Hate Eternal

About

Fronted by Erik Rutan, a guitarist who also spent years in Morbid Angel before leaving to focus full time on his own band, Hate Eternal have been one of death metal's most relentlessly heavy acts since forming in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1997. Rutan has produced every one of their seven studio albums himself, keeping a tight grip on the sound across records like King of All Kings, I, Monarch, and the 2018 release Upon Desolate Sands. Their run on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball, a van breakdown en route to a New York show, and Rutan's hand injury after falling down a flight of stairs mid tour with Deicide all add up to a band that seems to thrive on chaos. The lineup around Rutan has shifted constantly over the years, with notable stints from drummers Derek Roddy and Tim Yeung, while bassist J. J. Hrubovcak has been a steady presence since 2008. Signed to Season of Mist from 2014, the band sharpened their already brutal sound on Infernus and Upon Desolate Sands. Rutan has acknowledged that his work producing for other acts and his role with Cannibal Corpse keeps a new Hate Eternal record on the back burner for now, but the band's catalog remains a benchmark in Florida death metal.