Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta has revealed that the band is making significant progress on their new album, the follow-up to 2020’s Weight Of The False Self.
Regarding the new musical material, in a recent interview with Into The Necrosphere, Jasta shared that the creative elements are largely in place. “Yeah, I think creatively the ideas are all there, the lyrics are all there, the music’s all there,” he stated (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “I’ve been going around taking different meetings with labels.”
The news of Hatebreed being free agents stirred considerable interest from record companies. Jasta commented: “It was kind of funny and cool — I just mentioned in passing that we were free agents, and then that went kind of semi viral or something, because then we got hit up by every label under the sun. And that was really nice to see that there was interest there from all these labels. ‘Cause I am one of those people that I really believe that your next biggest, best song is always in you. You just have to get to that point where you can channel it or you can grab it out of the ether. Anybody can do it. You just have to get there, and you have to figure out the path there. And now that Weight Of The False Self is finding fans, I thought, ‘Yeah, I could expand on a lot of these topics. But then there was also new topics that I had never touched on before that I had been writing about and riffing out about.”
Inspiration for the new riffs struck Jasta following the Milwaukee Metal Fest, particularly after receiving a guitar from the band Testament, who have a deal with Dean guitars. “The real sort of mother lode of riffs that I wrote that I got inspired was right after Milwaukee [Metal Fest], because you get this post-festival sort of slump where you’re, like, ‘Damn, now what am I gonna do?'” Jasta explained. “But Testament had given me a guitar — they did a deal with Dean, and they gave me this beautiful guitar. And so I just started riffing out on that guitar as soon as I got back… I had 24 topics kind of written on a vision board, and I thought, ‘All right, I’ve gotta narrow those down to 14. Can I combine?’ And then I kept going, kept going, and yeah, now it’s… I mean, we’ll probably have a single any day now, or maybe even two singles.”
In addition to new music, Hatebreed, who celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2024, will be headlining the resurrected “Summer Slaughter” tour in 2025. This marks the Connecticut band’s first dedicated U.S. summer tour in years. The tour, known for showcasing rising talent in heavy music, is returning under new leadership with Jamey Jasta taking the helm.
The “Summer Slaughter” tour is set to kick off on July 8th in St. Petersburg, Florida, and will run through July 28th in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Support for the tour will include Fugitive, Gridiron, Malevolence, Incite, Escuela Grind, and Snuffed On Sight on select dates.
Jasta expressed his enthusiasm for leading the tour in partnership with original founder Ash Avildsen of Sumerian Records and Sound Talent Group.
“A new era of Summer Slaughter has begun,” said Jasta. “Huge thanks to Ash and the Sumerian team for their belief and support. Myself and Sound Talent Group are excited to be working with them going forward and taking the tour worldwide. It’s been years since Hatebreed has done a Summer tour in the U.S. and Summer Slaughter is the perfect return for us. The tour has always catapulted the newest and brightest talent to new heights and we’ll be continuing in that tradition while expanding in size and scope. Let the slaughter begin AGAIN!”
Hatebreed previously celebrated its 30th anniversary with a North American tour last fall, which featured support from Carcass, Harms Way, and Crypta.
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