Hatebreed is an American hardcore band formed in 1994 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and later based in New Haven, Connecticut. The band released its debut album Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire in 1997, which gave the band a cult following. The band signed to Universal Records and released Perseverance in 2002, which hit the Billboard 200. They have played a major role in the Connecticut hardcore scene.
Their songs often feature motivational lyrics, powerful and "bruising" riffs, and an overall hardcore sound. Their song "Live for This" was nominated at the Grammy Awards in 2005 for Best Hardcore Performance. The group are also known for their live performances, and have gone through multiple line up changes but lead singer Jamey Jasta has remained a staple throughout the band's tenure. Their eighth and most recent album, Weight of the False Self, was released in 2020.
History Formation and Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire (1994–2001) Hatebreed was formed in 1994 in and around New Haven, Connecticut. The founding members consisted of Jamey Jasta the frontman, Chris Beattie on bass, Dave Russo on drums along with Larry Dwyer Jr. and Wayne Lozinak as the guitarists. This five piece began by recording a three-song demo and selling it to locals in 1995 and those songs would eventually be released on a split 7-inch with New York's Neglect in the same year. They followed that with the highly acclaimed EP Under the Knife scheduled to come out on Big Wheel Recreation in 1995 but then self-released in 1996, and they went out on tour around the east coast/midwest supporting UKHC band Voorhees. That same year saw the departures of Larry Dwyer Jr. and Dave Russo. The following year with an almost entirely new lineup the band released their debut album Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire on Victory Records, then the home of some of the biggest bands in American hardcore. The album helped the band achieve underground success, selling 158,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and holds the record for Victory Record's best selling debut album. The album is also viewed as a classic in both the hardcore and metalcore genres.
They then took part in the Warped Tour in 1998. During the late 1990s and early 2000s Hatebreed went through many lineup changes, with Jasta and Beattie being the two mainstays. They continued touring heavily during this time joining the Tattoo the Earth tour in 2000 and making their first appearance at Ozzfest in 2001. That same year longtime drummer Matt Byrne joined the band.
Hatebreed were booked to play at the second New England Metal and Hardcore Festival in 2000. Misfits headlined the main stage, Anal Cunt headlined the second stage and Hatebreed headlined the Commercial Street Cafe. Problems arose when the Hatebreed set was shut down due to problems with the sound system, so security moved Hatebreed to Anal Cunt's stage, and set them up to play before them. This apparently upset the audience that were expecting to see Anal Cunt, and according to Josh Martin, vocalist Jasta got angry and called the crowd a bunch of "washed up metalheads" and allegedly claimed that Hatebreed were more popular and sold more records than Anal Cunt. Seth Putnam and Martin were at the bar next door not knowing what was going on, but returned by the time the Hatebreed set was over to see that Putnam was yelled at by Jasta. A melee then ensued. Martin who owned a VHS tape of the fight (which ended up getting lost) claimed that Putnam was standing 20 feet away watching the melee ensue. Putnam was arrested by the end of the night, along with his wife.
Perseverance and The Rise of Brutality (2002–2005) Their tours with heavy metal bands such as Slayer, Deftones, Entombed and Napalm Death influenced their music and brought them to the attention of many non-hardcore fans. These influences were apparent on the band's next two releases. Prior to the release of their next album Hatebreed recorded a demo in New York that contained the song "I Will Be Heard". Lead singer Jasta who was looking to get the band off of the indie labels they sent the demo to several major labels and began interviewing 10+ major record producers. The demo became well liked by multiple major labels and Hatebreed eventually signed with Universal Records. The group then hired Matt Hyde to produce the album and began recording at Long View Farm Studios in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, during late 2001. In October of that year they dropped of a tour with Slayer to finish the album.
Perseverance was then released in 2002 and became the band's first to chart on the Billboard 200 peaking at number 50. The album has gone on to receive high praise highlighting its powerful riffs, Jasta's commanding vocals, and excellent production, making it a streamlined and brutal listening experience. The popular single "I Will Be Heard" music video, which featured intense live performance footage and aggressive imagery, ended up getting banned from MTV which was a huge blow to the band. However the song eventually got significant play time on MTV2's Headbangers Ball, when vocalist Jasta became the host in 2003. Hatebreed went on an extensive tour support of the album, the first being a US headlining tour with Bane, Poison The Well, and What Feeds The Fire serving as support. They also made their second appearance at that years Ozzfest, appearing on the Ozzfest 2002 live album.
