Hatebreed announced the departure of founding bassist Chris Beattie in February 2025. According to a statement from the bassist, he officially left Hatebreed on November 13, 2024, and clarified that it was not his decision to leave the band.
In a recent interview with The New York Hardcore Chronicles Live!, Chris Beattie spoke about his departure from the band and described it as "completely unexpected" [transcription via Metal Sucks ]:
“We had just celebrated our 30th anniversary. It was incredible. A successful tour. We left on a high note. We did an amazing job. And, as I said publicly before, it wasn't my decision to leave the band. Someone saw an opportunity to take me out of the picture, and that's where I am now.”.
He continued: “Everything went really well that year, but there were things happening behind the scenes and it became a daunting task to get in touch with anyone. And I was basically the intermediary for the band members and the crew, and that became a difficult task for me. And I started asking a lot of questions, and that became problematic. I became a problem within the [organization].”
Chris Beattie explains the current situation with Hatebreed
Currently, regarding his situation with Hatebreed after the split, Chris said that there are lawyers involved: “We’re trying to work this out. There are lawyers involved right now. They’re spending a lot of time dealing with it and all the details. And I’ve been going back and forth. So, I’m just hoping for the best. I hope we can work this out. I don’t want us to go down a bad path. We’ve all seen bands do this, so I hope everything can end well and we can move on.”.
And there's not the slightest chance of Beattie returning to Hatebreed, as he concluded: “My time with
Hatebreed is over… It’s over. My family comes first. I’ll leave it at that. I can’t go back to that. But there’s a legacy. With all the time I’m not in the band now, which, it’s strange to say, but people know me from that band wherever I go. You can’t get rid of that kind of thing. The identity is still there. So it’s good. It’s hard to talk about it too, but here we are. New doors open.”
Hatebreed has recruited guitarist Matt Bachand , from the band Shadows Fall , "for the foreseeable future" for live shows.
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