Embark On A Sonic Odyssey With Awaken The Ancients
Ottawa, ON’s Hatred Reigns unveiled their concept album, Awaken The Ancients on December 1st, 2023.
This captivating offering delivers more than your standard technical death metal fare as it bridges the journey from 2018’s Realm I: Affliction to the perilous and unrevealed Realm II: Affirmation. The band comments:
“”Awaken The Ancients” stands as a testament to years of unwavering dedication and unyielding determination. The album’s thematic inspiration derives from an eclectic mix of films, literature, and the visceral experience of facing a spectacular demise. Divided into two realms, “Affliction” and “Affirmation,” the album offers a profound navigation of the protagonist’s perspectives and trials as they embark on their voyage to Necropia.”
Hatred Reigns combines Jeff Calder’s face-melting riffs and licks with Mitchi Dimitriadis’s enigmatic vocals (who also recorded, mixed, and mastered the album), complemented by Neil Grandy’s grinds and gravity blasts, all anchored by Adam Semler’s thunderous low-end. The band’s untamed raw energy during live performances adds an extra layer of intensity to their already formidable sound.
Defined by their chaotic, aggressive, unpredictable, enigmatic, and orchestral approach to music, Hatred Reigns unleashes an infernal symphony of brutality and precision. Their music is a testament to the raw power and intricate craftsmanship that defines death metal. Each member brings a barrage of styles and influences that contribute to the unique twist that is Hatred Reigns.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
To the Hatred,
I am Jeff, the guitarist and founding member of Hatred Reigns in the Summer of 2015.
Hatred Reigns hails from Canada’s Capital Region of Ottawa, Ontario. The city benefits from being close to Montreal, QC, and Toronto, ON which have a history of producing top-quality bands. Montreal of course is hailed as producing incredibly talented Technical Death Metal cities.
Ottawa has its own scene that has super-talented musicians. Some of the top metal bands have garnered musicians from Ottawa: Annihilator, First Fragment, Soen, and Suffocation to name a few.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
Our current lineup is a 4 piece, whereby each member contributed to our self-recorded 8-song concept LP entitled Awaken the Ancients, available December 1, 2023. The album was Mixed and Mastered by Mitchi at Dark Moon Productions studio.
Realm I: Affliction
The protagonist is fed up with the anguish of the leaders of this world and takes their life. Their journey continues with them falling into an abyss of darkness. At one point, they go inwards and explore their mental state as they question their current circumstances in the ethereal realm.
Realm II: Affirmation
Alerted to the awareness of a new environment, the protagonist is forced to determine the course of their fate and embark on a treacherous journey towards a distant land. Throughout the course of their journey, they are challenged by demons above and lurking souls below that thwart their voyage in hopes of entraping them or discouraging them from continuing towards Necropia.
Hatred Reigns are:
Vocals = Mitchi Dimitriadis (Harvested, MIM, Insyte, Thalassophobia, ex-Misshapen)
Guitars = Jeff Calder (ex-Dichotic, ex-Deformatory)
Bass = Adam Semler (A Scar For The Wicked, Harvested, Misshapen)
Drums = Neil Grandy (ex-Dichotic, Deformatory)
Hatred Reigns doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, instead, we blend our favorite old with new extreme metal influences into the songs you hear on Awaken The Ancients album.
There are definitely homages and threads of extreme technical bands such as Cryptopsy, Suffocation, and tastes of Archspire or Origin mixed with even degrees of Pantera, Carcass, Behemoth, and anything else we decided to throw into the blender and see what made the cut. This is how we approach writing songs.
Kirk Hammett once said “To imitate is to create” but add your own style and flavor to it, don’t flat-out steal or mimic the bands. There are plenty of songs that I would try and learn and those riffs would inspire me to come up with a different variation than the starting point. Then add in the other instruments and the riff sounds nothing like the original riff idea. Which is fantastic as it gives our own style of how we compose Hatred Reigns music.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
We opened for Kataklysm on November 10, 2023, here in Ottawa which was a banger night sharing the stage with A Scar For the Wicked and Echoes From Beyond.
Other shows are currently in discussion but not yet announced.
When opportunities present to perform in other cities around the world, we will definitely be open to such possibilities. To perform outside of North America would be incredible to bring our music to the masses, especially to New Zealand and Australia.
If given the chance, which Canadian artist would you love to work with in the future
Cryptopsy is a major influence for Hatred Reigns but also would love to share the stage with Beneath The Massacre, Martyr, Despised Icon, and Beyond Creation.
What’s your goal for 2024?
We wish to bring our music to as many places as possible. If we can coordinate to tour outside of Canada would be an incredible opportunity. In the meantime, work on writing our sophomore album is in full force, though our current focus is on the forthcoming release of Awaken the Ancients with the official release date of December 1, 2023.
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Reign On!