The 2nd by Hater

Under the premise of recording demos either for Soundgarden’s upcoming record - which became Down On The Upside - or just to have ideas down and being proactive musically, the project was recorded at the original AVAST with Stuart Hallerman recording and engineering, just as the first Hater album was recorded.

The usual cast of characters from the first record weren’t there. This was a demo session without a set band in mind to use the songs or not. The tunes were just tunes and it wasn’t thought of as Hater until a rough mix cassette labeled Hater II was sent home for a listen.

On the first day of recording, and on the first track “Try,” Alan Davis who had come along to the studio to hang out, was handed the bass and told by Ben Shepherd “here man, play this.” After nailing it, Davis was the bassist.

The band had friend Gregg Keplinger come back into the fold, after playing on the first Hater record, to deliver his vocal debut on “Zombie Hand.” Keplinger also played drums on “Nearly.”

Another friend, Bill Rieflin of the Blackouts and Ministry, played brushes on “Curtis Bligh.” He also helped fly in a solo and some tracks from Shepherd’s 4-track.

During those AVAST sessions, Brian Wood had come in and put down vocals on an already recorded song called “Downpour At Mt. Angel.” His interpretation of the title and delivery is unmatchable, making the session kick into overdrive and making it become Hater The 2nd.

Soon thereafter the AVAST sessions were over. ‘Space’ was Soundgarden’s building on Aurora Avenue. That’s where the recordings were finished on Shepherd’s 8-track Otari, produced and engineered by the band. The songs “All Good,” “Uncontrolled,” and “Fever Saint,” were recorded at ‘Space.’ The songs “Uncontrolled” and “Fever Saint,” both having John McBain playing rhythm and lead guitar respectively, once again kicking the songs and album into a higher gear.

Two of the other songs were culled from Shepherd’s 4-track. “Between Two Fires” is one. In fact, it was finished at AVAST by bouncing the 4-track over and having Matt Cameron play to the tape. It was one of the original songs written for Hater. John Waterman played bass on the track, giving it the power and juice that it has. ‘Alcorokic’ was the other 4-track song added later when mixing with Adam Kasper, on which Shepherd played all the instruments, including “the lousy drumming” he says, “you cannot blame the drumming on Cameron - he can’t play that poorly even if he tried”.

So ... two songs from the sessions “Dusty” (which for Hater was just an instrumental ) and “An Unkind” wound up on what would become Soundgarden’s Down On The Upside, which was their last record for many years to come.

Due to the unofficial demise of Hater in 1997 during recording, the record was shelved after being fully mixed by Adam Kasper. It was then sequenced and mastered ten years later with Brian Nelson, just before its initial release on BurnBurnBurn.

In the hopes of finally releasing The 2nd digitally, Nate Yaccino mixed the tracks back to spec at the new AVAST and had Bob Ludwig remaster everything.

Finally, after being recorded in 1995, 24 years have gone by and Hater The 2nd is being offered again in streaming, limited cd, and vinyl formats at their Bandcamp page.