Hate Eternal - The Perilous Fight (DVD)

Hate Eternal for me is one of the pinnacles of human achievement - I mean that seriously. That three people can produce a sound so fast, fierce, and efficient blows me away. Haters cite the band's relentless speed, and while that's true of the first two albums, I, Monarch was a huge step up in depth and diversity. Having seen the band play twice, I was curious what this live DVD would offer.

Visually, there's not much to see. The gig is at The Garage in London on June 4, 2006. The venue is dimly lit. With four cameras, not many angles are possible. Most of the footage is straight on from the front, though there some nice close-ups of Erik Rutan's hands during solos. A few behind-the-band shots offer glimpses of the crowd (I think I counted one girl there). The editing is basic - not too fast or slow, with some cheesy whip pans. Hate Eternal's not the type to do spin kicks or any such bullshit. They basically stand there, circle headbang occasionally, and do the job.

But what a job they do! The drama here was that drummer Derek Roddy had left just when Hate Eternal was about to go on tour. The band ended up hiring Kevin Talley for the American dates and Reno Killerich for the European dates. I caught the American tour, and while Talley did fine, Killerich is absolutely, um, killer here. Filling in for Roddy is no small task, but Killerich makes it look easy. He blasts like a machine, his cymbal work is solid, and his fills are precise. Best of all, the band is tight, with a definite sense of groove - as much as this music allows, anyway.

Rutan mixed the DVD himself, and the sound is great. His guitar tones are meaty yet edgy, and the drums are punchy. You can't hear much of bassist Randy Piro, but fuck it, that's metal.

The DVD offers a few extras. There's a slightly tense interview with the band. Rutan's the mastermind, and that's quite evident. There are also three music videos. The one for "Powers That Be" features an unintentionally funny black-hooded figure walking in the woods. Black-hooded figures in the woods reek of silly black metal videos and should be avoided at all costs. I guess the band couldn't spend enough to avoid that fate. The videos for "The Victorious Reign" and "I, Monarch" are of much higher production and narrative quality.

The final DVD extra is a guided tour of Rutan's Mana Studios. There's footage from both the old location, a house, and the new location, a fancy-schmancy facility. Rutan endearingly points out practically every single piece of gear; he's particularly attached to the 2" tape machine, which came from Morrisound Studios and recorded all those classic death metal albums. As with the rest of this DVD, the uninitiated probably won't get much out of this. The death metal faithful, though, will. I give this two invisible oranges.

Hate Eternal - The Perilous Fight (DVD Trailer)