BLACK HATE - Via Pvrgativa
Odium Records
Mexico's BLACK HATE are a band that's been around for a while. Let me explain that in detail. Originally it was a one man black metal project. The one man is B.G. Ikanunna who started out in 2006 and was responsible for everything as is the case. B.G. Ikanunna was actually fairly prolific during this period. (Please note that the guy has been prolific all around as an artist. I mean he's been in a ton of other projects besides BLACK HATE).
So from 2007 to 2011, aside from a seven song debut demo, the guy appeared on a bunch of split EPs as well as releasing some EPs of his own and two full lengths. Then in 2012 B.G. Ikanunna decided to turn BLACK HATE into a real band with him just being responsible for vocals and later on guitars. Once again the band was on a creative spirit with a bunch of splits, EPs and more full lengths.
Their last release was the 2020 full length Altalith. Now in all honestly that one seemed more like an EP with four actual songs and four short instrumentals. So here we are a few years later. B.G. Ikanunna is back with the same BLACK HATE line-up that's been going for a number of years now. And we have a new album with only one instrumental and it's the opener.
OK so I like this album a lot mainly because it runs the gambit of blackening everything. Sure you still have the old school BLACK HATE avant-garde arrangements on certain cuts. But there's plenty of death metal groove in places. Add in is some melody and straight up traditional metal style. I mean hell yeah this is cool. And yes the production is still raw as fuck without sounding like crap.
Aside from the opening instro you get the blistering, fist pumping first cut "Trembling Hands of Sorrow". The song is eight fuckin minutes of blackened insanity. Another highlight is "Luminous Ruins of Death" which is part blackened death n roll and part blackened occult worship. B.G. Ikanunna's vocals on here (as well as every cut on here) are full on filth, horror and hate filled.
Another cool cut worth mentioning is “Tempestad (o de la transubstanciation)”. It's sung in Spanish, has a sort of tech death riff sequence running rampant and then channels doom as well as thrash. Yeah all in an eight minute time period. The final cut "Dark Night of the Soul" is the eerie cut of the album. It comes off early on sounding like a soundtrack for a Mexican horror/slasher film. But then it pulls out the blackened grandiose stamp of blood spitting filth.
Yeah like what was mentioned earlier I really like this album. I say that because it's so off the beaten path of black metal proper. Plus it's from an artist who needs recognition to say the least. I guess this is where my bias comes in. My friends in Texas will know this. Mexico has always been a hotbed of extreme metal and with fans who are absolute fanatics. But very few bands from there get the big press afforded to other acts.
BLACK HATE, especially on this latest one, should be checked out. Now with that said I believe some label should put together a compilation of the early stuff, not the LPs, but the short form releases. Add to that the BLACK HATE 2012 to 2019 catalog wouldn't be a bad idea either. Plus they do have that live album and you can check em out with this performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gCrmLUOnPk
https://www.label.odiumrecords.com/
LISTEN HERE:
https://odiumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/black-hate-v-a-pvrgativa
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