(Black Metal) HATE FOREST - Hour of the Centaur album review

Release date December 25, 2020 (Osmose)

Selecting Christmas Day as the appropriate drop date for the first album in fifteen years from Hate Forest seems more than appropriate given the momentous event that it represents. The Ukrainian black metal unit has been at it since 1999 and this fifth full length finds the band in fine, uncompromising form. Every track simply explodes in your face from the very first note, the intensity and riffage held consistent to the end of each lesson in violence. Some may complain that the tracks are monotonous, but I on the other hand welcome them as being relentless. In yer face baby!

Beyond the obvious full-frontal attack, the other highlights here are the use of subtle melody and the vocals. Underlying each track is some very fine and memorable guitar refrains, providing some melody within the maelstrom, a very welcome sound to behold, I assure you. And the use of hoarse, zombie vocals differentiates the band further from the blackened hordes, giving them their own unique sound. The stature of this record continues to grow in my mind the more spins I continue to give it.

Single minded ... unstoppable ... Hate Forest.

(8.5)