Hate Forest

Hate Forest is a Ukrainian black metal band formed by Roman Saenko, the leading member of Drudkh, Dark Ages, and Blood of Kingu. Thurios joined the band in 1998 after recording Scythia. The music is fast with low, distorted vocals, low fidelity quality production, sometimes with programmed drums (a live player during concerts), and dark ambient elements. Some releases have consisted of dark ambient tracks. Influences are mostly from Scandinavian black metal to traditional death metal, especially Bolt Thrower, whose song "Cenotaph" they covered. According to the band, its lyrics are about mythology, mainly Slavic, and inspired by H. P. Lovecraft and Friedrich Nietzsche. The band does not give interviews or releases photos, and stands outside the black metal scene. After Hate Forest disbanded, Saenko focused on Drudkh and other side projects such as Blood of Kingu, Windswept and Precambrian. After a 16-year hiatus, Saenko released the Hate Forest album Hour of the Centaur in 2020, followed by more albums and EPs.