Agnostic Front
is an American hardcore punk and crossover thrash band that formed in New York City in 1980. The band began playing hardcore punk similar to bands like Black Flag and Negative Approach, and were thrust to the forefront of the burgeoning New York hardcore scene in the mid-1980s with their widely regarded 1984 classic Victim in Pain
before evolving to incorporate thrash metal elements into their music. By the late '90s, Agnostic Front had signed with Epitaph Records and adopted a street punk sound before growing into a crossover metallic hardcore hybrid similar to bands like Hatebreed and Madball.
|
AGNOSTIC FRONT TICKETS
|
History
Early
Formed by guitarist
Vinnie Stigma (formerly of the Eliminators) in November/December 1980, with Diego on bass and Rob Krekus on drums. Agnostic Front went through a few singers, two of them being John Watson and Jimmy "The Mad Russian", before settling with
Roger Miret (former bassist of The Psychos). They soon added
Ray Barbieri, aka Raybeez (
Warzone), on drums and
Adam Moochie on bass. Their debut EP
United Blood
, released in 1983 on an indie label, has since become a collector's item. At this time, the band consisted entirely of
Skinheads. Although this would change over time, Agnostic Front would continue to feature skinheads as part of their line-up.
The follow-up,
Victim in Pain
(1984), is regarded as a seminal
New York hardcore release.
Dave Jones replaced
Ray Barbieri on drums and Rob Kabula on bass. In 1984 Jim "the Kid" Colleti from Justified Violence joined on drums as the band went to tour with The Exploited later that year. The album pushed the band to the forefront of New York's fledgling hardcore scene, which was centered around
CBGB's, where they played with bands like
The Cro-Mags and
Murphy's Law.
1986's
Cause for Alarm
was a difficult album to record, due to constant line-up changes and personnel problems. Released on
Combat Records, it added
thrash metal influences. With other bands such as
Suicidal Tendencies and
Stormtroopers of Death, this album would mark AF's foray into the world of
crossover thrash.
With yet another new lineup, the band soon released
Liberty and Justice for...
in 1987. The album featured stripped down punk with a lack of thrash influences, yet it contained many metal-style guitar solos. It did not sell nearly as well as previous releases. Sometime later, Miret was arrested on drug charges after releasing a live album, and spent his time in prison writing new songs while Stigma and the band toured Europe for the first time. The lyrics written by Miret while incarcerated formed most of 1992's
One Voice
, which featured members of
Madball and
Sick of It All. Not long after its release, the band decided to call it quits. Their last show was at
CBGB on December 20th, 1992;
Last Warning
, which was also released with
United Blood
E.P on the end of the release. Vinnie Stigma apparently remarked that he hated
Last Warning
.
Later
Stigma and Miret reformed Agnostic Front in May of 1996 and did a few reunion shows in December 1996, signing to
Epitaph Records and recruiting Jimmy Colletti on drums and Rob Kabula, who was playing with
Against The Grain at the time, on bass. Their latest venture was titled
Something's Gotta Give
, although Miret announced in the UK the original title would be
Today, Tomorrow, Forever
. In 1999 they followed up with
Riot, Riot, Upstart
. They also won an
MTV award for the title track music video. Their comeback albums have sold well and been mostly acclaimed by music critics for their pure
hardcore punk/
oi! sound. In 2001 they released the album
Dead Yuppies
. Songs from this album were rarely played live, as the band considered it more a product of Loved and Hated, Jimmy Colletti's side-project bands. In 2002 Miret worked on a side project band,
Roger Miret and the Disasters, looking for a sound akin to old school
punk rock and
Oi!. Also that year, the band appeared in
Matthew Barney's film,
Cremaster 3 along with
Murphy's Law.
Agnostic Front came out in 2005 with
Another Voice
. The album was regarded mainly as a follow up to
One Voice
. The album, however, did receive some criticism from fans and the press for apparently changing their music to fit the current wave of '
tough guy' bands. Musically, the album bears resemblance to bands that were heavily influenced by Agnostic Front, such as
Hatebreed. Miret's vocals on the album particularly seemed to turn off many less
hardcore punk oriented fans. Later, the track "Peace" was contributed to the
mashup album
Threat: Music That Inspired The Movie, where it was remixed by
Schizoid and renamed "World At War."
On March 7, 2006 Agnostic Front released their long-awaited DVD "Live at CBGB". This follows the efforts of many bands that tried to save CBGB from shutting down.
On November 6, 2007 Agnostic Front released the album
Warriors
with the hit "For My Family" which was largely a continuation of "
Another Voice"s sound.
Discography
Albums/EPs
- United Blood
EP (1983) Last Warning Records
- Victim in Pain
(1984) Rat Cage Records
- Cause for Alarm
(1986) Relativity/Combat Records
- Liberty and Justice for...
(1987) Relativity/Combat Records
- Live at CBGB
(1989) Relativity Records
- One Voice
(1992) Relativity/Roadrunner Records
- Last Warning
(1993) Relativity/Roadrunner Records
- Raw Unleashed
(1995) Grand Theft Audio
- Something's Gotta Give
(1998) Epitaph Records
- Puro Des Madre (en espanol)
(1998) Hellcat Records
- Riot, Riot, Upstart
(1999) Epitaph Records
- Dead Yuppies
(2001) Epitaph Records
- Working Class Heroes
(2002) I Scream Records split with Discipline
- Another Voice
(2004) Nuclear Blast Records
- Live at CBGB (Agnostic Front album)
(2006) Nuclear Blast Records
- Warriors
(2007) Nuclear Blast Records
- For My Family
EP (2007) Nuclear Blast Records
DVD/VHS
- Live at CBGB's DVD
2006
- ''CBGB's Punk From the Bowery
- "LIVE in N.Y.C. '91... with Sick Of It All & Gorilla Biscuits
Members
- Roger Miret - Vocals
- Vinnie Stigma - Guitar
- Mike Gallo - Bass
- Joseph James - Guitar
- Pokey - Drums
Former members
- Joe "Fish" Montenaro - Drums
- Louie Beatto - Drums
- Ray Beez - Drums
- Jim Colletti - Drums
- Lenny Di Sclafani - Guitar
- Matt Henderson - Guitar
- Dave Jones - Drums
- Rob Kabula - Bass Guitar
- Alex Kinon - Guitar
- Steve Martin - Guitar
- Gordon Ancis - Guitar
- Diego - Bass Guitar
- Adam Moochie - Bass Guitar
- Alan Peters - Bass Guitar
- Craig Setari - Bass Guitar
- Will Shepler - Drums
- Michael Shost - vocals (European tour while Miret was turned away at the German Border)
- Jimmy "The Mad Russian" - Vocals
- Robbie Cryptcrash - Drums
- John Watson - Vocals
- Todd Youth - Bass Guitar
- Steve Gallo - Drums