Hate
The Litanies of Satan DVD

February 2005
Released: 2004, Metal Mind
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Waspman

Another in a seemingly endless torrent of DVD releases by Metal Mind, Hate’s THE LITANIES OF SATAN is the latest in a long line of quality product. This long-running Polish death act has seen its fair share of ups and downs, with a lot of positive press coming their way for the albums HOLY DEAD TRINITY and their latest AWAKENING OF THE LIAR. This DVD is their focuses heavily on the latter release, with 8 of 16 songs taken from it, which is a good choice, given that it is their best album.

The show is filmed in what must be Metal Mind’s “house” venue, as it seems almost all bands that put out DVDs through the company are captured at Krezmionki TV Studio. That’s OK though, it’s a good venue, and the sound is always solid on these releases. One major differing factor in favor of Hate though is the overwhelmingly positive crowd. They are active from start to finish, thrashing around and chanting the bands name. This helps to give the show some life in what could have been a very sterile environment (see the Thy Disease DVD for proof of this).

Of course, Hate needs no help in creating an electrifying live show, as their non-stop blasting brand of death metal leaves no time for pauses, let alone boredom. Highlights include a vicious “Immolate the Pope”, “Flagellation” and a ripping cover of Slayer’s immortal “Postmortem”. Throughout, the band is active and mobile, headbanging like the metal maniacs they are. As I said already, the sound is excellent, with all instruments perfectly audible, and a heavy, crushing production. Likewise, the camera work is top-notch, capturing each band member nicely, with the focus naturally on frontman Adam the First Sinner.

A major problem with a lot of Metal Mind DVDs is a dearth of extras, and Hate is sadly no different. There is a brief interview with Adam, which is hardly illuminating. The questions asked are torn straight from Interviewing 101 – dull stuff. There are the expected biography and discography, and photo galleries, along with assorted web links and desktop images. One interesting little feature is the “Funny Bible Quotes” section, which takes a tongue-in-cheek look at some of the more…interesting (and bizarre!) passages of the Bible. Funny stuff.

Overall this is a good package, brought down from greatness by the lack of kick ass extras. The show itself is great though, so all fans of brutal death metal are encouraged to check this out.