Death Metal is the calling for many musicians who call Metal their home. One such musician is Erik Rutan, a man who understands the very essence of the sub-genre, to the core. A pioneer in the Floridan Death Metal scene, Rutan has spent years mastering his craft both as a musician and as a producer. He was a member of the mighty MORBID ANGEL, ALAS and RIPPING CORPSE before forming HATE ETERNAL. After releasing three albums - "Conquering The Throne" (2000), "King Of All Kings" (2002), and "I, Monarch" (2005), HATE ETERNAL have unleashed perhaps their most ferocious, emotionally-driven masterpiece to date, "Fury And Flames". Inspired by late bassist and friend Jared Anderson, "Fury And Flames" takes a deep dive into the realms of death and its dark surroundings, created by the imagination of Rutan's mind. HATE ETERNAL also have new arsenal on board - bassist Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE), as well as second guitarist Shaune Kelley and new drummer Jade Simonetto. Undoubtedly, if not recognized enough before, HATE ETERNAL surely will be now. Rutan himself sees a bright future for the band, and with a new lineup, a new album, and a new record label, there is no doubt that this IS definitely a new era for HATE ETERNAL.

So you guys are on tour right now and you have a new album ("Fury And Flames") coming out on February 19 through Metal Blade.

"Yep, February 19."

Let's talk about the new album first of all. It's definitely more intense, faster, and angrier than any other HATE ETERNAL album. Would you agree?

"Wow! You know, that's been the consensus. I would say it's darker than the rest of the records. I didn't really realize that it was all the other things you mentioned though. But I mean, I'll take it, you know. I'll take that for sure. I haven't looked at it in that kind of way. I've just kinda looked at it like as 'Man, I think this is our broadest piece, most musical maybe album to date. It is definitely chaotic and brutal and all those things. You know, everybody has their own view of the album, I guess. It definitely is all those things you said. I guess those aren't really the forethoughts that stick in my head. What sticks in my head more is kind of the fact that it just has a lot more of everything that we've done in the past, but then it's got a lot of new elements as well. "I, Monarch" kind of branches from "King Of All Kings" and this branched from that, so. I think it definitely captures a lot more of the essence of what I really hoped the band would become. So to say I'm pleased would be an understatement for sure 'cause everybody involved with the album did an amazing job. I couldn't be more grateful for that either."

It's a huge progression, it really is. When I first listened to it I was totally blown away - just non-stop pummeling throughout.

"(Laughs) Pummeling... that's awesome. I had this guy... it was actually the guitar player from MISERY INDEX and he came to see us play and he said 'Man, I feel like I got my ass beat!' And I said 'That's exactly the response we want.' (Laughs)... just so fucken brutal it makes you feel like you got your fucken ass beat. That's pretty heavy music going on there if you have that kind of response."

I think that's what fans are going to get from it.

"Can't wait to see... can't wait to see how it transpires, what people think. I've been doing a lot of interview and seeing reviews and stuff and people have really been jazzed on this record, so I'm very excited about it - to see people's enthusiasm."

How did the production of the album go? Can you describe the process you went through this time around?

"Well, this time we did a lot more rehearsal and crew production and things of that nature to try to capture the record in the way that we wanted it to be. We did a lot of things with tempos, accents and layers of guitar and percussion and everything and really spent a lot more time on just kind of layering it and individualizing all the instrumentation and musicality as well as the collective of the band and just try and make an amazing record. We just spent a lot more time on everything from the early stages of rehearsal all the way to the end stages of the mix. So it made a huge difference, I think, on the album. It sounds more cohesive and gelled than any other records we've done in the past and that's because of a lot of hard work that everybody put into it."

It sounds very organic as well, like real homegrown Death Metal.

"Awesome! Great! Now that's the word I like to hear, man! That's what I was trying to go for with the production. I was trying to keep it modern but at the same time making it organic and raw, but definitely more modern that what we had done in the past. I wanted it to represent kind of a new era of the band, because that's what we've got. You know, I've always liked the old METALLICA records like 'Ride The Lightning' and 'Master Of Puppets'. I was trying to make that kind of sound for the modern era of Death Metal. I wouldn't say it sounds that good, but that's the kind of vibe I was going for, you know."

So would you consider this a new era for HATE ETERNAL?

