Interview

Hate Eternal’s J.J. Hrubovcak: "The Tempos Are Really Varied On This Record"

Erik Rutan played with Morbid Angel during the height of popularity on the “Domination” album and previously played with Ripping Corpse. He left Morbid Angel in 1996 and formed what people were calling a death metal super group, Hate Eternal, with Suffocation’s Doug Cerrito, Alex Webster and the drummer who would go on to win the world’s fastest drum contest, Tim Yeung. Since then his lineup has changed and he has welcomed some of the best drummers in death metal like Kevin Talley, Derek Roddy and most recently Hannes Grossman.

Coming out of Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal’s sound has always seemed a bit like his older band. The Morbid Angel comparison is much less defined on the band’s sixth album, “Infernus.” The tempos are more varied and the music is more straight forward with fewer solos and harmonies. It still retains the infernal sound that defines the band, though.

Nearing the end of a tour supporting “Infernus,” Hate Eternal came to Austin, Texas with a tour package that included Rivers of Nihil, Beyond Creation and Misery Index. Bassist/backing vocalist J.J. Hrubovcak spoke to me concerning the album and tour, with the full transcript available below.

Hrubovcak flew back and forth between Rutan’s Mana Studios in Florida and his home base of New Jersey and was instrumental in helping write the album. J.J., whose been in the band since 2008, contributed music and wrote the lyrics to two songs. He gave me the lowdown on completing the album and how he feels about the overall package.

Rex_84: How is the tour going so far?

J.J. Hrubovcak: It’s been going great. All the bands are excellent. The band that is playing now, Beyond Creation, they’re excellent musicians. Misery Index, we’ve known them forever. They just destroy live, their presence and everything. Rivers of Nihil is great. They’re a mix of old and new styles. It’s been great! We’ve been travelling all across the country. We did some dates in Canada, as well. Nothing but positive results.

Rex_84: Where are you at on the tour now?

J.J.: We’re almost done. We are on the last leg. Tomorrow is the last date and then we have a few shows in Florida, as well.

Rex_84: What’s after the Florida shows?

J.J.: After that, I fly back to Jersey and we go about our business until the European legs.

Rex_84: Who are you touring with in Europe?

J.J.: I have no idea. That’s all in the works, yet. But obviously we just released a record and we’re planning on doing the full cycle. Just like every other record. I joined up about two tours into the “Fury & Flames” cycle. Then we did the “Phoenix [Amongst the Ashes]” tour and now we’re doing the “Infernus” cycle.

Rex_84: So this is the third album tour cycle that you’ve been on?

J.J.: For tours, yes. I came in about 2008.

Rex_84: This is the second album you played on, right?

J.J.: Yeah, and I’m very happy with it. The production is killer! It came out awesome. You can hear everything on the record, top to bottom. Every instrument has its own space. It’s very full and big. I was able to contribute some music as well and write lyrics for two songs. I’m very proud of it. It was a lot of hard work for all of us.

Rex_84: Tell your fans about some of the lyrics you wrote?

J.J.: One song is called “Pathogenic Apathy.” The other song is called “Order of the Arcane Scripture.” They have their own themes and different messages that I wanted to convey. “Pathogenic Apathy,” the title itself pretty much explains that tune. The themes of apathy. The fact that action will get you somewhere, where apathy will not. Passion gets you somewhere, too, obviously. “Order of the Arcane Scripture” is about folks giving themselves up to something they shouldn’t be, giving their lives up to something they shouldn’t be giving it to and losing control in that manner. They should take it back. People interpret the lyrics the way they want to. They have different interpretations, but that’s what I was basically shooting for. “Pathogenic Apathy”—without a passion, hope or drive there is no life, basically. I think apathy is spreading a little too much. Each person will interpret it differently.

Rex_84: Tell your fans about the album title “Infernus.”

J.J.: Erik [Rutan] came up with it. There is a lot of ups and downs and dynamics throughout the record, so it takes a lot of twists and turns. You would have to speak with Erik more about that. The interesting thing about “Infernus” is it’s a very different tune from the normal catalog. It comes across really well too live, you’ll see tonight.

