HATEBREED BIOGRAPHY

HATEBREED
Biography

At a glance

Hatebreed formed in 1994 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The band made hardcore punk's singability and metal's riff construction work inside the same song, and has spent more than thirty years renewing that one method rather than replacing it. Frontman Jamey Jasta is the only constant since the beginning, and he has written the band's lyrical world throughout: not aggression aimed outward, but exhortation aimed at the listener and recovery under one's own power.

There are ten studio albums, from 1997's Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire to Fatal Paradox in 2026. Songs run two to three minutes and albums often stop short of forty. That pared-back plan has barely changed since the debut; what the later records renewed was density and recording, not structure.

How it started — 1994, Connecticut

The band began in 1994 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and later based itself in New Haven. Jamey Jasta (vocals) and Chris Beattie (bass) were there at the start, and guitarist Wayne Lozinak played from 1994 to 1996. Lozinak returned in 2009 and has been in the band since.

Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire, and the Victory years

The debut, Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire, was released by Victory Records on 11 November 1997 as VR063CD: fourteen songs in about thirty minutes. Its title already flies the idea that runs through the whole catalogue — that contentment is where the momentum dies. It is treated as a landmark of Connecticut and New York hardcore, and an official music video for "Before Dishonor" followed years later.

The major move: Perseverance and The Rise of Brutality

In March 2002 the band released its second album, Perseverance, through Universal Records — the first record to reach major distribution, four and a half years after the debut. An official music video for "I Will Be Heard" carried the band's name widely for the first time.

The Rise of Brutality followed in 2003, again through Universal, and made "Live for This" a signature song. The combination the band is known for — a chorus you can sing back over a riff that never lets up — locks together completely here. Drummer Matt Byrne joined in 2001.

Supremacy and the Roadrunner years

The fourth album, Supremacy, arrived on Roadrunner Records in August 2006. "Destroy Everything" has stayed at the centre of the live set ever since. With titles running "Defeatist", "Horrors of Self" and "Supremacy of Self", this is the record where it becomes clearest that the lyrics take the self, not an enemy, as their object. Guitarist Frank Novinec joined in 2006.

Two albums in 2009

In 2009 the band released two albums in one year. For the Lions, in May, is an eighteen-song covers record working through Slayer, Metallica, the Misfits, Black Flag and Sepultura — a single album that shows what Hatebreed came out of. The self-titled Hatebreed followed that September. Naming your sources first and then putting your own name on the next record is a sequence with a point to it. Wayne Lozinak returned on guitar the same year.

The Nuclear Blast years (2013–2020)

The Divinity of Purpose, in January 2013, came out through Razor & Tie in the United States and Nuclear Blast in Europe, with official music videos for "Put It To the Torch" and "Honor Never Dies". The Concrete Confessional, in May 2016, was the first album for Nuclear Blast and produced more video than any other record in the catalogue: two music videos, a visualizer and a lyric video. Weight of the False Self, in November 2020, was the third for that label.

Fatal Paradox (2026)

Fatal Paradox, the ninth studio album, with an international release date of 6 November 2026 on BLKIIBLK Records, follows its predecessor by six years and was produced once again by Zeuss. Eleven songs run about thirty-five minutes; John Tardy of Obituary guests on "Sacrifice Season", and the closing "Poison Planet" is a cover of early Corrosion Of Conformity. It was written and recorded after founding bassist Chris Beattie's 2024 departure and through Wayne Lozinak's temporary absence and return.

Line-up

The current line-up is Jamey Jasta (vocals, 1994–), Wayne Lozinak (guitar, 1994–1996 and 2009–), Frank Novinec (guitar, 2006–), Matt Byrne (drums, 2001–) and Carl Schwartz (bass, 2025–). Bassist Chris Beattie was in the band from its formation until 2024. While Lozinak was away after brain surgery in August 2025, the band toured on with Carl Schwartz of First Blood and Terror on bass, and Schwartz is named in the 2026 line-up. Former members include Sean Martin (guitar, 1999–2009) and Lou Richards (guitar, 1996–2002; died 2006).

In Japan

No Japanese edition of Fatal Paradox has been announced at the time of writing. This site lists it as an import on its NEW & UPCOMING CDs shelf.

A note on sources

The list of albums and each first-release year come from MusicBrainz release groups; the running orders from Apple's iTunes Lookup API; and each album's label and catalogue number from the earliest dated release in that MusicBrainz release group. The ℗ line carried by streaming services names the current rights holder and is not used, because it can differ from the label a record actually came out on — the 1997 debut reads "℗ Craft Recordings" there, while it was released by Victory Records. Formation year, formation city and the members' dates are taken from the English Wikipedia article. The production details for Fatal Paradox carry over from the release information this site compiled in July 2026.