I got quite impressed when I heard Hate for the first time in 2003, when their album "Awakening Of The Liar" was released upon mankind. Great and brutal death metal that was very gripping. A couple of years have passed by and the Polish force is now ready with their new opus "Anaclasis - A Haunting Gospel Of Malice And Hatred", yet a striking and very good album, this time displaying cold electronic elements on top of the blazing death metal. I hooked up with band's founder, guitarist and vocalist Adam The First Sinner who told me a lot about the ideas behind the new album, Hate in general and the future of the band, which might bring a sequel to "Anaclasis".

Hails, how are things in Poland as we speak?

Everything's alright. Thanks.

Will you please start off by telling us what there is to know about you and how you ended up delivering brutal death metal?

I started Hate in 1990 as a teenager. Since then we've released three albums outside Poland: "Holy Dead Trinity"(World War III 2000), "Cain's Way" (World War III, 2001), "Awakening Of The Liar" (Listenable, 2003) and the DVD "The Litanies Of Satan" (Metal Mind Productions, 2004). As you know our new record called "Anaclasis - A Haunting Gospel Of Malice And Hatred" has just been released worldwide on Listenable Records. That's the whole story in brief. If you ask about my motivation to play extreme metal I can tell you I find it the best reservoir to express my sick emotions.

You have been doing Hate since 1990, impressive 15 years, what have kept you going all these years?

We evolve with every album and always try to do better than last time. It was always like this and I just cannot see the end of this process. It's something like 'karma". You just have to do it all the time again and again. It is as if someone was telling you to do it day and night. You just cannot stop. I hope our next material will be another step ahead…

You are right now ready with your new album "Anaclasis – A Haunting Gospel Of Malice And Hatred", how do you feel about the album?

I must say we're quite satisfied with the results we got after over a month at Hertz Studio, where most of the tracks were laid. Earlier we worked on a synthetic backgrounds and samples at Hard Studio, Warsaw, with Kris Wawrzak as a co-producer. We wanted the new album to be quite an innovative stuff comparing to all the death metal shit around. We added some new elements to the music as well as change the sound quite a bit. This time we offer something more progressive, evil and dirty than anything we did before. We don't resign from characteristic choruses because they make music closer to a listener, but we don't want to play death metal in the same classical way any more. We want to push it further to the limits of extremity and give it some new sounds. "Anaclasis" is our first attempt to achieve this. I hope people in your country will find it killing too.

What do you expect from it?

I expect to take another step towards wider recognition, and I can tell you I see the signs of it.

What are the ideas behind the album title "Anaclasis – A Haunting Gospel Of Malice And Hatred" and what do you want to tell people with it?

Anaclasis is a reflection or refraction of light. It's a scientific term from physics. Refraction of light creates a space in which some people (medias) can see astral bodies. I used this word in the context of communication with a spiritual world - the world of daemons which I believe is parallel to ours and influences our reality in some way. The subtitle - A haunting gospel of malice and hatred - means that it's a story told by daemons about their spiritual suffering, "a daemons martyrology" of sorts. You can also see this idea reflected in the music; except my vocals you can hear there some female voices in the background that sound as if they were from beyond.

How closely is the title tied to the lyrical concept of the album?

I think it's the exact description of the album content.

Which themes do the lyrics touch and where do you find inspiration for them?

This time I didn't draw my inspiration from any written materials. It was more my own emotions that really played a role. All the lyrics were written quite spontaneously in the studio between the recording sessions. Working on them I acted like a relay between this real world and the world beyond and I believe I was receiving some emotions and pain that was not mine but coming from other people or souls. A metaphysical/mystical experience of sorts. To me it's strange because I never wrote lyrics in this way before.

Do you have a message in the lyrics you would like to get out the listeners of your music?

Well, yes. If you look at what we've done for those years you'll see we've been conveying some clear messages. First and the most basic is that Hate means rebellion of many kinds and on many levels. It epitomizes individuality and freedom but, at the same time, the will to destroy all captivating systems that surround us. Religion is an example of such system and probably the worst one because it produces mental slaves. So the second message is "reject religion!". Today religion is about mind-control and making money. Sometimes it's also about killing those who believe in other shit than you do. Religion is a poison and Christianity is a good example here. It has been, over the centuries, the most lethal, intolerant and ignorant religious system on earth. Christians have destroyed and murdered the best minds of the past epochs, restraining the progress of the whole civilization quite much. They think they're smarter. They think they know the truth. But in fact, everyone who says that they know the truth about god and afterlife are trying to make business of you and control your way of thinking. So we say: reject religions, fuck Christianity with its inhuman restrictions and dogmas. This is what you can read (not necessarily between the lines) when you want to understand Hate. There are also many other messages in our music… some of them as dirty and sick as hell. They're all there for you to discover.

When you write your lyrics, or for that matter your music, do you have to be in a certain mood, or does it just flow in bloodred streams all the time?

