Cro-Mags

The Cro-Mags were a hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which had a strong cult following, released many records, their first two considered the most influential. They were among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with heav

The Cro-Mags were a hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which had a strong cult following, released many records, their first two considered the most influential. They were among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with heavy metal and were associated with the birth of a tougher attitude within the hardcore scene in the late 1980s.

They first released a demo with songs that would eventually find themselves on their debut album The Age Of Quarrel (1986). The bass player Harley Flanagan and singer John Joseph were not the best of friends and eventually Joseph would part ways with the band leaving Harley to sing on the rest of the Cro-Mags releases. After The Age of Quarrel, the band released the record Best Wishes (1989). The record had a more heavy metal-influenced sound which alienated many of their fans. The band released another record Alpha Omega (1992) only embraced by the most devoted of their fanbase, and followed by Near Death Experience (1993). After suffering from many lineup changes and frequent breakups, the group finally disbanded, seemingly for the last time, after this record. However, in 2003 they released a record that would almost make up for their past two releases. With Revenge the Cro-Mags came back to their early hardcore punk roots with songs that were comparable to their first releases.