Hate Meditation -Scars
2013 / Black metal
1. Prelude to Apocalypse
2. The Deceiver and the Believer
3. Impure Rage
4. Staring into the Abyss (End Times)
5. The Genocide March
6. Wrath and Revenge
7.
Scars
8. Shadow World
btcarey: Illinois, a Midwestern state known for its corn, high crime
rate, and Black Metal…? I admit, I was skeptical at fist, but the more I
thought about it the more it made sense. A desolate landscape, rolling fields
as far as the eye can see; immense boredom, except for the occasional barn
party. These factors could be the perfect breeding ground for some of the most
desolate, dark music out there, black metal (that or a serial killer). And Hate
Meditation is just that.
“Scars” begins with an ominous, instrumental track,
preparing the listener for the forthcoming storm that encompasses the rest of
the album. During the first song, “The Deceiver and the Believer” I started to
evaluate their overall sound. At first
glance it felt somewhat weak and too undefined for my taste. About half way
through “Impure Rage”, I began to understand the aura the band was pursuing and
completely changed directions in my thinking. For this reason I would say the
album takes at least two spins before you can full appreciate it (at least
that’s how many it took for me).
The ghastly shrieks are the thing that really separates
“Scars” from other black metal releases. The vocals sound like they were
recorded through a vintage loud speaker, providing a decent amount of break-up,
and adding a haunting fuzz. Besides the vocals, the rest of the music is pretty
standard for melodic black metal. Tremolo picked riffs, eerie synths, and some
slower heavier chord progressions make up the bulk of the music.
“Scars” is a good, but not great, release and definitely deserves
a few listens. Check this out if you like melodic black metal bands like
Satanic Warmaster.
Favorite Songs: “Wrath and Revenge” and “End Times”
Orostider: Hate Meditation was only familiar by name before tp chose it as a weekly album. I have to admit that Hate Meditation's name gave me a slight negative preconception of the material, but boy am I glad to state that it was in vain.
For reasons unknown to me, I instantly knew that the country of origin for Hate Meditation was US. Even though there's something in the sound of Hate Meditation that sounds usbm-ish enough, I can't help but compare the overall atmosphere of the album to Paysage d'Hiver. Hate Meditation represents the same sort of ghastly atmospheric black metal as Paysage d'Hiver, but instead of repeating couple of riffs with occasional hooks nonstop for even twenty minutes, 'Scars' offers a load of varying riffs and emotions.
The overall sound is hollow and piercing, yet clear and the production is top quality, but not too modern. 'Scars' almost sounds like if Satanic Warmaster met Paysage d'Hiver. Raw, atmospheric, yet versatile enough black metal. I gladly recommend this to anyone into black metal.
tp5170: ‘Scars’ is an album I got to know some time ago accidentally
when I got a good bargain on the album and on the spur of the moment decided to
buy it and see whether it was any good. I actually have pretty low expectations
for standard black metal releases from unknown artists, but sometimes it’s fun
to just experiment because you never know what you might find, and in the worst
case you end up wasting a couple of
euros which is never the end of the world. This time however, taking the risk was
worth it as Scars proved to be a rather interesting release.
The album is sound wise a bit different from the traditional
black metal. It relies heavily on the vocals which are really distorted, loud
and raw - and in my opinion the thing carrying the album. At the same time the instrumental
side is pretty clean and maybe even a bit too simplistic at times, but it’s the
contrast between the vocal and instrumental sides that makes the album’s sound
stand out. The hollowness of instrumental stuff and the utter grimness of
vocals work really well together and the resulting atmosphere is chilling and
hopeless. In some songs the sound pretty much slips to the side of depressive
black metal which adds a nice touch to the mix.
Overall I think the instrumental side of the album could be
more complex but otherwise I can’t point out any obvious flaws with the album. I have honestly been having good time it and I
really appreciate different approach, the thought of doing something slightly different
with the good old black metal recipe.
Favorite song: Staring into the Abyss (End Times)