HATRIOT Seeks New Drummer

HATRIOT, the new San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal band fronted by Steve "Zetro" Souza (EXODUS, TENET, DUBLIN DEATH PATROL, LEGACY),is currently seeking a new full-time drummer.

Commented the group: "We would like to fill this position with a musician who works well with others, has gear, transportation, and can tour on short notice. One requirement for the open tryout is we are looking for a full playthrough of our four-song demo currently available for download at ReverbNation.com/hatriot. Once you have learned our demo and it is tight, mistake-free, please feel free to Facebook message our page or contact Cody Souza about meeting up to perform the demo live to us, before actual tryout is given. We are currently talking to two record labels and an album will be recorded before summer's end. HATRIOT has a lot of big things in the future; we just want to make sure we find the right musician to keep us moving forward."

In a recent interview with Metalholic.com, Zetro called HATRIOT's previous drummer, Alex Bent, "a monster" and "probably the best drummer I've seen, ever." He added, "He's like a machine. He plays drums constantly, like eight hours a day. He's an animal in the studio, he's an animal live. I don't know if HATRIOT would be the same with another guy."

HATRIOT supported TESTAMENT on February 19 at The Avalon in Santa Clara, California. Multi-camera video footage of the performance can be seen below (courtesy of Zero To Hero Films).

Regarding HATRIOT's musical direction, Zetro told Metalholic.com, "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."

HATRIOT's lineup includes Zetro's 21-year-old 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," said Zetro, "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."

HATRIOT's December 23, 2011 concert at The Avalon in Santa Clara marked the band's first live performance with new guitarist Miguel Esparza.

Performance footage (February 19 at The Avalon in Santa Clara, California):