Brazil's Wikimetal podcast recently conducted an interview with former EXODUS and current HATRIOT frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza. You can listen to the chat using the SoundCloud player below.

HATRIOT recently parted ways with drummer Alex Bent and is currently seeking a replacement.

In a recent interview with Metalholic.com, Zetro called Bent "a monster" and "probably the best drummer I've seen, ever." He added, "He's like a machine. He plays drums constantly, like eight hours a day. He's an animal in the studio, he's an animal live. I don't know if HATRIOT would be the same with another guy."

Regarding HATRIOT's musical direction, Zetro told Metalholic.com, "It's in the vein of typical Bay Area thrash, but these guys are a lot younger, so there's gonna be some blast-beats in there. There's gonna be some kind of death [metal] approach to it, a little bit. 'Cause these guys are new. They're raw, and they're fast, young, heavy, hard and aggressive, and I'm trying to convey that along as well."

He added, "These new kids seem to understand what we did in the '80s, but still bring a little bit of a new essence to it. We put that together with what I write vocally and it's turned out to be really, really killer. It's good stuff."

HATRIOT's lineup includes Zetro's 21-year-old son Cody, who got his first bass as a present from his father after Zetro bought it off current EXODUS bassist Jack Gibson. "I told him," said Zetro, "You have to try out [for the bassist position in HATRIOT if you want to be in the band]. There's no nepotism here, boy. If you can hang, you're on. So he actually tried out, and he got the gig."

HATRIOT's December 23, 2011 concert at The Avalon in Santa Clara marked the band's first live performance with new guitarist Miguel Esparza.

HATRIOT's "Blood Stained Wings" video can be seen below.

Interview: