10 years ago, when Teufel’s Tomb was still in it’s early stages, I got a friend I knew through various chat rooms, Leif, to write reviews for the site. He hated everything and didn’t hesitate to tell everyone how much they sucked and how black metal bands like Dimmu Borgir, Immortal and Marduk were complete shit, but the one band he always told me about and constantly hyped were Australia’s Abyssic Hate. Needing to find out what the hype was all about, I downloaded demo tracks from a few early releases before finally picking up a copy of 2000’s Suicidal Emotions and was impressed, but the earlier material was very rare and hard to find. Thankfully No Colours Records have re-issued the "Cleansing Of An Ancient Race" demo, in it’s pure raw form, a remastered version of the "Eternal Damnation" mCD and the original version of "Betrayed" all on one CD entitled "A Decade Of Hate".

For those of you who don’t know much about Abyssic Hate, it’s a one-man project of former Blood Duster (Yeest) and Destroyer 666 drummer Shane Rout. The music he wrote is raw, primitive black metal, with typical early 90s "true black metal", meaning the production is shit, with heaps of blasting and guitars that sound like a box of angry bees being shaken in front of a microphone, and the material contained on A Decade Of Hate is no different.

To be honest, I’ve never been into black metal much, as all of the bands wearing silly make-up, spikes and leather just screamed "HOMO!" to me, and the never ending stream of bands with the same shit production, same riffs, same drumming patterns and same shrieks just did nothing for me, but for whatever strange reason when I heard Abyssic Hate for the first time I was instantly hooked, despite the music being rawer than a porn starlet’s gaping anus after a lube-less double anal pounding.

While I was once of the mindset that all raw black metal sounds alike, Abyssic Hate proved that theory wrong. Though Rout is highly influenced by early Emperor, Burzum and Darkthrone, he’s able to create material that stands on it’s own, and he proves himself to be a much more capable drummer and guitarist than 95% of musicians who wear make-up and bullet belts. For the record, if you own a bullet belt, but no gun, you are truly an enormous tosser who needs to lay down in front of the treads of an oncoming tank.

What’s truly odd about all 14 tracks contained on this release is how listenable they are, despite the chaotic and raw sound. Tracks like "Cleansing Of An Ancient Race", "Land Of Impenetrable Darkness", "Tarrasque", "Knight Of The Living Dead" and "The Blood War" will leave your head banging with the hate-fueled music, while "Betrayed" will leave your head slowly sweeping to the darkness.

While I hate raw "true" black metal, Abyssic Hate have become the exception to the rule, and the only band of the genre I openly, and highly recommend. If you’re looking for some truly thrashing black metal, be sure to check out A Decade Of Hate, just try not to be a retard and go burning down a church afterwards.

Written By: Teufel