Hatebreed Shakes The Foundations Of The Underground

Metalcore Legends Bring Epic Metal Lineup To The Queen City

Here’s a quick question for all my fellow metalheads. What do you get when you mix two parts hardcore with one part punk and top off with a splash of good old fashioned heavy metal? The answer, of course, is the metalcore madness of Hatebreed. The band is currently out on the road for their 25th Anniversary Tour and recently made a stop right here in Charlotte at the Underground bringing an epic lineup of metal madness along for the ride. Joining Hatebreed was Fit For An Autopsy, Terror, Cro-Mags, and Obituary making it a unique lineup that fans were very much looking forward to. With a total of five bands on the bill, the show got off to a very early start with venue doors opening at the typically unheard of 5:30 P.M. with the first band scheduled to hit the stage at 6:30 sharp.

When I arrived at The Underground and made my way through security, I was surprised to see so many fans already inside. The first band to hit the stage was the Fit For An Autopsy with their special brand of deathcore and it was great to see such a big crowd there ready to cheer them on. Things got ramped up quickly as the band launched into “Hydra” off their latest 2017 album The Great Collapse.

Frontman Joe Badolato was in control from the very first note, leading the charge and urging the audience on as he spun around the stage like a Tasmanian Devil. The fans were eager to participate and the mosh pits were in full swing early on in the show.

Their set was short but oh so very sweet and my only complaint was that it was over way too soon. Fit For An Autopsy was definitely firing on all cylinders and did a fantastic job of getting the crowd pumped up.

Without too much of a break, the next act was up and ready to go as Terror took their turn on the Underground stage. The five-piece hardcore band from Los Angeles was new to me as I had never seen them perform live.

They are out touring with Hatebreed in support of their seventh studio album Total Retaliation and I was eager to see what they would bring. Frontman Scott Vogel made his way center stage sporting a Suicidal Tendencies hoodie and never stopped moving all set long.

Guitarists Jordan Posner and Martin Stewart were a true double threat throwing down huge leads and crunching riffs all night long. The band had a great stage presence and knew how to work the room, getting the fans involved right from the start, urging the mosh pits, and thrusting the devil horns high up in the air.

I enjoyed what I saw and hope to get a chance to see the band in action sometime again in the near future.

The next act was one I was truly excited for as hardcore punk legends Cro-Mags were about to kick things up a notch. The band has been embroiled in the midst of legal action taken by Cro-Mags founder and bassist Harley Flanagan over rights to the band name. Since the show at the Underground, the suit has been settled with Flanagan maintaining rights to the original names and the band that is out with Hatebreed will be known in a few months time as Cro-Mags “JM.” Legalese aside, this version of Cro-Mags is led by vocalist John Joseph with Mackie on drums, AJ Novello on guitar and Craig Ahead on bass. Now as far as their performance, it can easily be summed up. They kicked ass!

They are true punk legends and possessed a seemingly endless supply of energy as they banged their way through a set that drew heavily on their debut album of 1986, The Age of Quarrel. Joseph jumped, jived, and wailed all over the place as the band gave the fans in attendance a musical lesson in the history of punk.

It was awesome in every way and they even included a couple of Bad Brains tunes for good measure. This was an iconic set by a legendary band and something I hope everyone gets a chance to experience at least once in their lives.

Moving on after such a raging set was going to be tough, but if anyone could do it, Obituary could. The Florida rockers are one of the pioneers of the death metal genre and have steadily been a force to be reckoned with ever since their early days when they were known as Executioner.

The stage went completely black as billows and billows of smoke rose up and the Pat Travers’ song “Snortin’ Whiskey” was played over the loudspeakers. Drummer Donald Tardy was first to make his way out on stage taking his spot behind the kit. The rest of the band would follow kicking off with “Redneck Stomp” before lead vocalist John Tardy finally took his spot behind the center microphone.

There was plenty of raging guitars and hair flipping galore during the band’s nine-song set as they dove into Obituary classics and hits including an awesome cover of Celtic Frost’s “Circle of the Tyrants.”

The band is technically superb and the crowd at the Underground enjoyed each and every second of their set. Crog-Mags was a tough act to follow, but Obituary was up to the challenge.

If the show ended right there, it would have been a more than satisfying night but there was, of course, one more band to come as the headlining act Hatebreed was getting ready for their turn on stage. It had been a while since Hatebreed made a Charlotte tour stop and the last time I saw them was on the 2017 Vans Warped Tour which is a shortened set so I was more than stoked for them to raise the roof of the Underground and give us a night we would never forget which is exactly what Hatebreed did.

Since the band is celebrating their 25th anniversary, it was definitely appropriate that they came out with “Empty Promises,” the first of many songs from their 1997 Satisfaction Is The Death of Desire record. It was non-stop action all set long as frontman Jamey Jasta jumped, pumped his fist, and gave his signature growls a workout.

Guitarists Frank Novinec and Wayne Lozinak are the real deal, feeding off each other’s energy and giving everything they had into every single note and chord. What a power rush! Holding all that craziness in place is the stellar rhythm section of drummer Matt Byrne and bass guitarist Chris Beattie who kept things running solidly along. Jasta is a master showman and knows how to work the crowd, interacting with the fans up front and egging everyone on to mosh and get those circle pits going. It was a wild set in every possible way and they even played my favorite tune “Destroy Everything” off their 2006 album Supremacy. In my mind, all was right with the world.

Thank you, Hatebreed for bringing the Charlotte metal community together again for an outrageous evening that none of us will ever forget. If you have a chance to catch this tour, do not hesitate. Go and get your mosh on!

See full gallery of the night!

MAY 7 TUE

Hatebreed Shakes The Foundations Of The Underground

Metalcore Legends Bring Epic Metal Lineup To The Queen City

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