The Formative Years – Hardcore classics pt. 1
With ZAP magazine playing a pivotal role in promoting and covering everything New York Hardcore related in a pro-active and prominent manner, Europe and specifically Germany have always been prime markets for hardcore emanating from the Big Apple.
The result was that “NYHC” became a veritable label and trademark and almost guaranteed especially in the early to mid-1990s that the bands being categorized under it the opportunity to instantaneously tour Europe and find a captive audience ready to lap up their musical emissions and releases.
Agnostic Front had firmly established their deserved standing as one of the all-time greats on the firmament of hardcore bands, and when Madball released its first 7”s in 1989 and 1992 with Roger Miret’s little brother on vocal duties, at the time it seemed like an interesting side-project band not much more than that.
Everything changed in 1994 when stars aligned and the conglomerate comprised of singer Freddy Cricien, bassist Hoya Roc, drummer Will Shepler and guitarists Vinnie Stigma and Matt Henderson created something much bigger than the sum of the constituents would suggest, i.e. one of the musically tightest hardcore records I have heard to this day. Released via Roadrunner Records, one was initially suspicious that it could be a tamed, sterile mass compatible major label release, but the final result could not have been further from that.
Set it Off encompassed the epitome of the pre-gentrification New York - both musically and lyrically.
Sonically, the production was calibrated at the perfect level and set new standards for powerful hardcore records – it was snotty, yet beefy and crisp. It highlighted Matt Henderson’s bouncy, chug-rhythmic riffing and momentous breakdowns backed by Shepler’s bouncy drumming and seamlessly blended in Cricien’s vocals with their idiosyncratic hip hop tinge, which infused the record with a choppy groovyness without ever running danger of lacking in rawness and aggression.
A landmark record and milestone of 1990s hardcore.
