The energy emitting from the stage, and returned in spades from the crowd last Tuesday night, would have been more than enough to power the southern suburb of Mokena where Hatebreed, the Connecticut based metal quintet stormed The Pearl Room. But the show consisted of much more than just energy. It smacked of love, yes love! Not the flowery hippie version of love or the kind that makes you drool and make crooning noises over your newborn baby, but more like the kind of love that makes you stay at a shitty job that you hate so that you can marry your pregnant girlfriend. In between gasps for air frontman Jamey Jasta repeated the themes of the band’s love of playing, love for the fans, and the autonomy of not sharing the bill with recent tour-mates Killswitch Engage (which allowed them to stretch their set out from the usual forty-five minutes to a luxurious hour and a half).
Hatebreed used the additional time to send a blistering sonic valentine to devoted followers (mainly to the ones who have been with the band since the beginning) by burning through Satisfaction is the Death of Desire (the band’s very first studio release) from beginning to end without commercial interruption. The band is currently on tour to promote Supremacy, Hatebreed’s most recent effort.
The addition of newcomer Frank Novinec on guitar to compliment axe-man Sean Martin provided a much fatter, beefier (if that’s possible) sound to the performance of fan favorites “Perseverance” and “We Still Fight”, while the double threat of bassist Chris Beattie in conjunction with monster slammer Matt Byrne on drums propelled renditions of “Proven” and especially “I Will Be Heard” to frightening levels of fist pumping musical aggression. A growling, prowling Jasta presided over the chaos and proclaimed, ”I take this vow - never to be broken!” Although, he didn’t say other items might not get broken in the process.
If there is indeed a thin line between love and hate it was distinctly blurred this night as rabid Hatebreed Heads slammed and pummeled each other mercilessly, fueled by the juggernaut onstage in a violent homage to a band that they truly love and so by extension, each other.
A sweaty and slightly bruised survivor was overheard post show as saying, “Whew! Made it outta there alive!”
Love can make you do crazy things.
