Hate Eternal Bio

Hate Eternal have completed the next crucial album in the history of extreme music. With dizzying musicality and creativity, Hate Eternal's third album, "I, Monarch", propels metal into the next dimension.

Recorded and mixed by Hate Eternal frontman Erik Rutan (Soilent Green, Premonitions Of War) at Mana Studios in Tampa, FL, mastered by Alan Douches (Mastodon, Converge), and featuring cover art by Paul Romano (Mastodon, Trivium, The Red Chord), "I, Monarch" is a world-class album that is both technically amazing and musically unique, two traits that rarely coexist in today's oversaturated heavy music scene.

"I, Monarch" sees the fearsomely talented and broad-minded musical trinity of guitarist/vocalist Erik Rutan, drummer Derek Roddy, and bassist Randy Piro uniting in new and transcendent ways. Torrential blastbeats (perhaps truly the fastest yet recorded) meld with inhuman polyrhythms and shredding leads whilst lyrical firestorms rain down with unmatched rage, yet the groove underlying the chaos is of collosal proportions. With "I, Monarch" Hate Eternal have struck a groundbreaking balance between chaos and groove, precision and soul, focused aggression and open-minded musical vision.

"Two Demons" opens the album, lashing out with a freshness and vitality that instantly sets "I, Monarch" apart from any other album in the current crop of heavy music. Like the two demons of the title, the song's main riff is a two-headed beast that does battle with itself in a vicious call-and-response. "Behold Judas" follows with an unrelenting, warp-speed hailstorm. The intensity set by the first two tracks does not waver, yet strange and unexpected sounds lie lurking throughout "I, Monarch". The haunting drones of a didjeridoo creep up out of the murk in "To Know Our Enemies"; various Tibetan human-bone instruments, originally recorded by Austrian visionary Zero Kama, find their way onto the title track; a tribal tabla beat adds texture to "Sons Of Darkness".

Rutan, Roddy, and Piro -- three of the most technically proficient metal musicians in the world -- have succeeded in creating an album that is musically astonishing on every level. Possessing both the technical prowess and the open-mindedness that it takes to make unique musical choices, Hate Eternal have created an album that transcends boundaries -- an album that truly lives up to that overused term, extreme.

To challenge the perceived limitations and forge new boundaries is a goal aimed at by many yet reached by a select few. Guitarist Erik Rutan has created an impressive career by attaining that goal consistently for well over a decade -- from his legendary work in Ripping Corpse to his long-running role in Morbid Angel. In 1999, Earache/Wicked World proudly presented Rutan's new assemblage of Death Metal unstoppability: Hate Eternal. Hate Eternal was born from Rutan's ongoing quest to push the envelope of uncompromising extreme metal. Having spent the majority of his career solely as a guitarist and songwriter, he felt the need to step up to the mic with his brutal vocals and mobilize an outfit that would truly represent his own ideas. The goal was to create a massive force of devastating extreme metal with musicianship that was untouchable.

With undeniable aggression, premier musicianship and Erik's vicious lyrical firestorm, Hate Eternal's debut 'Conquering the Throne' was the high-water mark for extreme metal in 1999. Musically, the album is an all-out precision assault, an album of sheer extreme metal mastery, a supreme force to be reckoned with forevermore.

Following the release of 'Conquering the Throne', Rutan divided his time between three bands and his new career as producer in his own studio, Mana Studios, in Tampa, Florida (where Rutan has recorded such bands as Soilent Green, Premonitions Of War, and Into The Moat). Yet despite his busy schedule, Hate Eternal remained a top priority for Rutan. With Hate Eternal, Rutan was able to fully spread his wings as a songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, and producer. In support of 'Conquering', Rutan hit the road with Hate Eternal with such bands as Mayhem and Nile.

In September 2002, Hate Eternal unleashed its breakthrough album, "King Of All Kings". "King Of All Kings" launched Hate Eternal to new heights of popularity. The band's first-ever video, "Powers That Be", aired on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball and Fuse's Uranium, and the band made live appearances on both shows. Features appeared in such mags as Tokion, Thrasher, Revolver, Modern Drummer, and Metal Maniacs, and Hate Eternal hit the road with such bands as Hatebreed, Deicide, Arch Enemy, Cannibal Corpse, and Dying Fetus. Drummer Derek Roddy was even called upon to perform at Matthew Barney's live musical interpretation of his Cremaster Cycle, at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Far from a solo project, Hate Eternal is a band whose three members are each crucial and indispensible. After a few personnel changes, Hate Eternal is now set with its strongest line-up ever, a triad of utter extreme metal mastery: Rutan, Roddy, and bassist Randy Piro.

In fall 2004, Hate Eternal entered Rutan's Mana Studios to work on its third album, "I, Monarch", which will see a June 2005 release on Earache Records.