It's a rather emotional thing, so I have to be in a specific mood. I sometimes try to write something and I find it very difficult… But when I'm listening to a recorded Hate song… I go deep into some trance and write a whole text within minutes. What is strange I don't ever have to change it afterwards. That's how it was when working on "Anaclasis".

Your music seems pretty emotional, how much of you are in the music and the lyrical expression?

I am quite deep into it.

Where do you find inspiration for your music?

Well, I read a lot, watch lots of movies, listen to a big range of bands/artists and that's where I draw most of my inspirations from. However, much of it comes from inside of me too. As for the music, recently I have played the new Fields Of The Nephilim album "The Mourning Sun" non-stop… also stuff like Dead Can Dance, Diamanda Galas, Nine Inch Nails, Y Front etc gets a lot of spins. I also listen to a lot of metal...from AC/DC to Krisiun and Nile. When I was a teenager the band which really inspired me to play metal was AC/DC and later W.A.S.P., Slayer, Death, Terrorizer, Suffocation etc. Now I probably draw inspiration from non-metal bands rather, but when I work on new Hate tracks, all that aggressive, brutal, ferocious music is always present in my head.

You have the latter years started to incorporate electronic elements into the blazing death metal you are known for delivering, where and how did you get the initial idea to get starting on the electronic elements?

Well, you see… progress is always the most important thing to me. There are too many bands nowadays copying one another and I must say I was just fed up with it. I wanted the new Hate album to sound in a different way compared to most of death metal shit on the market now. Extreme music needs fresh ideas, sounds, ways of expression, and that's what we bore in mind all the time when working on "Anaclasis". This album is an attempt to play extreme in a fresh way without giving up the extremity. Some time ago we were the first metal band in our country to use a sequencer in live shows - a device that enable you to play the background sounds/samples on stage in a real time. It means that the audience can hear not only the guitars, bass, drums and vocals but also all the industrial backgrounds - exactly as on the album. Using a sequencer on stage is very demanding from the musician; you must always keep to the tempo… otherwise you can get a complete chaos. We've been playing with a sequencer for over a year now and I must say it gives our music some new dimensions. When composing "Anaclasis", we decided to use more synthetic sounds which gave the new songs some dirty, industrial climate which is not usual among traditional death metal bands. However, it's still the guitar riffs and vocal lines that play the main role in our music.

What does it in your opinion bring the music?

It brings some freshness and power that other death metal bands lack...

Can you mention some bands and some songs that have meant a lot to you, your way of thinking music and for the sound of Hate?

Deicide (early albums), Slayer, Immortal, Satyricon, Thorns, Nine Inch Nails, Fear Factory, Dead Can Dance, AC/DC. Concerning songs... 'Postmortem' by Slayer, 'Highway To Hell' by AC/DC, 'In The Wake Of Adversity' by Dead Can Dance, 'Replica' by Fear Factory. These are only examples. I might as well have listed another bunch of songs instead.

What do you want to tell with the cover artwork and what does it symbolize for you?

As for the cover, it was done by Graal - our long time graphic designer - in accordance to my ideas. I wanted the artwork to correspond with the music as much as possible. It's sick, haunted and extreme and so is the music. Making the cover cost us quite a lot of work: We photographed a pregnant model lying on the floor on the plan of a cross in various positions. We took over 300 photos of her! We wanted the cover to be as realistic as possible therefore we needed very good pictures to get this effect. I think it's the best artwork we've had so far. Moreover, it conveys the climate of the music really well.

You have now been a part of the underground for 15 years, without getting the recognition you deserve, do you think you will receive it now, when thinking of the new album and the impact it’ll have?

I can tell you we've never been so "snowed under" with interviews… and the album has had really good reviews even from the British press that didn't like us much in the past. That means something, doesn't it? I hope we'll have an opportunity to present our music to wider audience soon.

How do you look upon the future of Hate?

There's a European tour in our plans for 2006. It' has just been confirmed by a concert agency Metallysee that we'll be supporting Krisiun and Marduk on their European tour in February/March. There'll be at least 30 gigs across Europe, but I don't know further details as yet. We've also been invited to some summer festivals in Germany, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. Next year we'd like to enter the studio to record next album. Probably a kind of continuation of "Anaclasis".

Will you share your 5 all time favourite albums with the readers of Nocturnal Horde?

It's too hard to list 5 best albums only… there are too many great albums, so confine them to 5 only would be impossible. I'd rather give you my current playlist:

Dead Can Dance - Spleen & Ideal
Fields Of The Nephilim - Mourning Sun
Krisiun - Works Of Carnage
Nile - Annihilation Of The Wicked
AC/DC - Ballbreaker

Thank you very much for making killer metal and for taking the time to answer my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!

Thanks for this interview. I'd like to say hello to all those who support Hate in your country. We're looking forward to see you as soon as possible. For the time being, you may visit our official website! Praise your daemons!