"At first we were kind of just screwing around for the hell of it, recording other band's songs," Novinec tells Billboard.com. "It wasn't intended to be released. But the more that we got into it, it was like, 'Hey, let's roll with it' and became something we wanted to do."

Novinec says the album, recorded with producer Zeuss as Planet-Z Recording studio in Hadley, Mass., features "Hatebreed-ized" versions of songs originally done by Metallica, Sepultura, the Misfits, Agnostic Front, Sick Of It All and Marauder, among others.

"It's bands that influenced us, not only metal but from the hardcore scene as well," he explains. "We thought the timing was right. Our band's been together for over a decade now, so we're able to pull off something like this, something different than the same old record you put out. People who are fans of the band can enjoy it, and it gives people who don't know our band and our influences a little taste of it."

Hatebreed hasn't decided on a title for the album yet but plans to have it out next year, following the Sept. 2 release of the group's first concert DVD, "Live Dominance," which was filmed in March at a concert in Detroit and is the first produced in the band's new multi-tiered, worldwide deal with KOCH Records. A live CD recorded in Dallas and produced by former Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul is due out before the end of this year as well.

Hatebreed kicks off a 13-date tour on Sept. 2 back in Detroit to promote "Live Dominance" and will do a handful of shows in December. Mostly, however, the group plans to be in the studio; Novinec says the band is "slowly writing stuff" for its next studio album, the follow-up to 2006's "Supremacy," which Hatebreed hopes to release in late 2009.