Seriously, this album is pure gold. Very rarely do I come across an album that I believe is so pure, so amazing, and so perfect as The Project Hate’s 2003 outing ‘Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate.’ When I first heard them on their first album ‘Cyber Sonic Super Christ,’ I knew they had something special going, they just hadn’t gotten it yet. After one listen of this 2003 album, I knew that it would be a very hard task to upstage this album. This is Smithsonian material, dammit.

Musically, they have a very unique sound, combining the melodic yet brutal sound of death metal with keyboards, symphonic textures and electronics. They are different vocally, too, with one growl vocal style, one deep scream style, and then they have a female vocalist, who I must say has got to be one of the best in the business. The album opens with “Hate,” starting off with several cellos. Oddly enough, this is the “happiest” sounding song on the album. For a death metal album that is only eight songs, 70 minutes long, they are not repetitive at all, at least not needlessly repetitive. “Congregate” is one of the more varied songs on the album, having several different riffs and melodies, and this is one of the best songs on the album. The only other song that seems to top “Congregate” is “Burn,” the Christian-burning 12+ minute epic that twists and turns, incorporating all the elements of the band that makes them amazing. The album closer, “Weep,” is a great 7-minute, mostly symphonic and electronic, practically ballad, song with only female vocalist Jo Enckell throughout the song. One of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard on a death metal album, and a perfect album closing, one of the best ever.

The musicianship on the album is so tight, you can tell the members are heavily devoted to the music. As far as that goes, I can’t think of another band that I believe is so devoted to making music this amazing. When recording this album, they knew what went well where. Some people say timing is everything in the music business. Well, TPH got it right.

Overall, the album is indescribable. The entire album is pure amazement, from the opening seconds of “Hate” to the fierce and aggressive intro of “Burn” to the piano and electronics ending to “Weep.”

In the end, this is easily the best album of 2003, and some of the best material I’ve heard in a long time. Actually, this is one of the best albums I have ever heard in my life. And I'm not kidding, either. Perfection never sounded so good.

[This review was first published on the now defunct scandinavianmetal.info webzine]