Hawthorne Heights new EP “Hate” has a theme of hatred, as implied by the title. It has much more passion than previous CDs, and includes screaming in a lot of the songs, which their CDs have not really done since Casey Calvert passed away in 2007.
The lyrics are darker and filled with more emotion than usual, which, in my opinion, makes them more interesting to listen to. The EP starts off with a short song about a boy who grew up troubled. After this introduction, the songs include angry lyrics that are still very relatable, and soft verses accompanied by heavier choruses. It ends with the melody it began with, tying everything back together.
Overall, I would give the EP four stars. For those of you who listened to the band in middle school or high school, I would definitely recommend checking it out, because it is a lot like their first CDs. For new listeners, it is a good starter album to get you into them but keep in mind their style varies from CD to CD; this is not what everything they play sounds like.
The band played a show at Zydeco in Birmingham, Ala., on Sept. 11. They are on tour promoting their new EP “Hate,” which includes nine tracks. I attended the show, and they were fantastic live performers. Although not as many people as expected had showed up, it was very fun. I was in the very front, singing along with every song, despite the odd looks from the surrounding concertgoers. After the show, I had the opportunity to get an interview with the drummer, Eron Bucciarelli.
Caroline Godwin: How’s the tour going?
Eron Bucciarelli: So far so good, its been a lot of fun… honestly I was kind of a little disappointed with Birmingham tonight, to be real honest. We had an amazing show here back in February, it was an acoustic show and it took place in essentially what was a blizzard for everybody in Birmingham. And there was more people and they were way rowdier. So I figured alright the weather is nice, we’re playin’ electric, it’s gonna be real loud, it’s gonna be packed out and its gonna be awesome. And I guess I had too high expectations or something. But other than that it was good, it was solid
CG: What’s your favorite song off the new EP?
EB: I really like the song “Oceans” a lot, and I like “Four White Walls.”
CG: What’s your favorite song to play live?
EB: I think it kind of changes from tour to tour for me. We change our set up pretty routinely. This tour I think I like “End of the Underground” and “Four White Walls,” which we didn’t play tonight but we had been playing previously.
CG: The best show you’ve ever played?
EB: Wow, actually on our last tour we did in the spring we played this little town in the middle of the hills in Kentucky called Whitesburg, and we had no idea what to expect. It’s like down in the thick of it. Three or four hundred kids showed up and this is a room that can safely hold about 200, and it was absolute chaos. We’ve played everything from Warped Tour to arenas and stuff, but this little show in the middle of nowhere Kentucky just blew our minds. It was incredible.
CG: What’s the hardest part of being on tour?
EB: I think the hardest part of being on tour is being away from your family. I have a little daughter now, and I miss my wife and I miss my daughter.
CG: So why did y’all choose to do three EPs instead one CD?
EB: I think from a creative standpoint it makes more sense because our tastes are continuously evolving. And then we can sort of fulfill fans’ need for new music at a much more rapid pace.
CG: Do you prefer playing heavier or softer music?
EB: I personally prefer playing heavier music 90 percent of the time. But sometimes, like I said, we did an acoustic tour last February and that was a lot of fun because it forced us to sort of re-envision all of our songs, and that was really cool because when we are playing our songs normally it can get a little redundant sometimes.
CG: Favorite drink?
EB: Alcoholic: Jameson on the rocks. Non-alcoholic: I drink a ton of water every day.
