You can almost guess it from the name. The Project Hate MCMXCIX. The first part is so deathy, while all those Roman numerals bring an undeniable medieval gothic feel. If you could not guess it, then listening to Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate would certainly confirm that these two styles – death and gothic metal – have been united in a concoction where Evil meets divine and Demons drub the angels time and time again (capitalization mine, but I am sure the band would agree).

Two men mostly responsible for The Project Hate MCMXCIX sound and message are multiinstrumentalist Lord K. Philipson and death vocalist Jorgen Sandstrom whose musical paths previously took him to Entombed and Grave. The Satan of Jorgen is contrasted by the angel of Jo Enckell, a previously unknown to me female vocalist.

Once you heard one song on the album you will have the feeling of what is happening the rest of the way. Gothic death of The Project Hate MCMXCIX is predicated on guitar sound ranging from ominous dirty buzzsaw (Entombed) to almost mechanical, lifeless and metallic (Rammstein). The band repeats the riffs, and for that matter the whole song passages, multiple times resulting in 8 cuts the shortest of which lasts over 7 min. You have got to get patient listening to the album, as the band has the message to deliver and they need time to do it (you can gather that your salvation is not coming from Christ anytime soon if you read the lyrics). Some songs have pretty choppy chords (Dominate) and you can almost call the sound brutal (Burn), while others are slower, drone on and on, and the feeling of stagnation may set in (Nailed). Jo Enckell sings mostly in the parts where heavy guitar yields to synth and keyboards, thus providing the atmosphere. Even with that her vocals should have been pushed up in a mix quite a bit. The listener needs to hear more of her, and not just to decide whether she is more Christina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) than Johanna DePierre (Amaran). If you have an asset, use it. Judging, however, by the closer Weep where Jo is on her own, she would not be able to hold the torch all by herself. The band often weaves in melodious passages, almost always spearheaded by keyboards (Hate, Burn). Guitar in the album (Petter S. Freed) is mostly reserved for crushing rhythms, but sometimes participates in Egyptian Middle Eastern motifs so beloved by the Left Hand Path travelers (Hate, Dominate). To provide extra Demon choir for Jorgen’s super low guttural growling Satan, Emperor Magus Caligula (Dark Funeral), Mogge Lundin (2 Ton Predator) and Rickard Alriksoon (Genocide Superstars) do the shrieking on backup vocals resulting in ungodly duets (Burn). To further compound the picture some tracks use techno elements which are not at all surprising considering the drums are programmed.

Not being confused with the symphonic goth style, the band still strives for the mystic atmosphere and often succeeds, but the protracted method of delivery requires you to be a total fan to enjoy this from start to finish. The truth is, if you love the style, you will most likely dig the album 100%. If you are just OK with it, like yours truly, then a rare spin would certainly bring satisfaction, but this is not going to join my all-time favorite list. I have just about every album Godgory ever put out in my collection and you won’t find me listening to those every day on end. I am afraid the same faith would befall The Project Hate MCMXCIX Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate. Similar in style, solid, but not mind blowing, it will appeal to target audiences.