STEVE 'ZETRO' SOUZA's HATRIOT Performs EXODUS Classics In Stockton (Video)

AmbPirate of Capital Chaos TV conducted an interview with HATRIOT, the new San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal band led by former EXODUS and LEGACY (pre-TESTAMENT) frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza, on June 1 at Plea for Peace Center in Stockton, California. You can now watch the chat below. Also available is quality video footage of the Stockton concert.

HATRIOT filmed a video for the song "And Your Children To Be Damned" on March 10 at Arlene Francis Center in Santa Rosa, California. The clip was directed by Mike Sloat, who has previously worked with MACHINE HEAD and TESTAMENT.

"And Your Children To Be Damned" was written about Countess Bathory, a countess from the renowned Báthory family of nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary, who has been labeled the most prolific female serial killer in history, although the number of murders is debated.

"And Your Children To Be Damned" comes off HATRIOT's debut album, "Heroes Of Origin", which was released on January 25 via Germany's Massacre Records. The CD was recorded with producer Juan Urteaga (MACHINE HEAD, EXODUS, TESTAMENT) and features guest appearances BY TESTAMENT 's Chuck Billy and MACHINE HEAD's Phil Demmel . The cover artwork, which can be seen below, was created by Mark DeVito, who has previously worked with MOTÖRHEAD and ANVIL CHORUS, among others.

HATRIOT's drummer is none other than Steve's son, Nicholas Souza. Nicholas auditioned for the band after the departure of Alex Bent and "proved himself to be the best choice," according to Steve.

HATRIOT's lineup also includes Zetro's 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," Zetro said in a recent interview with Metalholic.com, "'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."

Regarding HATRIOT's musical direction, Zetro said, "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."

Interview:

"The Last Act Of Defiance" performance:

"War Is My Shepherd" performance: