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Cinemetal

HATEBREED CAN’T SHAKE THE “GHOSTS” OF SLAYER

 Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 4:23pm by

I have never, and will never, understand the point of doing a cover if you’re not gonna make the track your own. Seriously, why just do an exact replica of the original when we all still have, y’know, the original?

Which is how I feel about Hatebreed’s new cover of Slayer’s “Ghosts of War.” I like Hatebreed but I can’t see anyone ever listening to this, especially since I think literally every metal fan in the whole wide world owns a copy of South of Heaven.

Hatebreed have an all-covers album, For the Lions, coming out May 9 on Koch. I hope some of it is more creative than this.

-AR

[via Headbanger's Blog]

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  • bearbomb

    I dunno, I think Jasta’s vocals automatically give the song its own spin. I kinda dig it. I agree with you about replicating an original song, but you could definitely do a lot worse. See Fear Factory’s pointless, and out of place “Cars” cover.

  • Bob

    not even mentioning the fact this video is ri-goddman-diculous.
    So the old guy , is he the “Ghost of War”??…..neat.

    FAIL!

  • Anthony

    I actually like this version better than Slayer’s.

  • Dave

    Man, Jasta’s voice gets old after like 20 seconds.

  • uLy

    Another shit metal band.

  • ben

    Its easy to make a decent cover when the original is awesome…Jasta is so annoying that I can’t even handle it.

  • iolanach

    “# uLy Says:
    April 10th, 2009 at 7:46 pm

    Another shit metal band.”

    yup

  • Name Not Applicable

    I wonder if the totally pointless “Refuse/Resist” cover on the Punisher soundtrack will be on this album?

  • groverXIII

    If you’ve heard one Hatebreed song you’ve heard them all.

    I dig ‘I Will Be Heard’… for some reason, that’s the only song they’ve done that sticks in my memory.

  • http://www.myspace.com/alexhaskett Alex Haskett

    “especially since I think literally every metal fan in the whole wide world owns a copy of South of Heaven.”

    i dont.

    but im just not really a slayer fan, i only own reign in blood

  • Lorenzo

    Is anybody just surprised that the band can actually play the song?

  • Barrack Obama

    Well I thought that was great so you can all just fuck off.

  • ceth

    Sounds like the old guitarist that came back has been practicing his chops in his time off. He played that a hell of a lot cleaner than anything Kerry King is playing these days…And i love Slayer.

  • Aaron

    uhhh, this band is a hardcore band NOT a metal band first up and they did a fine job

  • void

    Did Paiste payed for this video? Because it’s the only thing I can notice. And no, it’s not an “exact replica of the original ” it’s a lot worse.

  • alexwank

    “Lorenzo Says:

    April 11th, 2009 at 12:53 am
    Is anybody just surprised that the band can actually play the song?”

    haha.. my thoughts exactly. i’m particularly surprised they did the lead guitar parts justice. it sounded good. i guess the true litmus test will be their cover of ‘suicidal manic’ (also on this record). if he do can rocky george’s solo justice, then he can play just about anything……

    makes me wonder why if hatebreed can actually play reasonably complicated music, then why don’t they employ more than the 4 chords, monotonous vocals and breakdowns that they have for the last 4 or 5 albums? you can stay within the confines of a hardcore song structure, but use more than 3 strings and dozen frets……

    • Lorenzo

      If they just got that guy back then that makes me incredibly excited for a new album after the covers one. If they have the skills now maybe they’ll use them?

  • dthrasher

    I will probably never listen to this song again, mostly because covers are mostly a waste of time, but I actually thought this was great. Except for the part right around 3 minutes in, kinda gay.

  • Patton

    Original version has waay more power in it even though it was recorded ages ago.

  • crapmcpoopin

    Hatebreed did a better Slayer impression on Perseverance. This cover is just boring.

    Sworn Enemy does an even better Slayer impression tho.

  • SonOF

    I don’t care much for covers, but this one is quality.

  • Blake

    I didn’t know their drummer was this good.

  • Johnny

    I thought that was really good actually

  • http://fantasyh.wordpress.com fantasyh

    I don’t have “South of Heaven”. Or “Reign in Blood”. Or “Master of Puppets” for that matter. Not a physical copy anyway. Should I leave now?

  • pooo

    jamey jastas voice is….just so annoying. monotone,robotic crap. I heard the sepultura cover, wow what trash. But then again, the only reason a band does complete cover albums id because theyve become stale. But Hatebreed has been stale for their entire career…ill take terror,SOIA and toxic narcotic for my HxC soup, thank you.

  • pooo

    what

  • Readbetweenthethumbs

    Jasta’s vocals are no more monotone than present day Araya. For Araya though, the vocals were a little more diverse on SOH. This cover IS pointless, but overall they do the original some justice…coulda been a hell of lot worse. Drummer doesn’t have Lombardo’s power though…go back and listen to any Lombardo fill from any of the Rubin produced albums. Not sure if the returning guitarist is the one doing the leads.

  • http://reaper-x.deviantart.com/ Reaper-X

    “See, we’re in touch with metalheads! We don’t just do breakdowns!”

    This does feel pointless. Rather phoned-in. Quality wise, the production doesn’t sound horrible and it does hit hard…but It doesn’t make it any less irrelevant.

  • Your Mother

    At first I was like… fuck this.

    Then I gave it a minute and came to the point that it’s just a few guys playing what they want to play. I am not a big fan of the Breed, but they have done very well, so I respect that. As far as why do an exact cover… Maybe it’s out of respect for Slayer! If that’s the case then very cool tribute to the legends…

    If it’s not the case, then it’s still a good song, as long as it’s not TLC covering it or something…

    Give the dudes a break… When you or any other “web-master” has a band that has done as much as they have, maybe your opinions on the songs they cover will actually be worth a shit..

    :)

  • http://corycollier.com Cory Collier

    Dude, you’re off your rocker! This cover is bad-assed!!!!