Hate marks the third full-length effort from Sinister, the Death Metal act from the Netherlands. Considered one of the band's crowning achievements, Hate shows a stronger technical aspect in the band's recordings, but also has a little less bite to it thanks to the overall sound of the music on the recording. This doesn't mean that it's a bad album, but while the technical aspects of the band's sounds improved on this effort, it feels like the technical advancements were at fault to restrain the brutality. Is this just another example of why Death Metal in the mid-nineties had begun to really lose it's edge? Or does the band compensate the more advanced processes in recording to weave a whole other atmosphere to the recording that better suits them and their musical approach?
Well, not quite. Yes, the album sounds a lot clearer and the guitars have a higher pitch to them, there's still a lot working with the recording that keeps it rather brutal. The music still has a razor sharp sound to it, though it's not as bludgeoning as on previous efforts from the band. The drums, however, are what really shine through on this recording. The bass kicks on here are fantastic and sound deep as all hell, having a nice echo on the snares too at times to give off a hopeless sensation to the music, sort of a nightmarish scenario when coupled with the slightly echoed vocals and more obvious bass that fills in the gaps where the guitar doesn't quite work out due to being a bit too higher in pitch. The vocals are also much cleaner, not in a singing sense, but in the fact that you can make out what the vocalist is saying this time around, losing some of the raw brutality, but in a sense it works out nicely on this recording.
The increased bass output greatly affects the album, and all for the better. But, aside that nice touch, the music itself feels tighter. Gone are the random blast beats that the band had utilized on earlier efforts. Hate is a strong Death Metal album that really focuses on hammering some strong headbanging Death Metal to the listener. The only difference here is that the band really does try to work on that atmosphere, and after a while it starts to get a little bland thanks to moments where the music will slow down for no real reason, then have the guitars play a haunting series of chords. "Art of the Damned" is an example of this, and while the song starts off strong, the ending works towards the atmosphere, especially that of the lyrics and track name, but after a while those slower haunting chords overstay their welcome and just really become overused and boring.
Other then that, the album is solid Death Metal that shows off the best of Sinister, from their groovey guitars to the typically intense atmosphere, except this time a little more haunting then brutalizing. Each track on here stands out nicely from one another, and if the material isn't heavily technical in the guitars, like with "Awaiting the Absu" or the stand out intense and furious "Embodiment of Chaos", then it's just simply intense and pounding, like "To Mega Therion" that captures a rather Satanic lyrical approach instead of taking on a more lyrical environment set to "the ancient ones". This is one of the very few songs to incorporate blast beats, and honestly it sounds off in the long run given the more complex material of the recording that really drives this album home. Instead, it's more simplistic groovey guitars and blast beats that feel more random then anything. Of course "Awaiting the Absu" has these blast beats as well, but also lasts over seven minutes and has a nice mixture of technical brutalizing Death Metal with the blast beats.
That's not the only thing that feels off on this recording sadly. Sinister has started to use ambience and instrumentals on this album. The release kicks in with an "Intro" track that, while not bad, just really seems to take forever for the actual music to start. "Awaiting the Absu" also has a little ambient piece near the end of the song. Again, while not a bad thing, it ultimately just feels like overkill. While the atmosphere isn't quite there, the addition of what sounds like keyboards really just brings it over the top and ultimately loses the bleak, hopeless vibe that one can pull from the deeply echoed vocals and pounding double bass kicks. "The Cursed Mayhem" also needs to be mentioned, as the song clashes horribly within itself. The guitars here try to be very complex and technical, leaving behind much of the groove heavy guitar work that has been a staple for Sinister, but that's not what drives it down. The clashing begins when the drummer does a blast beat that isn't quite a blast beat, pounding on the snares in repetition during a very fast and complex guitar section. The only problem is that the drums are way off beat with the guitar and just sound horrible. "The Bloodfeast" also takes a stab at incorporating the slower atmospheres similar to the ones on "Art of the Damned", except more prominant and with a much simpler music throughout the song. There's just too much going on within the song, and honestly it just kinda kills it, and definitely is not all that great an end to such a promising album. The epic, melodic parts of the song that join the intense blast beats, however, definitely should be taken note of, adding an epic atmosphere to the song, which does manage to push the song forward into more groovey Death Metal chords and on/off blast beats that stand tall against the bland slower moments of the track.
So, no, the advancements in technology didn't hold Hate back at all, and in fact it helped to make the album sound better. The material on Hate is solid, but the closing few tracks feel like Sinister had some good ideas, but ultimately just phoned them in at times. The album does have it's issues, and the more epic, melodic aspects of the closing track "The Bloodfeast" is enough to make any Metal fan stand up and pay attention. Sinister continue to grow and mature, and Hate definitely shows a solidifying sound for the group that simply cannot be denied as a positive step in the right direction. Each track on here is heavy and gives off a hopeless atmosphere that really makes the album an important release for the band, and aside those few tracks, it's well worth the time to check out.
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