A Decade of Hate

Sure enough, this compilation suffers from the same problem as all compilations are always bound do; trying to bite off more than it can chew. This is especially true in the case of black metal, or any other atmospheric kind of music. While I get the impression that most Abyssic Hate albums are rather well thought out in their composition and the sequence of the songs, all contributing to a masterfully dark atmosphere. On this album, however, that is all lost. The production seems to be a bit askew at places, as none of the albums have the exact same production, and as such, places where the albums with significantly different production from each other (as significant as it gets concerning AH), you can't shake the feeling of things not fitting properly together.

Now that is all I can point out being the major drawback. Since it is a best of-compilation, it's certainly bound to include the strongest materian the band has put out, and there is some extremely good moments on this album. The music follows the concept of less being more, which is absolutely true when it comes to creating a hypnotic and dark feeling (though the hypnotic feel is somewhat abruptly cancelled with above stated problem is lacking consistency in production), as everyone who has listened to Transilvanian Hunger, if I may be so cliché as to draw that comparison, will attest to. The riffing is simplistic, the drumming is very much the same old stuff you've heard a million times before, alternating blast beats with double bass, with some regular 4/4 and 12/8 beats for good measure.

Now whatever the music lacks in technicality and structural depth, the atmosphere makes up for it, and had it not been for the fact that the atmosphere is indeed so broken in some places where songs from the different original recordings overlap, this album would've gotten about another 10 per cent on the rating.