One of many surprises this last year has flung at us is the unexpected emergence of a new Hate Forest album. I had always assumed them to be pretty much dead as far a new recorded output was concerned but it would seem not and a whole 15 years after last album ‘Sorrow’ here we have Hour Of The Centaur released on the 25th December no less. I’m sure that date has some significance and something that was meant to happen has just been cancelled but no doubt you will all be flocking to Bandcamp to listen to this for 38 minutes on an otherwise non-eventful day…

I guess Roman Saenko found himself as bored as anyone what with the world being locked down and all that, so in April found himself along with session drum programmer V laying down these new rancorous songs. Early material such as debut album ‘The Most Ancient Ones’ saw the oft cited controversial act bringing out a flurry of demos, EP’s, compilations and studio albums before Drudkh themselves emerged from these battered Ukrainian steppes. These short, sharp, twisted discs are still very well respected for those that were able to penetrate their somewhat primitive recording techniques but bearing in mind that so much time has flowed that is something that has been very much addressed here. Although it would be wrong to re-record early stuff and make it more palatable it is quickly evident that this has the sonic representation it deserves and there is no biscuit tin, abrasive demo sounding production here but the full might of a recording that anyone could possibly hope for. That’s not to say it is lacking in in aggression and violence though and as we take in the intro piece and stumble into ‘Those Who Worship the Sun Bring the Night’ the full force is powerful and potent enough to pretty much knock you off your feet.

Hate Forest were always an uncompromising force in every respect and that is very much the case here. This is a lesson in tumultuous, windswept violence and once the dervish whirlwind of flailing guitar work, tight rumbling bass and thundering drumming takes hold one wonders how this particular forest has any wood let alone trees left in it. Roman’s vocals are gruff indistinguishable cavemen grunts represented here under the weight and drive of the full force musicianship. They add tone and further substance although any words if such exist are formless and no doubt only known to their innovator. Despite the tearing power and that dragged under a hedge force about it all, melody is intricately entwined and occasionally allowed to breath as the vengeful power subsides around it, taking form with some gorgeous albeit solemn and reverential tones. The Battlefields of the past are thereby visited and the fallen reflected on perhaps and the Sorrow is very much present. It sounds like an acoustic caress in the midst of an ever-powerful storm. One track spiral’s out of control into its own void and after an imperceptible pause the next furrows in just as ruggedly. As with everything about this band things are steeped in mystery, there will be no interviews, statements of intent made here, certainly no shows but simply the recording itself. Some times track titles such as ‘No Stronghold Can Withstand This Malice’ speak for themselves. At others such as ‘To the North of Pontos Axeinos’ it is up to the listener to go on a historical quest to Ancient Persia themselves and try and fathom out any deeper meaning.

The violence is not something that needs debate, this is as brutal and savage as anything out there but it is the poise and precision of it that really does have the jaw hitting the ground. This is probably more in line with Blood Of Kingu at their most venomous than Drudkh or anything else that Roman has been involved in and from the second I played this for the first time I knew I was totally hooked by its barbed spikes and was going to enjoy this more than any of his other more recent output. It’s easy to lose yourself in it all, especially the longest number ‘Anxiously They Sleep In Tumuli’ where the nightmares come thick and fast, the tension of what is obviously going to be a bloody battle come the dawn malevolently clinging to its slumbering hosts. The guttural vocals grim and gnawing incessantly away like a dog with a bone, some slower poise injected allowing for some respite and lucid dreaming. It is probably the last sleep allowed before an eternal one claims these black coated ‘Melanchlaeni’ Scythian Arrows being the final flurry before they are laid to rest evermore. Yes, there is a tale being told and it is nigh impossible not to read up on it as this story unfolds. The ancient backdrop of war-faring tribes as fascinating as the music it has summoned here.

As far as the times we are living in now, which are reaching boiling point and seething with anger and hate you couldn’t really ask for a better musical conclusion to the year. Hate Forest have really unexpectedly come of age themselves during these turbulent times and delivered a gloriously embittered album here.

(9/10 Pete Woods)

https://osmoseproductions.bandcamp.com/album/hour-of-the-centaur