Hatewave

The Chicago-based trio Hatewave specialized in ultra-fast death/grind metal, which was played with a non-traditional slant, perhaps owing to its members' experience in a variety of other genres, including free jazz, no wave, and experimental/noise rock. Their ties to other non-metal-oriented music scenes — drummer Weasel Walter, for example, was a major player in the mid-'90s Chicago no wave scene that centered around the Skin Graft label — meant the band's music was heard by many listeners, and carried by some record distributors not normally associated with the metal genre. That said, Hatewave could certainly hold their own as a death metal band (despite their atypical, bass-less instrumentation). Evidence of this comes from the positive reviews they garnered in the underground metal press and by the many metal bands they shared concert bills with, among them Nile, Napalm Death, Usurper, Fleshgrind, and Incantation.

Hatewave was formed in 1995 by guitarist/vocalist Sasha Tai (aka Sasha Lindquist); guitarist Angst (aka Marc Rücker) and drummer Walter (also known for his work with the Flying Luttenbachers, Lake of Dracula, and 7000 Dying Rats, among other bands) came on a year later. The trio's official debut, simply entitled Hatewave, was recorded in 1998 with the aid of Broken Hope's Brian Griffin and released on vinyl the following year by the Up Jumps the Devil label. The CD version did not come out until 2000, at which time it was released by tUMULt, with three bonus tracks from an earlier demo cassette tacked on. By this point, however, the trio had already disbanded, having called it quits in late 1999.