"Oh definitely, definitely a new era. You know - new lineup, new label, new booking agents, new focus too - a rejuvenated focus at that. I'd definitely say it is a new era for the band, and one that's welcomed."

For sure. It was good to hear you signed with Metal Blade. I think it's where you belong.

"Me too, man (laughs with delight). Me too. They're the best... they're the fucken best label out there. I mean look at all the band's Metal Blade has; look at their roster. They keep getting bigger and bigger and better and better. It's just fucken amazing. Metal Blade is just incredible, you know. Brian Slagel (label CEO) and everybody that works for Metal Blade are amazing people. They're the best, man. They really know how to do their job and they do it really well."

Well, you guys have worked hard in your career so you deserve a good label.

"Thanks a lot, man. I really appreciate that. I'm very grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of Metal Blade 'cause I think they're really a legendary label and have some amazing bands and I'm just proud to be a part of the roster."

So how did it all come about for Alex (Webster - CANNIBAL CORPSE bassist) to join the band? Did you ask him or did he say "Hey I'd like to play on this album?" or...

"I did. I asked him actually. I had originally planned on Jared (Anderson) potentially coming back to the band and when he passed away then I pretty much had to really figure out what I was going to do period with the band. It was just me for a while, so I was just really trying to make sense of everything and figuring out where I want to go or what do I want to do. I just felt that on this record there were a lot of people I could confide in, not only as musicians but on a friend basis, and Alex is one of my best friends and he is the best bass player that I know and he loves HATE ETERNAL and we've always wanted to jam together, so we finally made it happen. I asked him and he said 'yes'. I mean, it was that easy."

Awesome. It must feel good having a member of CANNIBAL CORPSE on the crew?

"It's really not that but more of just having my friend Alex Webster the best bass player in fucken Death Metal play on my record was more how I looked at it as like 'wow'. He's a fucken amazing bass player and an amazing guy as well. So he gave it everything he had and just did a tremendous job. It's just about being real, man... being real people. As I look at it it's like man, we're no different than anybody else, man. I mean we're just musicians that are performing, living a dream, and that's incredible to be able to do so - to live a dream like we're living playing music and having fans appreciate your hard work. You know, they give to you and you give to them, man. It's a give and take situation."

As far as I know Alex won't be playing live with you.

"No. I knew kind of that he wasn't going to be able to do that. They're (CANNIBAL CORPSE) writing a record and they're gonna record with me in September again, so. I pretty much knew going into it that he wouldn't be able to tour with me."

So who do you have on bass?

"We have a friend of ours that's filling in on bass with us, Nathan. He's doing the bass and we jammed together for a couple weeks... went through all the stuff and he's doing a great job."

You have a second guitar player (Shaune Kelley). Why the decision to make the band a four-piece?

"Well half of it was just that me and Shaune have been friends for like 20-something years, and I just wanted to give a good opportunity to a friend of mine. The other half is I knew me and him were a great team as a guitar duo years ago when we played together and I knew that if I got Shaune in the band it would enhance the band that much more. So it's really a combination of both. I just wanted to something cool for a friend and also fucken make it an unstoppable force of guitar, you know. I write everything for two guitars. Yeah, I just kind of knew that he was the only guy that's ever going to be in the band. I'm never gonna find another guy unless Shaune decides he wanted to do it, and he did. So it's pretty simple, man, to make it happen."

The album's title - "Fury And Flames" - how did you come up with that name?

"It was in reference to Jared, really. He referenced to 'Fury And Flames' in a lot of different capacities lyrically, via e-mail and things of that nature and the representation that I got out of it was... like when I was looking for album titles, I as trying to find something that represented kind of the sentiment going around with the album, which was really death. I was kind of obsessed with just death due to his loss. 'Fury And Flames' is really a correlation with Jared and to me the flames in the sense represent death and the fury represents kind of like the emotion that was going on and all that - his death. That's how the whole concept came about in kind of the contents of the album. If you look at the artwork and stuff like that, it all really just gels into one, and that's how I got the title."

There are some interesting song titles like "Hell Envenom", "Bringer Of Storms", "Proclamation Of The Damned", "Fury Within", "The Funerary March"...

"Yeah, they're all just surrounded around different stages and conceptualizations of death and just a lot of things going on really during that time when I was writing the lyrics and the music. So I was just trying to capture really what was floating around inside me at the time - kind of all over the place, you know, but that's really what was going on, man. I was just kind of lost for a while and just kind of totally submerged in this fence. That's kind of how it all came about."

