Abyssic Hate is a black metal band from Australia, founded in 1993 and categorized as National Socialist Black Metal because of their ideologies and their collaboration with people from the neo-Nazi spectrum.[1]

Band History edit

Abyssic Hate was founded in 1993 by Shane Rout, who also played for bands such as Deströyer 666, Blood Duster and Hecatomb. Brad Johnson was a guest guitarist on the debut release Cleansing of an Ancient Race in 1994. The first three demo CDs achieved great popularity in the German underground metal scene.[2]

The band was signed to Darker Than Black Records, founded by brothers Hendrik and Ronald Möbus and released the EP Eternal Damnation there. In addition to his own label Southern Cross, Rout ran Darker Than Black after Möbus' escape abroad and announced further releases on the label.[3] This did not come true, however, and a decision was made to stop producing under the label was made.[1][4]

The band is currently signed to No Colours Records, which released their only album: Suicidal Emotions in 2000. Since then, the band has evolved from a Darkthrone-inspired sound to one more inspired by Burzum's Filosofem.[3] In 2006, a compilation was released that summarized their career to date. 2017 saw the release of The Source of Suffering, a reissue of Depression and Life Is a Pain in the Neck.

A split release with NSBM band Absurd, the Möbus brothers' band, was announced for 2018.[citation needed]

Lyrics and Ideology edit

The songs Abyssic Hate writes deal with themes such as depression, suicide, and misanthropy, which is why the group is commonly called "depressive" black metal.

However, both the band's publications and Rout's statements on their online presence showed an aesthetic and ideological proximity to neo-Nazism right from the start: the cover of the demo Cleansing of an Ancient Race shows a drawing based on the Reichsadler, in which the swastika has been replaced by a Drude's foot,[5] and a similar image was also used as the cover for their best-of compilation A Decade of Hate, released in 2006.[6]

On the EP Eternal Damnation, released in 1998, there is a cover of the song Der Sieg ist unser from the album Facta Loquuntur by Absurd, translated into English; this also appeared on the compilation Tribute to Absurd by Silencelike Death Productions.

Rout's band page and The Dark Blaze/Into the Pentagram announced his planned participation in the 2003 NSBM compilation The Night and the Fog II - Hammer of National Socialist Black Metal by the right-wing extremist Pagan Front, to which the band belonged[7][8] and to whom Rout's label Southern Cross was affiliated.[3] In 2003, Rout announced on his website that he wanted to cover a song by the banned German right-wing rock band Landser on a planned EP [citation needed].

After Hendrik Möbus' re-imprisonment in 2007, Rout founded a campaign for his release, as he says he owes his musical career to Möbus.[1]

Discography edit

Demos edit

  • Cleansing of an Ancient Race (1994, Demo)
  • Depression (1995, Demo)
  • Life Is a Pain in the Neck (1996, Demo)
  • Betrayed (1999, Demo)

Album edit

  • Suicidal Emotions (2000, Re-released 2004)

EPs edit

  • Eternal Damnation (1998, EP)

Split Releases edit

  • United by Heathen Blood (1997, Split with Det Hedenske Folk)
  • Welcome to the Anarchy (2022, Split with Absurd; Darker Than Black Records)

Compilations edit

  • A Decade of Hate (2006, Best-of)
  • The Source of Suffering (2017, New edition of Depression and Life Is a Pain in the Neck, limited to 666 hand-numbered copies)

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Dornbusch, Christian; Killguss, Hans P. (2005). Unheilige Allianzen. Black Metal zwischen Satanismus, Heidentum und Neonazismus [Unholy Alliances. Black metal between Satanism, Paganism and Neo-Nazism] (in German). Unrast. ISBN 978-3897718173.
  2. ^ McIver, Joel (2010). Extreme Metal II. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-224-7.
  3. ^ a b c Abyssic Hate. In: Capricornus, Syrragh: Dark Blaze/Into the Pentagram, 2001.
  4. ^ Moreno Atienza, Emilio J. "Abyssic Hate". Abyssic Hate.
  5. ^ "Illustration of the cover of Cleansing of an Ancient Race". Metal Archives.
  6. ^ "Illustration of the cover of A Decade of Hate". Metal Archives.
  7. ^ "Interview with Pantheon from the Resistance Magazine on the Pagan Front website". The Pagan Front Homepage. 2001. Archived from the original on 2008-11-19. Retrieved November 19, 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "Abyssic Hate - Interview with Shane". Mourning the Ancient.