By Therese McKeon

Shoutweb: Can you show me the artwork?

Jamey: Yeah, I can actually show you a little mock up of it.

Shoutweb: Okay, now you have to explain this.

Jamey: It's two steel maces. (ed. By definition, a heavy medieval war club with a spiked or flanged metal head, used to crush armor.) They're actual real medieval weapons that Dean Karr, the photographer, had overnighted to the photo shoot. We laid them on the ground, doused them in gasoline and lit them on fire. (pointing) That's the title of the record and it's going to be in white with a black outline. It just sort of represents an impermeable force that can't be melted by fire or broken. It's perseverance.

Shoutweb: Very cool. And the rest of the tracks?

Jamey: There's "Healing To Suffer Again", "Hollow Ground", "Outro"...

Shoutweb: You don't have any acoustic song on there, do you? (laughter)

Jamey: No. We have a song that is a little different for us though. It's a slow, droning, with heavy guitar and maniacal screaming and it's like effects that are kind of like neurosis or integrity and it's a weird interlude type song. It's cool.

Shoutweb: What's that called?

Jamey: That's called "Bloodsoaked Memories". That was listed on the original listing on the web site. "We Still Fight" was added. The only ones that are gone are "Under The Knife" and "Condemned Until Rebirth".

Shoutweb: So, let's talk about touring. I know I've heard some stories from Chad of American Head Charge about golf cart jousting backstage at Ozzfest. Jamey: Oh, yeah. He got like a tattoo ripped off! Shoutweb: He got a gravel tattoo! Jamey: We had so many antics. I always try to do all the business stuff. I couldn't totally be involved with every little thing. Plus, the one day that I did party and go crazy, I think I was passed out by six o'clock because you go on at noon. You're out like a light by eight. Shoutweb: At Tattoo The Earth, I remember talking to Mic from Slipknot by the second stage at the New Jersey show. He was on one of those little bikes they have and I asked him why the heck he was even awake. He told me that you all drove from Kansas to New Jersey overnight for that tour and he hadn't gone to sleep yet because he was determined to see Hatebreed and Amen play. You guys go on so early that he kept missing your set for the first few shows of the tour. I have a photo of Mic with Sean and also Robert Iler, the kid actor from the HBO series "The Sopranos".

Sean Martin (Hatebreed), Mic Thompson - #7 (Slipknot), actor Robert Iler (HBO series "The Sopranos") backstage at Tattoo The Earth 2000 held at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ on July 20, 2000. Copyright (c) Therese McKeon/Shoutweb.com

Jamey: Yeah, the Slipknot story is, when they were starting out before they were on Roadrunner, Shawn was a fan of the band and came to our show and was going crazy moshing and freaking out and singing all the words. After the show, I talked to him outside and exchanged info. Sure enough, the next time we went through, he wasn't there but someone gave me a Slipknot promo tape and told me that they were going to be on Ozzfest that year. I was like, "Great!" They were doing a tour prior to Ozzfest and they were coming through Connecticut. I was going to be out of town but my friend was going. At the time, we were being booked by the same agency so I got my friend on the list and I gave him a whole bunch of merchandise and a little note saying, "Good luck on Ozzfest. Keep in touch with me. Blah, blah, blah. Best of luck." But I guess Biohazard rummaged through the package before anybody could get their hands on it! (laughter) But Joey did make off with some of the stuff and so did Shawn. They called me the next day and said, "Thank you for the stuff. We have ten dates we want to throw you guys on." By the time we actually got to the dates, they were huge and playing arenas. They're dudes just like us. They had the same goal. They've achieved them in a lot shorter period of time. They respect what we've done and look out for us. They're good guys. It's hard to keep in touch now because their schedule is insane but we leave messages for each other.

Shoutweb: So, I was at a few of the Ozzfest dates this past summer. For the final show, you almost didn't play at all because the drummer didn't show up. I remember you thanking Teddy from E-Town Concrete because you had to call him and wake him up to get him out to play with you guys.

Jamey: Yeah, that was all messed up but it worked out.

Shoutweb: So what is your drummer situation?

Jamey: Our drummer is Matt Byrne. He did the record. I don't even know what number drummer he was but basically, we had a falling out and we made good on it. He's back in the band for good. He was one of the best drummers we've ever had and it was really bad when we lost him. We got him on the record. We jammed, showed him the material, and he did the last couple of Ozzfests. He used to be in All Out War.

Shoutweb: So, he's here tonight and in the band?

Jamey: Yes! It's a big hometown gig for him.