I would say that "Fury And Flames" is a Death Metal masterpiece. It's kind of like a Death Metal Opera of sorts - not really an "Opera"...

"Awesome!"

... it just gives you that real raw, organic Death Metal feel. It's like a giant composition broken up into ten tracks.

"That's what I was going for really. It was like a requiem so to speak, so in a sense it's kind of like an Opera I guess in a way that just does different stages of one massive piece of music, you know - just broken up into ten stages, like Mozart's requiem or something like that. That's really how it was approached. That was the inspiration behind it."

Sounds like I pretty much picked out all the stuff you had in mind for the album.

"Yeah, man. You’re nailing it to a 'T', which is awesome. You know part of it is just 'let everything hang out', man. People are really seeing it for face value, which is killer - that people are seeing exactly what it is. It's fucken killer! I don’t think I've ever had this clear of responses. Everybody kind of understands this record and the concept of the record and all that. It's been really neat to see that happen with all the interview and reviews that I've been doing."

That's great. I know Jared was your dearest friend. You mentioned that his presence is everywhere in the album...

"Well shit, I mean you walk in my studio and I look at the wall and I see the HATE ETERNAL posters and the albums. So I pretty much have constant reminders all over the place and it's awesome. You know, everything he did in his musical career... all the albums and the tours he did with me... it's cool to know that at least he got to live it. He lived a dream in his short life, and at the end of the day I know his family takes a lot of solace in that, you know. They like to talk to me about it - a lot of the good times we had together, touring the world and doing albums and everything you know as a musician that you hope and dream of doing. He got to live it, so that's something not a lot of people get to do. I try to remind myself of that all the time, and definitely felt that man, all this time I've been doing the right thing, and I know he would agree with that as well."

That's good to hear. So you guys are on the road currently.

"We're touring with BLACK TIDE for the next three weeks, then we're doing a headlining run in April and then we're doing a headlining run in Europe with CEPHALIC CARNAGE, so yeah we’re gonna be busy for a while."

Do you know what the rest of your plans for the remainder of 2008 are?

"Just April in the States, May in Europe and then we have a couple of new records. I'm doing the next CANNIBAL CORPSE in the fall, so obviously I won’t be touring then, and INTO THE MOAT in June. So I definitely have some plans ahead of me, but not sure on any more touring past that."

You've been doing really well as a producer, not just as a musician. Your credentials are growing. You've done CANNIBAL CORPSE, TORTURE KILLER...you just keep on increasing your presence in the Metal scene.

"Yeah, man. You just have to take them opportunities while you got them, 'cause they won't be there forever, so. I'm just making the best of everything and taking all the opportunities and just trying to make some magic, you know. I've been lucky to have so many great bands want to record with me, so I mean it's hard to believe sometimes. Really when I think about it, god all the records I've done so far... I'm going to keep doing them, you know... just keep doing what I'm doing."

Do you think Death Metal is going to continue to rise?

"I think it will always be consistent, you know. As long as there are bands like HATE ETERNAL, NILE, BEHEMOTH or ORIGIN and some of these bands that are continuing to just do extreme Death Metal. I think it's always gonna be there. It's like SLAYER, man. As long as SLAYER is around, they're gonna keep putting out records and people are gonna keep caring about them because they write good music. People always put stuff up like 'Oh Death Metal is over'... 'Oh no it's back!' To me Death Metal is never going to go away if you have good bands doing good records, you know, because Death Metal fans are loyal. They're loyal as shit to the music and to the bands. If the bands don't let down the fans then the fans won't let down the bands; that's kind of how I look at it. There are a lot of bands who have been doing it a long time, and so far that's how it's all transpired, you know."

Do you ever miss your days in MORBID ANGEL, Erik?

"Sure, yeah I think about it all the time. You know it was some great years that I had with MORBID ANGEL for sure. I mean, yeah I miss those guys; they're a bunch of characters. I enjoyed playing with them in the band and they're amazing musicians. Of course MORBID ANGEL... it's like, you know, arguably the best Death Metal band that ever existed I think. I mean I loved MORBID ANGEL - one of the best for sure. Totally, yeah... I do think about it sometimes. I miss playing with them for sure." [FIN]