So as many of you should have heard by now, Zetro has announced a new thrash band and while it's always a little exciting to hear that a thrash legend is actually still making new thrash, I have mixed feelings about this and have assessed it thusly:
- The project is called Hatriot. I know that the name is taken from "Scar Spangled Banner" and is a play on the word "patriot" but hasn't someone mentioned to Zetro that when glancing at the name written down, it will probably be first interpreted as "hat riot" rather than a pun?
- The band behind Zetro is comprised of Andrew Gage (guitars), Kosta Varvatakis (guitars), Alex Bent (drums), and Cody Souza (bass). Yes, Zetro's using the Van Halen approach here by putting his son on bass, but I don't see anything wrong with keeping the family business going. What I am worried about is who's writing the music. While the track "Weapons of Class Destruction," that's up on the Hatriot website is by all means a solid thrash track it doesn't stand out all that much. Hopefully the rest of the album will have some catchier tunes because despite being fairly predictable in the riff department, "Weapons of Class Destruction" sounds a hell of a lot like Exodus and I'm more likely to follow a Zetro-fronted Exodus carbon copy than Dukesodus.
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| Looks like Kosta Varvatakis (second from left) is going for a Baloffro. |
- I'm fairly certain that's the same Andrew Gage of Invection and if that's the case, I'd honestly rather see that band take off (as if it's that simple).
- Clichés, clichés, and more clichés. On the Hatriot website you are greeted by fifty one inverted pentagrams. The way they're used on the flag doesn't bother me; I think it's a bit clever though obviously there to stir the pot. What bothers me is the pentagram in the logo. It's a safe assumption that the lyrical content is going to be politically charged but what does having a pentagram in the logo prove? If I were to see the image below with absolutely no knowledge of the band I'd assume it was either a black metal band from some backwoods part of the US or that Jon Schaffer has reached a new level of insanity.
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| Seriously, what about this says "thrash"? | |
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- Despite having a band of unknowns, this album has a strong possibility of turning out better than Tenet's Sovereign. There's nothing necessarily wrong with Sovereign but Tenet is sort of a small scale super group with varying influences. Zetro carved his niche in Exodus and from what's been released so far, this is as close as we'll get to him filling that spot again.
