ATF Sinner: Vocals / Guitar
Domin: Guitar
Tiermes: Bass
Nar-Sil: Drums
With a dozen ferocious and lauded albums since 1996′s Daemon Qui Fecit Terram, Hate‘s lucky thirteenth album, Bellum Regiis, sees the unrelenting Polish quartet forging a bolder and more aggressive style than ever. Bellum Regiis‘ nine songs see vocalist/guitarist ATF Sinner, guitarist Domin, drummer Nar-Sil, and bassist Tiermes honing a modern sound rife with eerie atmosphere and depth. Produced by David Castillo (Candlemass, Carcass, Dark Tranquility, Katatonia) at Stockholm’s Grondahl Studio, Bellum Regiis is lyrically a more “humanity focused and personal” album than Rugia. Bellum Regiis‘ songs, explains founder Sinner, are a timely aural and visual exploration of “a struggle for power and everything that comes with it.”
Hate, who formed in Warsaw in 1990, have been hailed as a “hallmark of consistency,” and praised as a “sleek and tight death metal monster.” Since 2017′s Tremendum, Hate has focused on nature and its mysteries as a main source of inspiration. As Sinner explains, “Whether that’s the nature within us, around us or that we see from afar, the perspectives gained and how they relate to different overarching themes have driven each album.” For instance, 2019′s Auric Gates of Veles focused on death, the Slavic perception of death in particular. Six years later, Bellum Regiis finds Hate delving into “humanity and why are we, as creatures, so deeply motivated by concepts like power, wealth, glory and faith. The main theme is a struggle for power and everything that comes with it.”
Hence the album title Bellum Regiis, which translates to “A War of Royalty” or “A War of Kings.” Sinner looks at the hard questions surrounding power-does its attainment make us aberrant or are we aberrant to begin with? The title track encompasses the LP’s leitmotif. “As a song, ‘Bellum Regiis’ has both a deep melancholy and a sense of grandeur,” says Sinner. “The vocals laid down by Eliza Sacharczuk (a renowned singer and voice teacher who runs a holistic arts center in Bialystok) give the song a strong sense of time. Whether that’s nostalgia, reminiscence, regret, or preparation for the future is in the eye of the beholder. These wars, these struggles, have been ongoing since the dawn of our existence,” the frontman notes. “Whether they are futile or not, they are scars on our very nature.”
While Hate used “Bellum Regiis” as a guiding phrase since an early point in the songwriting, the first song worked up was “Alfa Inferi Goddess of War.” The last written was “Ageless Harp of Devilry,” which both sums up what the album is about but also sheds new light on some of the record’s strongest themes. “It’s the track that most reminds me of our 2010 record Erebos. It’s like a perfect combination of ‘mechanical’ riffs and atmospheric black metal tunes.” In the compositions, Hate also drew inspiration from Ancient Greek literature in general, and the Iliad in particular.
Sinner’s philosophical side prospered during long conversations and musings in walks around Warsaw with his friend Benek Babalon, who drew the frontman’s attention to the tale of Iphigenia. In fact, Bellum Regiis‘ first single is “Iphigenia” who, in Greek mythology, was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. Music was written first, and Sinner found her story connected beautifully with it. “It’s about sacrificing your life for a greater cause. The example of Iphigenia is striking because she is given a choice to save her own life, yet she decides to be put to death, and in this way help support the Greek side in the Trojan War.“
Sinner’s initial concept for the cover art was fantastically executed by Daniel Rusiłowicz. The strong and profound visual piece of art portrays a king who has clearly endured hardship and struggles. “He’s like someone standing in front of a precipice, on the brink of collapse,” Sinner says. “He’s lost everything except the crown – the only visible mark of his former greatness. Yet, he still holds some dignity, some spark of that ‘Stirps Regia’ – the law that comes from his ancestry. He holds onto it against all odds.”
Fans may notice some commonality between Erebos and Bellum Regiis in the character of the compositions and overall sound, with Bellum Regiis being richer in style and with more black-metal elements to it. “Between female vocals, orchestration, samples, acoustic guitars, there are a lot of moving pieces that help set this album apart,” says Sinner about Hate‘s latest. “My vocals have also changed quite a bit over the years. They’re more nuanced and wider-ranging, able to portray emotions and meanings in a more powerful way.“
“The Vanguard” is one of the most epic tracks on the album and also the fastest. “It was quite a challenge to record the drums, but Nar-Sil did a great job. The song has a bellicose character and follows the literal definition of ‘vanguard,’ meaning a frontmost part of an advancing army,” Sinner explains, “mercilessly destroying the land of an enemy. Lyrically, I use the Scythian conquests as an example of a brutal, ferocious invasion force, but it’s a ritual of pretty much every war we observe today as well.”
Helping Hate to achieve their aggressive but humananistic sonic goals were, in addition to Sacharczuk (“the album could not have sounded the same without her“), composer Michał Staczkun. The longtime collaborator, who has worked with the band on every Hate album since Erebos, contributes sound design across various tracks. Producer David Castillo harnesses Hate‘s pure metal power on Bellum Regiis, hitting hard without sacrificing equally powerful traces of the song’s humanity. “It’s not an easy tightrope to walk,” notes Sinner, “but David achieved it beautifully. It was a real pleasure working with him on this record.”
More than three decades into a stellar career, Bellum Regiis finds Sinner as profound and poetic than ever, if not more so. To wit, “A Ghost of Lost Delight,” a song possessed of a strange melancholy and meditation. Delving into the cycles of life and death, Hate ultimatley offer a powerful and positive entreaty for hope in dark times, as pertinent in 2025 as in eons past. As Sinner sings: “In darkness we crawl toward the starlight / In a race against the flow / We saved our world from oblivion / Ghosts of lost delight… now live!”
