Former EXODUS Frontman Talks HATRIOT In New Audio Interview

March 6, 2013

U.K.'s Suicide Scriptures recently conducted an interview with former EXODUS and current HATRIOT frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below.

HATRIOT is preparing to film a video for the song "And Your Children To Be Damned". The group states: "Not getting into details too much, but we need a little help. In an open search, we need two northern California HATRIOT ladies between the age of 19-26 to help us shoot our video. If you or someone you know would be interested to fill the spot out, please message our Facebook page. The video will be shot March 10th. So if you're interested to be a part of our video and helping us out, please message us for more details."

"And Your Children To Be Damned" comes off HATRIOT's debut album, "Heroes Of Origin", which was released on January 25 via Germany's Massacre Records. The CD was recorded with producer Juan Urteaga (MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS, TESTAMENT) and features guest appearances by TESTAMENT's Chuck Billy and MACHINE HEAD's Phil Demmel . The cover artwork, which can be seen below, was created by Mark DeVito, who has previously worked with MOTÖRHEAD and ANVIL CHORUS, among others.

"Heroes Of Origin" track listing:

01. Suicide Run
02. Weapons Of Class Destruction
03. Murder American Style
04. Blood Stained Wings
05. The Violent Time Of My Dark Passenger
06. Globicidal
07. And Your Children To Be Damned
08. The Mechanics Of Annihilation
09. Shadows Of The Buried
10. Heroes Of Origin

The entire album can now be streamed using the SoundCloud player below.

HATRIOT's new drummer is none other than Steve's son, Nicholas Souza. Nicholas auditioned for the band after the departure of Alex Bent and "proved himself to be the best choice," according to Steve.

HATRIOT's lineup also includes Zetro's 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," Zetro said in a recent interview with Metalholic.com, "'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."

Regarding HATRIOT's musical direction, Zetro said, "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."

Asked why he thinks thrash metal has enjoyed something of a revival in more recent years, Zetro told Über Röck, "You know, I get asked this a lot, and I think it is because the first wave of thrash came and went so fast. I mean, it started in the mid-'80s and was gone by 1991 or so. The older bands still have something to say, and I feel that's why they are still able to put out great music so many years later. Now the fans that were young kids back then have bands of their own, so these new bands are naturally influenced by the old sound and it has come full circle. Of course, with technology and things like they are today, it is a totally different ballgame when it comes to marketing the music. I don't know that there will ever be another band as big as the 'Big Four' or anything, because the business structure just isn't there anymore, but it is really cool to see these new bands carrying the torch of what we helped invent back in the old scene."

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

HATRIOT is:

Steve "Zetro" Souza - Vocals
Kosta Varvatakis - Guitar
Miguel Esparza - Guitar
Nicholas Souza - Drums
Cody Souza - Bass

Interview:

"Blood Stained Wings" video:

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).