Los tres mundos

In 2 years, Mexican black metal band Black Hate has released 2 full length albums after a long list of split releases. Los Tres Mundos is the band’s latest full length album, with an album artwork that bears a strong resemblance to Blut Aus Nord‘s recent album 777 – The Desanctification, leaving one to wonder if Black Hate‘s music would bear any similarities to the aforementioned’s experimental form of black metal.

There is a certain futuristic and post-apocalyptic touch as the album opens with introductory track I, what with the sound of TV news reporting in the background, giving the album an ominous and foreboding mood. Lians-Per-Ti opens the album proper after the introductory track, and instantly the coldness and bleakness in the music is emanated with guitar riffs that help to create tension in the air. At the same time, there is some sort of a depressive feel in the music as B.G. shrieks and growls his lyrics out in desperation, almost sounding like a helpless and hopeless plea for help. B.G. also at times make use of chanting vocals, giving songs like Ika-nun-na a ritualistic mood, especially with all the instruments being silent aside from the drums.

Despite the relatively hostile atmosphere on the music, Black Hate often makes use of large hooks to capture the attention of the listener, and this can be seen through the riffs that are unleashed on the guitars, and also the often melodic lead guitar lines that are present throughout most of the album, such as the intro guitar solo of Subconsciente and those on Glorious Moments. The lead guitars are also utilised cleverly, with moments such as on Ika-nun-na where there is the play on the whammy bar at the background, bringing about some well-thought out chaos to the music. There is also a large variety of influences that have also been included in the songwriting of the album, such as the melodic death metal-inspired intro riffs on Ika-nun-na, helping to ensure that things do not get too monotonous. The atmosphere and emotions of the songs also seem to be the main focus of the music on the album, with songs like the pure black-metal track Subconsciente reeking of desolation and desperation and an atmosphere that instantly brings to mind such Finnish bands as Satanic Warmaster and Sargeist.

That said though, the weakness of Los Tres Mundos is at the songwriting aspect of the band. There are some moments on the album where songs could have been considerably shortened, with the last few moments of songs like Lians-Per-Ti sounding rather repetitive and overly draggy. There are also times when the drums sound slightly out of pace, resulting in awkward-sounding moments, but seeing how Black Hate is ultimately a one-man project, these could perhaps be understood and forgiven. Also, interludes like II also end up being redundant, since it contained nothing but purely sound samples of war and could have been done away with without compromising the mood and flow of the album. However, overall Los Tres Mundos is a nice atmospheric, emotional journey and these moments of awkwardness can be easily overlooked.

Originally written on: http://heavymetaltribune.com/

Black Hate is a depressive/avantgarde black metal band hailing from Mexico. The band was originally formed in 2006 as a one-man band by B.g Ikanunna. Black Hate released several demo/splits between 2006-2009. In 2010 the band released a full-length album called “Years of Solitude” which saw the ideology of the band change both lyrically and musically.

“Los Tres Mundos” is the band’s second full-length album and was recorded as a one-man band. The album was released by Dusktone in April 2012. After this recording the band now features a full line-up in which all members are now contributors to the music.

Musically “Los Tres Mundos” is an interesting mix of various black metal styles. The first half of the album tends to comprise of a more standard or avantgarde style of black metal with interesting and daring song arrangements while the second half of the album leans more towards the depressive side of black metal. So in the end the album takes on a life of it’s own as the songs progress towards the end of the album.

Some of the more “avantgarde” style tracks remind me a bit of older Sepultura – Pre Bloody Roots era with flashes of Agalloch in some of the less heavy tremolo picked sections. It’s good with plenty of variation and a distinctive tribal type of feel to it. The depressive black metal style tracks are also done very well and remind me a little bit of old Dimmu Borgir. Think “Stormblast” and “For All Tid” style chords and song structures. It does this without ever really feeling like it’s playing the copy-cat and retains it’s own feel and sound.

The vocals are done pretty well with various black metal growls and screams. From the mid range standard black metal growl to the higher-pitched depressive black metal growl/scream. In some instances the higher screams remind me a little of some older Summoning. There are also clean vocals used and they come in the form of a throaty chant like on the track “Ika-nun-na” and a more melodic type singing like on the track “Glorious Moments”. The lyrics are mostly in Spanish as far as I can tell which is unfortunate for me because I don’t speak the language. Thankfully the music is good enough that I am able to enjoy the album regardless of whether or not I understand the lyrics.

The guitars and bass are all done well and have great tone and depth to them. The guitars range from heavy to clean but always carry a sense of melody to them. There are a few guitar solos which are highly enjoyable and a bit unexpected. I enjoyed the bass lines which don’t really do any crazy but they are easy to hear and aren’t hidden by the guitars. The drums have a good sound to them and are mixed well. They aren’t over powering but they still provide a very solid foundation for the rest of the music to work from. The range from creative tom work to furious blast beats.

Although I enjoyed almost every song on the album there are a few that stand out for me. The second track “Lians-Per-Ti” has some really catchy guitar work with a chorus style yell that I rather enjoyed. The third track “Ika-nun-na” is a very interesting track with a heavy tribal influence to it. As I have already mentioned this track features those throaty chanting vocals which remind me so much of an ancient Myan civilization. It’s a bit creepy but they fit well with the song. There is also some cool guitar riffs which are both interesting and catchy. It is a very memorable song. The fourth track “Subconsciente” also stood out for me. It was the first taste of the more depressive feel of Black Hate’s sound. It has a very ominous and depressive sound to it and some of the vocals remind me of older Summoning on this track. It’s a steady plunge into sorrow and despair. I really like the seventh track “Glorious Moments”. It starts out with a very nice melodic clean guitar line which transforms into a heavier distorted version which carries no less of an impact. It’s one of those melodies that jams itself into your skull and won’t leave. The tremolo picked bass guitar provides good harmony and depth to the guitars and the vocals are filled with pain and anguish. As far as emotion goes this song has the most feeling of all the tracks on the album. The eighth song “Revelacion” is a nice acoustic break full of Spanish flare which leads into the title track “Los Tres Mundos”. “Lost Tres Mundos” is a behemoth track that approaches 16 minutes. Midway through there is a quirky little interlude which is lead by a nice piano lead.

I was genuinely impressed by “Lost Tres Mundos” as a whole. It is my first taste of Black Hate so I really had no expectations going into this review. I really wish this album was in English so I could get the full impact of the vocals and lyrics. I guess that’s a bit selfish of me though since I can’t expect every band to cater to us English speaking fans. Thankfully the music was good enough on it’s own so I was still able to enjoy this album from start to finish. I wasn’t a big fan of the tracks “I” and “II” but I understand their place in the album and I can’t knock Black Hate for inserting these tracks into the music. The production was good and the music was even better. This is a highly enjoyable album that is full of feeling from the faster paced to sections to the more melodic guitar lines and solos. “Los Tres Mundos” has something for everybody and will appeal to a wide range of fans.

Originally written for: http://www.midwinterfires.com