Album ReviewsBlack MetalDeath Metal

ALBUM REVIEW: Auric Gates Of Veles – Hate

While sonic evolution have polarised opinions on Polish heavyweights BEHEMOTH and DECAPITATED, their more underground countrymen in HATE have found strength upon strength with each passing album. Though formed by front man and creative driving force Adam Buszko in the early ’90s, it’s only over the last decade HATE have started to garner the worldwide appreciation they rightly deserve. And there’s a clear correlation as to why – over the 2010s, Buszko and co. have released their strongest serious of albums yet, starting with 2010’s Erebos, growing stronger, hungrier and more sinister with every record. 2019 sees HATE at their strongest yet, in prime position to take their rightful place at the top of the extreme metal scene with the upcoming release of their 11th full-length album, Metal Blade Records debut and the follow-up to their career defining TremendumAuric Gates Of Veles.

Tremendum was HATE at their absolute best. It saw the band perfectly master the unholy mixture of crushing death metal and eviscerating black metal, with Buszko‘s lyrics beginning to delve into the fascinating, largely unknown world of Slavic paganism and history. However, all of this made Tremendum  one of those double-edged-sword albums: it was utterly incredible, but promised to be almost impossible for the band to better. “Almost” is most definitely the operative word here, as Auric Gates Of Veles takes all the standards and expectations HATE set with Tremendum, and completely smashes them all.

Auric Gates Of Veles wastes absolutely no time in slapping any doubts down into the mud. Opening with Seventh ManvantaraHATE carve their way through their brand of blackened death metal, immediately creating a juxtapositional atmosphere – there is a mystical, unknowing sense of dread created by the sharp riff-work, while Buszko and resident drum machine Paweł Jaroszewicz deliver a dose of brutality than could only be described as skull-cleaving. Thriskhelion follows suit, driving forward with masterful flourishes of elegance amid the maelstrom of chaos, throwing in a blinding solo for good measure.

Unafraid to showcase a more hook-heavy style, Buszko and Jaroszewicz dive into the end of Side A of Auric Gates Of Veles with the immediate live favourite The Volga’s Veins and video single Sovereign SanctityThe Volga’s Veins leans far more into HATE‘s death metal side with blackened elements adding a hint of seasoning rather than overpowering the sound, while Sovereign Sanctity is an example of blackened death metal at it’s finest, creating a sinister atmosphere with black metal riffs and delivering brutalising, old-school death metal. The solo towards the end of Sovereign Sanctity again offers plenty opportunity for face-melting, reinforcing the strength of Buszko as a guitarist. Moving into Side B, HATE kick things off with Path To Arkhen. The band have been playing this track live for over a year now, and digitally released the demo last May. Comparisons between HATE and BEHEMOTH feel, in many ways, cheap and lazy; but it is hard to deny the Demigod/Evangelion vibes running through Path To Arkhen – and this is no bad thing.

Still in full swing, Auric Gates Of Veles‘ title track brings a brutal dose of groove to proceedings, slowing things down but proving to be enchanting by reinforcing the impenetrable darkness that has enveloped the album thus far. It proves to be a wonderful change of pace, offering an unsettling break from the chaos much of the record has been built on. Moving into Auric Gates Of Veles‘ climatic moments, HATE end the record with the vicious one-two of Salvi Ignis and Generation Sulphur. Where Salve Ignis is dosed in melodic black metal undertones, Generation Sulphur is a monolithic slab of pure blackened death metal, heavy on the death metal, and guarantees to be a live favourite, bringing Auric Gates Of Veles to a close in glorious form.

Fully embracing the theme of Slavic mysticism and paganism that Tremendum started, the passion Buszko has for the subject has evidently rubbed off on the songwriting across Auric Gates Of Veles as a whole. Here, we see HATE at their most inspired, their most creative, and their most stoically confident. Auric Gates Of Veles is doubtlessly a landmark album for the duo, with every element of the record seeing a huge step up from previous efforts. Buszko and Jaroszewicz seem to have found their groove with one and other, proving to be a monumentally strong song-writing partnership and crafting some of the best extreme metal of the decade; the production captures the dark, raw essence of HATE perfectly, while sacrificial nothing in terms of audio quality; even the artwork proves to be a work of beauty, arguably their most spellbinding cover to date. Tremendum was a career defining release for HATE, but Auric Gates Of Veles redefines them: put simply, this is not only one of 2019’s immediate highlights, but unquestionably the strongest album in the band’s already-extensive discography. If HATE continue their trajectory of cataclysmic growth, then the quality of their 12th album will be utterly terrifying.

Rating: 9/10

Auric Gates Of Veles is set for release June 14th via Metal Blade Records. 

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