someplace other than strictly death metal. That isn’t to imply they play their music anything like Anthrax. No, far from it. Hate plays in the traditional thundering double bass, speed-tastic death metal style first popularized for the masses by Deicide and Cannibal Corpse, both of whom Hate seems equally inspired and influenced by and maybe even partially based on. This is good, high quality death metal that must be played loud. Played loud not because it sounds best that way but because it must be to be heard – the mastering has quieted and muffled a large part of the production, me thinks. Hate doesn’t opt for the inexorable juggernaut of full speed ahead blast rhythms and endless guitar shredding, but rather choose wisely to mix it up with slower passages, curious musical interludes, guitar breaks and lots of saucy tempo changes. The one thing sadly banal about the band is the choice of cover art – an inverted crucifixion of Jesus superimposed over a fiery pentagram. Ooo, scary stuff. Ooo, blasphemous. Ooo, rebellious. Take that Jesus!
