Behemoth fan? Addicted to Vader? Then the chances are you’ve already dabbled with a bit of Hate. If you have I probably don’t even need to say at this point that they’re from Poland and, although this next fact is not necessarily directly connected to country of origin but often seems to be, that this band is Polish death metal of a pure, honest and undiluted form. Albums like 2003’s Awakening of the Liar and the follow-up Anaclasis: A Haunting Gospel of Malice & Hatred are pretty much classics of the genre combining blistering speed and aggression filled with the artful precision of death metal masters. The same goes for the band’s more recent output which the casual listener would find hard to distinguish from what they were putting out 10 years ago. This time round, however, they’ve slowed down the pace a little while still managing to inflict an aural, metaphorical decapitation if a little less brutally instantaneous. Perhaps from that you’d deduce that this is a little more accessible than anything they’ve done to date but it is no less grand and epic in its intentions and quite possibly their stab at the big-time.
Crvsade: Zero’s more restrained, strategic approach leaves you picking out each and every strike of the hammer as each track builds into a finely chiselled production with sledgehammer drums and blistering, borderline-melodic riffs. And while you’re unlikely to read a review of Hate which doesn’t mention Behemoth, the comparison is a little misleading. Hate have stayed pretty true to their own death metal style since the mid-1990s while Behemoth have morphed from black metal to the death metal leviathan of today, albeit in a blackened style. You’d now be forgiven for confusing the two bands, I dare say: on track 10, ‘Rise Omega The Consequence!,’ for example. And there are definite vocal comparisons (although from where I’m sitting Hate’s Adam the First Sinner might just clinch it over Nergal). But rather than being a Behemoth clone, this album is actually more a refined version of hate’s own long-practiced sound and a damn fine version it is too. Crvsade: Zero is rooted far more in groove than it is in out and out blastbeats (on seventh track ‘Valley of Darkness,’ for example). There are soaring, soulful guitar solos and, of course, they’re capable of unleashing hell when they want, as they do on the title track.
But while you could easily argue that Hate will most likely from now on be forever locked behind the shadow of Behemoth (and you’re unlikely to find a review of this album that doesn’t jump on that) they’ve done nothing really to shake off that comparison on this album even if they could argue out of the recording studio that they were there first. Ok, why should they. But because of that, intentional or not, some people are just going to dismiss this as Behemoth-lite. Something you could hand to your little bro’ as a way to get him onto the stronger stuff. And maybe that’s the problem right there. That time moves on and you’d better move with it or events begin to leave you behind. But let’s keep this in perspective. If these guys were from London? With this kind of provenance and a sound like this? They’d probably be one of the best death metal bands in the country. Or half a dozen other countries in Europe for that matter. So let’s be thankful that Poland is where it’s at for death metal – and in some cases black metal too – at the moment. A vibrant scene producing bands this good and making others territories sound like they’ve had their day. Stick on penultimate track ‘Dawn of War’ and then tell me this band doesn’t deserve to be regarded as in the vanguard of Poland’s death metal exponents. A good album from a good band and decent, finely produced addition to what is turning out to be a great back catalogue. It’s a shame they are forced to live in the shadow of another but on the other hand that will probably also help this album sell like hot cakes.
(8/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
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