Hate Dept. is an American synthesizer-laden post punk band, formed in 1991 by Steven Seibold. The group releases albums and performs music in the same vein as Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy and The Prodigy. Seibold is a multi-instrumentalist who manages to write, record and release Hate Dept. albums without the aid of outside help. He formed Hate Dept. in 1991 in reaction to fickle 'electro' audiences and antipathy towards live electronic bands, taking his sound in a more punk direction.
Hate Dept.'s debut album in 1994, Meat.Your.Maker, appeared in Rolling Stone's Top 10 alternative albums while Seibold was nominated 'Best New Talent' by Keyboard Magazine. Omnipresent, the second release by the group, again entered charts in Rolling Stone and Alternative Press. Hate Dept. had a brief period of commercial success after the release of the third album Technical Difficulties. The only single, Release It, earned radio airplay in 50 North American markets.
Seibold joined Pigface in 2001, touring and recording with Martin Atkins in several projects. During this time, Hate Dept. released their fourth album Ditch in 2003. Although the band had publicly announced the release of the fifth studio album, A New Ghost. Production stalled and for years, fans were left with little more than rumors of random, unavailable songs.
In August 2013, 10 years after the release of Ditch, Seibold announced via Facebook that a fifth studio album, now titled simply, New Ghost, was set for an August 27, independent release. Shortly after the announcement, this statement was posted:
"I'm not ignoring the questions I've been asked about the access and sale of the new album, 'New Ghost', I'm just thinking about the answer. If it is to be considered a luxury to be an 'independent artist', one must treat it as such. We won't disappoint you. You'll hear it August 27th, see it, touch it, feel it and study it, shortly after if you chose to. And, if geography permits, we will perform close enough to you to once again make ears ring, shake hands and embrace..."
New Ghost was released Aug 2013 to much fan praise. He also allowed many fans who he met on Facebook to sing on a chorus vocal in the song Broken Rule, one fan included the singer of the band Gravity Kills. Currently it's available at http://hatedept.bandcamp.com/album/new-ghost-2
In 2014 Seibold began posting videos of himself performing acoustic versions of many Hate Dept. songs discussing with his fans the possibility of acoustic shows in the future.
In 2014 Seibold released a trilogy of remix albums for New Ghost on http://hatedept.bandcamp.com/ When releasing those Hate Dept. became one of the first bands to allow some of there creative fans to remix their songs for actual release. The fans (often going under their project name, solo or band names) featured on the remixes are: Produkt, Slighter, Sweat Boys, Cabo Joe & Chop Shop, Idiot Stare, Nick Meade, Julian Beeston, MSHAA, Murder Love God, Jeff Stumpp, Rijjet Rogets, Slighter, UCNX, I.X.XI, Steven OLaf, Messy Jax, GLI7CH, Ghost Echo, Scant Regard, The Raygun Girls, Robert Zelin, MulpHia, japaneseCARCRASH, Cursed Earth Corporation, Steven Madsen, Great Oz Digital, Microwaved, Holokade, Damsel in the Dollhouse, Slave Unit, mnpltr, Deathproof, ENDIF, Roger "gReen bEAn" Lopez, Kent Ward, musichatesyouall, Saemskin & Covered In Spiders.