HATEBREED Guitarist: 'We Are A Universal Band, Like MOTÖRHEAD'

Bruce Moore of PureGrainAudio.com recently conducted an interview with guitarist Frank Novinec of Connecticut hardcore/metal masters HATEBREED. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

PureGrainAudio.com: After listening through "The Divinity Of Purpose" a few times now, it definitely seems to be a heavier effort than your previous releases. Was that something that was intentional or do you think it was just a natural progression?

Frank: Well, we are a universal band, like MOTÖRHEAD, where we appeal to rock, metal and hardcore fans and we feel that we can step outside of our boundaries at times. We did that about as much as we wanted to on the last record, and some people were into it and some people weren't, but there were some great songs in there. I think, definitely, for this one, we wanted it more straightforward; more meat and potatoes. We are a band that has been around for a long time and it is really difficult to come up with something fresh, but I think we achieved that on "The Divinity Of Purpose". More than anything, though, I am really proud at what a solid effort this record is from the beginning to the end.

PureGrainAudio.com: You guys have always had pretty cool album covers, but the artwork on "The Divinity Of Purpose" is especially intense. How did that come about?

Frank: We had an artist who has done stuff for SODOM and TESTAMENT and others do this one for us. It was kind of a risk because a lot of people thought, once they saw the cover, that the album was going to be really really metal and that is not the case at all. We wanted something different, we are open to different things and experimenting and we certainly did that with this album cover, but when you look at it it has the black-and-red classic HATEBREED look to it even though it is something new to us with the painting. I think it is real cool. This is an exciting time for us; everything from having a new album out, being on tour and the artwork.

PureGrainAudio.com: For this release you guys signed a deal with Nuclear Blast. How is that working out and is that going to take you more through Europe?

Frank: You know, we are always in Europe. We do well over there and we have a huge fan base and we are constantly going over there to play gigs. Nuclear Blast had the classic metal bands that we love, like KREATOR and DESTRUCTION, and obviously they have AGNOSTIC FRONT, a band that paved the way for us and who we actually were just on tour with over there. They (Nuclear Blast) do a great job with the packaging and everything, they are good people and they are fans. The head of the whole label is a fan, he comes to the shows, gets a few drinks in him and he is stage diving. It is plenty of fun and we had a great time with them when we were over there.

PureGrainAudio.com: You guys tour quite a bit. How do you keep up with the physical demands of touring?

Frank: I mean, everybody tries to eat healthy. We are all older now and the partying is down to a minimum. I am usually the guy in the band that is responsible for that, and I have tried to tone it down as much as possible. It is hard with all the traveling, especially with all the flying stuff, which puts more wear and tear on you, but we have a good time and our morale is up. Some of the guys have stretching routines before the show, but Jamey [Jasta, vocals] and I are the ones hanging out on the bus until the last second and then we go in and turn the switch on and give it 110 percent.

Read the entire interview from PureGrainAudio.com.

"Put It To The Torch" video:

Photo credit: Clay Patrick McBride