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Finally, a Christmas album Metal fans can sink their teeth into. Hate Eternal bass player J.J. Hrubovcak plays all the instruments and has enlisted his brother Mike on vocals for Death Metal Christmas – Hellish Renditions of Christmas Classics. J.J. has turned his focus to some of the older carols, like "We Three Kings" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," along with music that has become closely associated with Christmas, like Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" from The Nutcracker, and given them the full-on Death Metal treatment. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" has become "Unrest for Melancholy Men" and when Mike growls "there'll be NO comfort or joy!" instead of the original lyrics, "tidings of comfort and joy," you can feel any Christmas spirit being sucked from your soul. Many of these songs, as originally written, were played quite slowly, but that doesn't stop the Hrubovcaks from speeding them up. I'm fairly certain "Greensleves" has never been played this fast or with such a cool guitar solo. On "Earthen Kings" ("We Three Kings") J.J. embraces the dirge-like tempo of the original and delivers a bit of Doom/Death. Original lyrics, when applicable, have been warped and twisted to deliver a dark, pro-Azrael message.

I'm a fan of Heavy Metal, Christmas carols and cover songs, so I found Death Metal Christmas – Hellish Renditions of Christmas Classics to be a whole lot of fun, but I can see how this may not appeal to everyone. But just think; in addition to being some excellent Death Metal, this is a surefire way to prevent friends and family from overstaying their welcome during the holidays.