HATRIOT - Heroes of Origin

Rob Dukes may sound good for Exodus, Paul Baloff, may he rest in peace, might have been the vocalist with whom the band have made their name in the early years, but Steve "Zetro" Souza most certainly remains the most important vocalist of the band. At least for me. To be honest, I missed hearing his biting and furious voice. He did try to do something interesting with Dublin Death Patrol after leaving Exodus, but I wasn’t really impressed. And when I least expected it, and when Zetro’s fans from the Exodus period even less, the vocalist got himself a new band: Hatriot. Some sort of family business, if we consider that the rhythmic section consists of his two sons: Cody Souza - bass and Nick Souza - drums. If Ozzy Osbourne’s boy went into making documentaries about his father and Black Sabbath, Zetro’s boys are more interested to tell a few musical stories. Maybe this was uncalled for, but I couldn’t help point it out.

Enough introduction about how great Zetro and sons are, let’s say a few words about this record. Titled Heroes of Origin, the material was released early this year through Massacre Records and presents some furious thrash metal with some powerful performances! Slashing riffs and nice solos from guitarists Kosta V. and Miguel Esparza, and especially a great drummer in Nick Souza, a few nice bass lines + Souza senior in action, still full of life and vigour. Like a Sylvester Stallone of thrash metal. If you saw Bullet to the Head maybe this will make sense. 80s style all over again!

It’s not a classic, but it has its audience. I know, some of you who hear this record will say this and that and that it’s 2013 and they play metal differently today. Well, yes, they do play it differently, but when it comes to genres thrash metal remains the most uncompromising of them. The simple and alert drum beat that makes you run like crazy and bang your head, Zetro’s vocals + direct and uncompromising riffs from the two guitarists make this record one of the most interesting materials in the genres that have appeared this year. Yeah, I know, it sounds more old school than modern, but that’s not a bad thing. Old Souza has raised his sons well (even if we speak about the music he has provided to them indirectly by his releases with Exodus).

I like the start of Suicide Run, if you can resist the first 10 seconds and get over the little joke with industrial parts, you get hit by the metal steamroller! The action goes on with Weapons of Class Destruction, a song that seems to have just gotten out of a time machine from the 80s. Without a doubt one of the best songs on the record, it destroys everything in its way, and it does it with class! Going up the numbers we have Murder American Style, somehow reminding of Cacophony but keeping the thrash metal compass! What a beautiful thing! With the first three tracks of the record, Shadows of the Buried is again a really committed song, and the others are not bad either.

For a start, Hatriot’s offering sounds really good. I’m curious whether the band will remain at the same level for the next album, or come with a new seven-headed dragon spitting metal from the speakers.

H. Nota: 9