The following year seen the release of their third studio album The Rise of Brutality which charted even higher on the Billboard 200 debuting at number 30 selling 32,515 copies in its first week. This album is viewed as a pivotal album in Hatebreed's discography showcasing a tighter, more focused version of their metallic hardcore sound. Critically, reviewers were largely impressed with the album's unrelenting aggression and motivational lyrics. Once again they went on an extensive touring schedule for the album including taking part in The Unholy Alliance Tour in Europe with Slayer, Slipknot and Mastodon.
From November 24, until December 20, Hatebreed toured alongside Terror. In December 2004, it was announced that Hatebreed was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the 47th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles for their song "Live for This", which appeared on their album The Rise of Brutality. The award was ultimately given to Motörhead for their cover of the Metallica song "Whiplash".
Supremacy, For the Lions and self-titled fifth album (2006–2009)
On January 27, and March 4, 2006 Hatebreed released two news song on their MySpace page. Then on April 30, the group announced a new album would be released in August of that same year. In June of 2006, Hatebreed went on an extensive European tour which included a performance at the Download Festival in Castle Donington, UK. Immediately following this European tour, they played the main stage at Ozzfest 2006 alongside DragonForce, Lacuna Coil, Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, and co-headliners System of a Down. The band's fourth album, Supremacy, was released in August 2006, their first through Roadrunner Records, featuring new guitarist Frank Novinec (who had previously spent time playing with Ringworm, Terror, and Integrity). Jasta described it as an "all-out onslaught of completely adrenaline-charged, in-your-face brutality". The album debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200 selling 27,000 units in its first week. It also became their first record to chart in the top 100 in several countries outside the US. It was met with mostly positive reception, Blabbermouth.net wrote "The bottom line is that you will find in Supremacy exactly what you would expect from Hatebreed. Though not as memorable as the excellent Perseverance, the album largely succeeds at giving the fans what they want." Following the album’s release in September of 2006, Hatebreed headlined the US "Monsters of Mayhem" tour alongside Napalm Death and Exodus. The group then headlined a Canadian tour with Sworn Enemy and Scars of Tomorrow in October and a European tour in November of that year alongside Unearth and Full Blown Chaos.
On September 13, 2006, former guitarist Lou Richards committed suicide at the age of 35; he had played on Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire and Perseverance before leaving the band in 2002.
Hatebreed headlined the second stage on the 2007 Ozzfest tour, that year they also headlined the Monster of Mayhem tour with acts like God Forbid, Terror, The Acacia Strain, Evergreen Terrace and After the Burial. Hatebreed appeared at Wacken Open Air festival in 2008 alongside Iron Maiden, Children of Bodom, and Avantasia. In April 2008, Hatebreed signed a worldwide deal with Koch Records. On February 9, 2009, guitarist Sean Martin quit the band. Sean quit the band to pursue other interests in music that are more studio-related. However, Sean remains close to and in contact with Hatebreed members. This resulted in the return of founding guitarist Wayne Lozinak. In May of that year they the band released For the Lions on May 5, a studio record consisting of covers of songs by artists that have influenced the band's development. Artists covered included Metallica, D.R.I., Crowbar, and Cro-Mags.
On September 2, 2009 Hatebreed released their first concert DVD, titled Live Dominance which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard DVD chart. Later that same year, Hatebreed's self-titled fifth studio album, was released on September 29. The record debuted at number 37 on the Billboard 200 selling 15,000 units in its first week, it was met with positive reception. Following the album’s release Hatebreed headlined a US tour which went till mid December, supporting acts consisted of Cannibal Corpse and Unearth.
The Divinity of Purpose and The Concrete Confessional (2010–2016)
In 2010, Hatebreed participated in the third annual Mayhem Festival, alongside 3 Inches of Blood, Shadows Fall, and other bands. On February 17, 2011, it was announced that Hatebreed would partake in the fourth annual Mayhem Festival to yet again headline the Jägermeister stage for three dates only. In 2012 the band went on Australian tour alongside the Cro-Mags and Biohazard, They also held a celebration tour for the 10th anniversary of their album Perseverance. On September 19, 2012 Hatebreed released a single for their upcoming album "Put It To The Torch". Then in December of that year the group released a promotional trailer for the record.