Rex_84: So you’re going to play the title track?

J.J.: Yes. I’m very proud of all the hard work we did on it.

Rex_84: Did you write those bass lines? There is, I don’t know if I would call it a solo, but there is an isolated bass part.

J.J.: Yes, I wrote all the bass lines for the record. On the last record, I was still coming at it from more a guitarist perspective because I had been playing guitar for many years, so I treat it like a third guitarist, almost. I over did it a little bit. The bass lines were, on this record, more supportive of the tune. I kind of lay back the cut a little more and just add lines that support the riffs a little more, instead of just going crazy (laughs). Which I did on the last record.

Rex_84: I don’t hear many guitar solos on the album. It’s very straight forward.

J.J.: The songs unfold, as we jammed, and they weren’t really lending themselves to needing guitar solos. It really was a matter of what feels best. We’re not gonna force something that shouldn’t be there.

Rex_84: You have a new drummer, right, Chason Westmoreland?

J.J.: Yes, Chason played on the record. He did an excellent job. He ended up resigning for family obligations, though. So he’s not with us today. Today, we have Hannes Grossman who helped out in a pinch. He came from Obscura and Necrophagist. He is just killing it every night live. You’ll see. He’s well-rounded and very intense.

Rex_84: You have a history of great drummers like Derek Roddy, Kevin Talley and Tim Yeung. So I guess you have another guy to bring into the fold of great drummers.

J.J.: He’s very good. He’s helping us out now. If you see his DVDs and videos, you’ll know that he’s a professional. Like I said, well-rounded, focused and hits like a champ.

Rex_84: It seems like Chason’s drums are quite prominent on the album. There is a lot of fast drumming. It seems like it’s a very fast album.

J.J.: There is one tune on there that is pretty damn fast. That’s “The Chosen One.” “La Tempestad” is pretty fast. Overall, though, the tempos are really varied on this record. We slowed it down in a lot of spots. Not on purpose, it just unfolded that way. I always feel that a record captures your life experiences and that moment. You can never get that back, but every time you listen to your own record, years later, you know what your life experience was at that moment. It just unfolds for you.

Rex_84: Did Erik produce the album?

J.J.: He did. We spent a lot of time in the studio tracking, getting tones proper, making sure it will be the best album we put forth. He did an unbelievable job on it. He spent a lot of time on it. Engineered, mastered, mixed—not mixed, that was Alan Douches. He did the record in Mana Studios. We were down there. We recorded there.

Rex_84: Did you fly out from Jersey to come down and record?

J.J.: Yeah, flights from Philly are pretty cheap, so we jam on a regular basis. We work for a long time on the tunes. We also swapped Pro Tools files online, but nothing beats getting together, in person, and jamming and seeing what happens. “Chaos Theory” came out of an in-person jam late at night. Overall, it works out really well being from the East Coast because there are a lot of snow birds up there, so flights are really cheap.

Rex_84: So you went back and forth when you were practicing the album?

J.J.: Yeah, practicing, writing the songs, you name it. I spent a lot of time in Florida.

Rex_84: How often did you fly back and forth?

J.J.: I can’t remember. It was a bunch of times, but I also spent a month doing pre-production. It’s awesome to spend a lot of time in Florida, anyway (laughs).

Rex_84: Why don’t you move there?

J.J.: Well, I have all sorts of obligations in Jersey.

Rex_84: Do you have family there?

J.J.: Yep, family and other obligations.

Rex_84: How does this album compare to the last one “Phoenix Amongst the Ashes?”

J.J.: I see this one more of an extension of the last one. I think that’s just natural because your records follow your own timeline, your own life. So, as you gain experiences you end up putting them into your music. Things change over the years. I think the tempos are slower and more varied.

Rex_84: I think my player was skipping around to the fast songs.

J.J.: The other thing, too, is the way the production is on this record. If the drums are more popping…it depends on the player, too. Chason is really spastic, so a lot of his songs sound faster even though they might not be just because of his spastic playing. Spastic fills, spastic this and that.

Rex_84: Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?

J.J.: I would like to say thanks for all your support. Come out to the shows. I’ll see you when we come around.