With an average output of one album every 3.25 years, Connecticut punk crew Hatebreed know the value of taking one’s time on a project – even if said project exists in a genre not typically known for meticulous attitudes. Whilst many of their contemporaries have catalogues deep in the double-digits, Hatebreed have just gifted us their eighth full-length: the trench-deep, molasses-dark Weight Of The False Self. Its quality is a testament to the time and effort Jamey Jasta and co. sunk into its inception – there’s plenty of the Hatebreed flavour we know and love to savour, but an incredible wealth of stylistic fermentation and exploration as well.
Australian Guitar caught up with lead guitarist Wayne Lozinak to vibe on the record, and learned that in addition to a crunchier and more metal-centric feel, the band aimed to nail some rather impressive feats with the amp selection utilised on LP8.
What is it about this record that makes you personally stoked on it, not just as a musician but as a fan of heavy music yourself?
The one thing that’s really special to me is that the guitar tone on this album is really heavy and really full. We worked with Zeuss, who produced, engineered, mixed and mastered everything, and I think it came out great with him behind the wheel. It has most of the basic elements that we normally have – we can’t really stray too far from the path that we normally head on – but there’s a little more slightly more intricate stuff on this one.
Would you say you stepped very far out of your comfort zone as a guitarist?
For Hatebreed, I think a little bit. I’ve played in other bands in the past and done different types of things, but I think for a Hatebreed record, there’s some stuff on this that people are going to be a little surprised about. There’s a few more guitar solos than we normally have – I mean, there have been some albums with no solos, and there’s a pretty lengthy amount on this one. And then there’s some more metal-type riffs on there, which I think came out really nicely. I think people will definitely be surprised when they hear some of the songs on this album.
What is it about that Les Paul Custom that’s made it a staple in your arsenal?
Obviously the classic look and feel – it’s one of the most iconic guitars of all time, so many great players have played them over the years, and a lot of people don’t use them for heavier metal styles of music, so it stands out a bit. I think some of the other, more metal-style guitars are a little too… Almost sizzly sounding, if that makes sense. But the clarity and the tone of a Les Paul, combined with the heavy amps and everything, just sounds great to me.
And you’ve got those EMG pickups on there too.
Yeah. They definitely give it more sustain and volume, and more consistency throughout the notes. People think that when you use EMGs, the guitars all sound the same, but I don’t think that’s true.
Did you have the live show in mind when you were writing this album?
No. Y’know, we just want good, heavy songs that don’t stray too far from the natural formula that we have, that we think people are going to like. And then if we like them on the CD, normally they will work live too. We have so many songs now, so it’s hard to pick a setlist. Because we play songs from every album if it’s a headline show – we try to do a wide variety of everything. So trying to write a setlist is hard, but the songs we pick usually tend to work.
