The Gates

In 2001, Hate Forest embarked on an experiment that would divide fans of the band to this day. That year, they released a demo called "The Gates", which was a mix of dark ambient and black metal. This unusual release was mixed upon release, and to this day, there's still a lot detractors for this demo because of said style. But in my eyes, I don't really see this as a bad thing.

What do I mean by this? Well, let's check out the first track "Where the Flame Is Eternal". The album begins with a door creaking before it transitions to a flame blazing around as chilling winds play in the background. And that's it. No, seriously, the entire 19 minutes of this track consists of nothing but fire and wind. And at first, you can kind of see why many would find this problematic. But really take a good look at the scenery it presents. The flame sounds very angry, and the winds provide no comfort in this blazing noise. It truly does feel like you're in a cold mountain, and the hateful fire is really the only thing keeping you alive. It sounds painful because it wants to be painful, and considering the dark and bleak themes of Hate Forest, I'd say it's in line of their style.

In contrast, the next track "In Cold Empty Darkness" mostly consists of black metal. This particular track is very raw, as the guitars sound aggressive and extreme, and the drumming fast and chaotic. It's more into the earlier style of their music, especially in the vain of Scythia, and it's great. And while there aren’t any vocals of sort, I can see Roman's harsh growls fitting in this desolate atmosphere. Eventually, the riffs fade out, and the last five minutes consist of nothing but a heartbeat, once again testing the patience of the listener. However, it does get a bit slower as it goes on, and does emulate a feeling of dying, which connects back to the first track, where it seems like the fire has died out, and the people eventually succumb to the bitter frost.

If you're just getting started on Hate Forest, don't listen to this demo yet. If you have a very short time-span and don't like experimental ambient, stay away from this demo. It is a demo that is very unusual in its structure and is clearly not for everyone. However, for me personally, I found the whole experience enjoyable, and if you have a knack for some experimental dark ambient and raw black metal, then I'd recommend checking it out.

There is a part of me that likes this release, many of the aspects that cause many people to dislike it don't bother me personally. What I mean is that I don't dislike the idea of a 19 minute ambient track if it works well.

Although here lies part of the problem, I honestly believe that the concept of this release is fine but not the execution. As I said, I don't mind the fact that the track "Where the Flame Is Eternal" is extended to 19 minutes if it serves to transmit something later in the music, but this is not exploited. Hate Forest sets the mood right, you hear an old door open, the wind begins to howl loudly and the fire crackles trying not to die out, all the while watching the image of a valley where a gigantic figure stands upright on the horizon over a blanket of deep fog. The force that this set of images and sounds radiates is totally powerful, it evokes a desolate, cold and unknown place, where the warmth of the weak fire is the only thing that can help us not to fall into madness, the atmosphere is very strong, I don't care how long it goes on, every minute that passes the tension rises, because one can only think what will happen when the wind stops blowing and the fire is definitely extinguished.

And what happens is... Nothing. It seems that Roman Saenko has forgotten how narrative works, of course the narrative is an important aspect of music, if you want to make the listener feel something with your music, you have to provide your work with elements that make sense, what are the intros, outros or leitmotifs for? They are ways of making your music fit together in a more organic way and with this work all coherence is totally coincidental.

When I say that after the track "Where the Flame Is Eternal" there is nothing, I don't mean it literally, in fact if the recording ended there it might even be better, what I mean is that there is nothing to continue all the ambience and atmosphere that has been created for 19 minutes, instead we have a sequence of guitars accompanied by drums with the same cadence for nine minutes to end with five minutes surrounded by the only sound of a beating heart.

I understand that in this release there is a great desire for abstraction, mysticism and even "l'art pour l'art" and a large part of my positive assessment comes from that because in certain moments it works but always ironically "staying at the gates" of doing something really good with all the ingredients that this release has.

Some of Hate Forest's best material was on their b-sides and demos. However, none of that was on this demo, The Gates. As a matter of fact, this is easily the dumbest thing Roman Saenko ever conceived.

