Review by Maciek on February 7, 2018.

It took me a while to sit down and write about this album. My initial reaction to this material was: "Nah, you can hear it's Hate, but...". And only this month I've been encouraged by Tom to give it another go. And it was definitely worth it. I think I understand now what exactly triggered this first feeling of disappointment - it IS Hate, no doubt about it, but it's completely new Hate, so it was not what I actually expected from this album.

So, first of all, I would probably think about changing the clasification of Hate's genre - it's not pure death metal anymore. At least when it comes to guitars and drums, Adam's voice is still deep, earth-shaking, stomach-driven growling. Guitars and drums point to blackened death metal now. Guitars have less of low frequency tones, more chords and quite a lot of riffs remind me of black metal bands like Satyricon or Dark Funeral for example. You might hear some other bands as well, these two were just mentioned to describe where I see the origin of some riffs. And it's brilliant! Works so well, especially with Pavulon's amazing drumming, actually reminding me of Satyricon's Frost, with some rhythmic constructions bringing back the memories of my favourite Satyricon's albums Rebel Extravaganza and Volcano. Knowing this now I can look differently at the whole Tremendum. The album presents quite a lot of black metal riffs, there are a lot of chords, melody lines played on higher notes. That doesn't mean that there is no death metal here but, as I mentioned before, this is blackened death metal now. What is fantastic about this piece is also quite large amount of astonishing solos, it is amazing how after filling it with so many different melody lines Adam has even more ideas how to make all of these compositions complete by adding matching decorations. Each track has quite frequently changing tempo, but everything fits in this whole theme of war and destruction, definitely with large input from Pavulon, whose drumming is definitely up to the challenge to make crushing wall of sound that is supposed to resemble the lyrics about violent end to all life.

The most interesting tracks to me here are: the opening "Asuric Being", with great entry giving the taste of things to come and an end actually depicting the end, second track being "Sea of Rubble", probably the most old-school-black-metal sounding fragment of this album. The last track that I keep on listening to is "Walk Through Fire", probably the most brutal and aggressive composition on the whole album with interesting part of text being growled in Polish. Obviously you can hear some black metal riffing here as well and quite unusual solo.

To sum things up, everything is as Adam announced during his interview with Arek, the old formula didn't work any more and this album is the first chapter of Hate's new style. This chapter is definitely filled with rage, aggression and high-quality, fast-paced rhythms. Somehow you still know that it's Hate, its signature is almost in every sound, but you can hear that it evolved. The only thing that I'm missing is that spacious atmosphere that was present on Anaclasis or Solarflesh, created by those mysterious ambient sounds in the background that you always had to listen to very closely to recognize them and work out their whole melody line. Impressive come back, one could say "tremendous" and I already can't wait for the next opus.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Alex on September 11, 2019.

I don't think Venereal Baptism can do any wrong after hearing the single off their upcoming album Repugnant Coronation of the Beast. Ten tracks of brutally desecrating black metal prowls within the shadows and pounces viciously on anything moving within its reach. Residing right here in new age Babylon, The United States of America, Venereal Baptism have been directing sorceries and ceremonies of all kinds only since 2016 in keeping has the fire lit when sharing the domain kept active by many who appreciate black metal done the brutal way. While others place focus on mysticism and beauty, amidst the murky fields, Venereal Baptism wear the mask of the harsh, menacing and ugly face of black metal which comes as a result of death metal vocals and tons of blast beats being incorporated into the music. Instrumentally structured more within the veins of brutal death metal, Repugnant Coronation of the Beast spreads its paws to strike at the throats of both blasphemous black and brutal death metal enthusiast. 

Nowadays it’s fair to assume if an American band is claiming to play black metal, there is a 90% chance the final product will be in some-ways or more, influenced by death metal. Such is the case on Repugnant Coronation of the Beast; you have ten tracks titled as though they were meant to be on a brutal death metal record; ‘To Castrate Angelic Grace’, ‘Venereal Fucking Whore’, ‘Unfuckable Pacifist Gutterslut’ and ‘Abhorrent Cesspool of Lesser Human Vessels’, all of which demonstrate heavy instrumentation matched with disgusting lyrics and scorning growls for vox. Machine-gun drumming on the snare and double bass, plus a wild showing of riffs to be found scattered flourishing throughout the record; and the production?, as cleanly scented as baby-breath. Repugnant Coronation of the Beast is contaminated with the fluids of death metal from beginning to end; traces of black metal can still be heard on some moments that feature the buzz-saw riffing leads and rapid gun-fire-esque drumming.

Songs don’t overstay their welcome, they’re mostly around the range of 4-5 minutes of pelting fury so getting through this 45-minute session of musical transgression is easy and even calls for a second and third listen. Many bands like to bombard you about how ‘brutal’ and fast they play, but never seem to make any suggestions regarding song structure or flow and variation, thinking the obvious fronts are all that matter. I’ve had the displeasure of seeing this occurrence one too many times, particularly in the brutal death metal genre, hence I avoid most acts attached to it. Thus, it's apparent that bands more conscious about their quality of music venture outside for elements that would serve as welcome addendums to their lyrical philosophy, given no harm is done to the primary identity of the genre. I think Venereal Baptism fall safely within that category of self-awareness, particularly in an era in which sees un-inspiration and blatant copying become the norm. They borrow influences and create music filled with compassion and merit; definitely a ‘labor of love’ or in this case hate.  

Songs here are rooted in adversarial ideologies to the current time, and there's more than enough to appeal to the Christ-hating and desecrating hordes of metal-heads. You'll also be a bit surprised to see the many foul implications made towards those who are under the spell of the foolish societal spectrum, thus advancing the material from the ethereal to the tangible world. Yes, these guys hate them too, and are not intimidated to voice their disdain as heard primarily on 'Unfuckable Pacifist Gutterslut'. Their contempt shows uninterruptedly, and they seem to have brought the solution with them. Fists are clenched and up in war mode, with no rest whatsoever being given to the enemy until eradication. 

Rating: 8 out of 10