HATE ETERNAL Bassist's 'O Come, O Come, Azrael' Christmas Song: Official Lyric Video

Just in time for the holiday season, HATE ETERNAL bass maverick J.J. Hrubovcak vomits forth "Death Metal Christmas - Hellish Renditions Of Christmas Classics", a twistedly unholy rendition of some of the season's darkest hymns.

Composed and produced by J.J. with vocals and artwork, by brother and MONSTROSITY throat Mike Hrubovcak, "Death Metal Christmas - Hellish Renditions Of Christmas Classics" was engineered by HATE ETERNAL mastermind Erik Rutan and J.J., mixed and mastered by Brian Elliott all at Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida and boasts five deformed Christmas classics.

Far from a campy holiday metal record, "Christmas - Hellish Renditions Of Christmas Classics" comes replete with updated arrangements, blast beats, double bass drum battery, hellbound guitar solos and new lyrics with a purpose. A death metal record first and Christmas album second, the themes of the hymns were used as a foundation for the music and can mostly be heard in the right channel. Everything else was built around the theme — solo sections, intros, outros, harmonies, etc. It was important from the start that this album not be a joke, but a serious record that could survive outside of the Christmas season and thus the resulting symphony of sickness.

Since many hymns written ages ago are dark in nature, they were obvious concept choices. The lyrics have been altered to portray a possible future outcome to mankind's current path and focus on Azrael, the angel of death in some Islam, Sikhism and Hebrew lore. The story follows a child (Azrael) born to a wealthy family heavily involved in politics throughout the generations. The child is not named Azrael but is infused with its spirit and is predestined by Abaddon (the Destroyer) to cleanse the earth of man though he does not know it yet. Azrael is never in the public eye nor is he ever elected to any position but is heavily involved in the family business of politics. He develops concepts for solutions to many of the world's problems and seduces world leaders into designating him the de facto authority on most major issues. The world leaders implement his "solutions" over the years as he slowly awakens to his own lust for power. He is so adept at manipulating men that they crown him king either in the public eye or behind the scenes. Once this king has total authority, he betrays the world leaders who realize that they've been misled for years. After systematically eliminating opposition, he turns on the entire human race. At this point, Azrael is fully self-actualized and carries out acts of suffering and death throughout the world in a way never before witnessed by mankind.

"Christmas - Hellish Renditions Of Christmas Classics" track listing:

01. Unrest For Melancholy Men (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)
02. Earthen Kings (We Three Kings)
03. Nutracker: Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy
04. Greensleeves
05. O Come, O Come, Azrael (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel)

The official lyric video for "O Come, O Come, Azrael (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel)" can be seen below. Hrubovcak comments: "At this point, Azrael is fully self-actualized but the lyrics to this one don't address the story as much as the other songs. Instead, this song serves as more of an invocation. The guitars in the beginning and middle are designed as a swallowing force to sink the mind into the meditative subconscious and create complete focus for the invocation. This song is basically an anthem for misanthropes everywhere! So turn out the lights, break out the candles and sing — rejoice!"

J.J. Hrubovcak is current bass player for HATE ETERNAL and can be heard on "Phoenix Amongst The Ashes", released on Metal Blade Records.

Hrubovcak has performed in numerous capacities over the years on lead and rhythm guitars, bass and drums. Prior to joining HATE ETERNAL in 2008, Hrubovcak played lead and rhythm guitars in DIVINE RAPTURE and VILE, drums in MOURNING, wrote the Metal Rules Radio theme song, played in black metal band ICE (IMPERIAL CRYSTALLINE ENTOMBMENT),and has performed with a host of other notable bands over the last two decades

Mike Hrubovcak is current vocalist for MONSTROSITY and VILE and founder of avant-garde death metal act AZURE EMOTE. He's performed vocals and written lyrics in ABRAXAS and DIVINE RAPTURE and other acts over the years and is a renowned artist designing CD layouts, T-shirts, ads, etc for bands throughout the metal community including PATHOLOGY, RUMPELSTILTSKIN GRINDER and GRAVE. His work has been featured in galleries, published in hard cover art books and used in feature film "Dream House".