Hatebreed Destroys The Rave

The metal fans were out on Saturday night to see hardcore heroes, Hatebreed, along with Terror, and Job For a Cowboy destroy The Rave. Job for a Cowboy opened up the night with tracks off their newest album, Demonocracy. JFAC's performance also proved once again that Jon Rice is one of the best metal drummers around. Then LA hardcore act, Terror, followed up with a wave of crowd surfing and slam dancing. “Crawl on up, crawl on up!” Scott Vogel called as he provoked the crowd to get off their feet and get to the stage. He even threw out the microphone in to the crowd for fans to scream along.

But this was all just a warm up for the hardcore legends, Hatebreed. Opening up with tracks off their newest album, The Divinity of Purpose, Hatebreed took the stage with their sheer sense of adrenaline fueled intensity. When Hatebreed is in town, they make sure to let the fans know that they are the reason they are there. Jamey Jasta always shows such love for the crowd and their town. “Whether it's from way back in the day at the Milwaukee Metal-fests, or just recently with Lamb of God and In Flames, Milwaukee is always good to us. Now that I think about it, we've never had a bad show in Milwaukee.” Jasta boasted from the stage. “I know I’ve been thanking you guys between every song, But I just love you so f***en much.” They even dedicated a song to Wisconsin's own metal act, Jungle Rot.

Anyone who has seen Hatebreed live knows two things. This is a band who truly loves what they do and that no one stays still during one of their performances. Hatebreed had the crowd in the palm of their hands. The crowd exploded with fist pumping and circle pits from one side of the room to the other. They had everyone singing along word for word to their classic songs like Perseverance, This Is Now, and Doomsayer. And when they closed with their mosh pit anthem, “I Will Be Heard” Hatebreed was drowned out by the loudness of their own fan's chanting. Hatebreed destroyed The Rave once again like expected, and left a trail of beer soaked and sweaty fans with blown out vocal cords in the process.

On a sadder note; moments before Hatebreed took the stage, word broke about the death of Deftones's bassist, Chi Cheng. Everyone at The Rave and the Milwaukee music scene wants to send our love to Chi and the whole Deftones family. We will always remember the many times that he graced our stages with his amazing performances. One love for Chi. Rest easy...