Hatebreed change their tune

For Hatebreed, change has meant lineup shuffling and record label departures. Yet throughout the band's 15-year career, there have been few sonic alterations.

The metalcore act has consistently delivered gloomy, visceral and confrontational tracks. The group cultivated a fan base courtesy of its blistering guitar attack, the rants of lead screamer Jamey Jasta and an unrivaled intensity.

These days, though, the charismatic Jasta is tinkering with his band's sound. The leather lunged shouter is actually singing.

"I think that change is good," Jasta says while calling from Detroit. "Everybody can use some change, even if you've been doing what you've been doing for years. I know some fans just want to hear me scream, but I want to do something different like sing, a bit."

"For the Lions," Hatebreed's cover album, inspired Jasta to try to carry a tune.

"It's just something that happened," Jasta says. "I evolved. When I was in the studio and working on Obituary songs, I just started doing my take on [Obituary vocalist] John Tardy's voice. I discovered that I'm more versatile than I think. I can actually sing. So why not sing?"

Jasta's singing has spilled over to his band's shows and will be part of the next Hatebreed album made up of original material. The covers album comes out next year.

"It's time to move on," Jasta says. "But make no mistake about it. I'm still screaming like a maniac at our shows."

Hatebreed are on a brief tour, which includes a stop at the Lincoln Theatre in support of its initial DVD, 'Live Dominance.'

"We're just out playing smaller venues for the fans," Jasta says. "Instead of playing 2,000 [capacity venues] we're doing 500 or 600 [capacity] clubs. We want to get closer to fans, but we also want to get a number one DVD."

During the last two Hatebreed tours, the group, which also includes guitarist Sean Martin, bassist Chris Beattie and drummer Frank Novinec, has missed the Tar Heel state.

"That's something we talked about while we were putting this [jaunt] together," Jasta says. "We keep on missing North Carolina. We had to get Raleigh on this tour. Raleigh and other cities in North Carolina were so good to us during our early years. We had to come back for the fans who supported us there."

In between Hatebreed tours, Jasta will work on a book looking back at his three-and-a-half-year run as host of MTV's "Headbanger's Ball."

"It's been about a year since I left and it's about time to chronicle what went on," Jasta says. "It was a blast interviewing Metallica and Dio. It was awesome but not as awesome as being in this band. The most important thing is keeping this group going. We've had an amazing past. We just take one small step at a time. And just wait, we have an incredible future."