All the black metal material is kept present on "In Cold Empty Darkness" and not even the whole duration of it. It does spend nine minutes bouncing between two fuzzy sounding riffs with one having a keyboard track to go along, all over a really robotic drum machine; but these riffs aren't catchy and they go nowhere. After nine minutes it fades. Its place is taken over not by ambiance, but by a fucking tapping noise over what's otherwise silence. I can't understand why Roman + Roman thought this was a good idea because it's just a complete time waste.

Speaking of wasting time, "In Cold Empty Darkness" is actually less than half of this demo. The first half is "Where the Flame Is Eternal". This is 19 and a half minutes of not black metal, not ambiance, but of just a recording of wind blowing and the sound of a fire burning. And it's here where again where I wonder why this is a thing. Surely there's recordings of this you can look up on Youtube if you needed some fitting background noise for when you're planning your ideas for sculptures for Burning Man. Even if this is supposed to be some sort of artistic representation of the hardships the Ukrainians endured through the past century, it doesn't make this any more interesting to listen to. No one with sense is going to sit through almost 20 minutes of this and call it art.

So this demo is basically pointless. Just go outside and get some fresh air instead.

Two tracks. Over half an hour. Nothing happens. At all. Holy fucking goddamn shit, this is terrible. Whatever possessed Hate Forest to release something this terrible to the masses is beyond me. What a cruel world this is. I haven't heard anything this bad since "Temple Forest," the worst ambient music ever created, also by Hate Forest.

Believe me, I am all about experimental music, I can't get enough, really. This is a prime example of what happens when experiments go awry. Is Hate Forest taking heroin? Up until now, only the power of the mighty H has been known to produce such terrible experimental music.

All kidding aside, I honestly find it hard to believe that anyone could enjoy this.

The first track consists of just under twenty minutes of fire and wind sound effects. I'll repeat myself: TWENTY FUCKING MINUTES OF FIRE AND WIND SOUND EFFECTS. If I wanted to hear the sound of a fire crackling, I'd go start a fire in my backyard. In fact, to anyone considering purchasing or downloading this, just go sit around a fire somewhere. You can drink beer, your friends (assuming you have them) will probably want to come, and being outside is what you're all about, right? Black metal? Forests? The night sky? Yeah, you're all about it.

The second track starts out considerably better. It contains a pretty alright riff, played probably, literally, about a hundred and fifty times. The drums change a little here and there, and the keyboard eventually comes in... this moment is responsible for bringing this record from three or four percent to twenty. Just when things are starting to look promising, they que the heartbeat. The music fades down, and a heartbeat sound effect plays for the remaing five minutes. Wow, what an interesting idea, ending a record with a heart beating. I've only heard that about a dozen times, including when the fucking Deftones did it. Once you've started sharing played out ideas with the Deftones, it's time to start re-examining your life. Also, it's just a really uninspired way to end a supposedly challenging release.

All in all, I feel cheated out of half an hour that could have easily been better spent by, say, eating my own pubic hair. It's a good thing Hate Forest put out a bunch of amazing shit, otherwise I would probably actually hold a grudge against them. I'm all for new ideas and challenging people's concept of what is music, but this is unlistenable and unforgivable. Go get anything else by Hate Forest. If you want to hear them play weird shit that is not black metal, get Ritual.

Never listen to this record, and your life will be richer for it.

This is much different than most other Hate Forest releases. Instead of a blistering, hateful, black metal assault, you get over thirty minutes of pure atmosphere. I think that stuff like this is interesting to listen to once in a while, but it won't find its way into the rotation often.

The first track, "Where the Flame is Eternal" lives up to its name. After the sound of a rickety wooden gate swinging open, harsh winds whip and a roaring fire crackles for nearly twenty minutes. The "song" exudes an aura of complete desolation. The second track, "In Cold Empty Darkness" has about eight minutes of repetitive riffing with keyboards occasionally fading in and out. When the guitars fade away, the sound of a beating heart will fill your ears for about five minutes. As you can see from this, this is not a tape for people who are easily bored.

I'd say that "The Gates" is a great release for people who want to imagine they're off in the nothernmost wilderness alone. It can almost only be listened to by yourself in complete darkness and silence. So basically, if you're the type of person who wants straightforward black metal destruction with limited filler, steer clear of this one.

I give this a 90 rating because it is excellent for what it is meant to be: a completely melancholy tape, full of brooding darkness, hatred, and feelings of utter despair.