Biography
Hatewave emerged in Chicago as a three-piece unit devoted to breakneck death/grind, yet the music arrived from an unconventional angle that likely stemmed from the players’ backgrounds across free jazz, no wave, and experimental noise rock. Connections to scenes outside metal proved advantageous; drummer Weasel Walter, a central figure in the mid-’90s Chicago no wave community anchored by the Skin Graft label, helped route the band’s recordings to listeners and distributors who seldom handled metal. Even without a bassist, the group demonstrated credible death-metal credentials through favorable notices in the underground metal press and shared stages with acts such as Nile, Napalm Death, Usurper, Fleshgrind, and Incantation.
The project began in 1995 when guitarist/vocalist Sasha Tai, also credited as Sasha Lindquist, assembled the lineup; guitarist Angst, born Marc Rücker, and Walter joined the following year. Walter’s résumé already included the Flying Luttenbachers, Lake of Dracula, and 7000 Dying Rats. The band’s first official release, the self-titled Hatewave, was captured in 1998 with engineering assistance from Broken Hope’s Brian Griffin and issued on vinyl in 1999 via Up Jumps the Devil. The CD edition appeared in 2000 on tUMULt, augmented by three tracks drawn from a prior demo cassette, yet the trio had already dissolved by the end of 1999.
The project began in 1995 when guitarist/vocalist Sasha Tai, also credited as Sasha Lindquist, assembled the lineup; guitarist Angst, born Marc Rücker, and Walter joined the following year. Walter’s résumé already included the Flying Luttenbachers, Lake of Dracula, and 7000 Dying Rats. The band’s first official release, the self-titled Hatewave, was captured in 1998 with engineering assistance from Broken Hope’s Brian Griffin and issued on vinyl in 1999 via Up Jumps the Devil. The CD edition appeared in 2000 on tUMULt, augmented by three tracks drawn from a prior demo cassette, yet the trio had already dissolved by the end of 1999.
Albums