CRUSHER Magazine: Feature: Agnostic Front

      Robbie later joined CFA & was replaced by Raybeez who was like their roadie at the time. His first gig was at Terminal 406 in Baltimore, Md. They played with MDC, MINOR THREAT, FAITH, SCREAM, the BOLLOCKS. Ray shaved his eyebrows for this show.
    I remember we traveled with more than 3 cars to get down there. Me, Uncle Al, & Willie No Edge rode in the back of a pick up truck with a tarp over us for 4 hours. Tell me if that wasn't hardcore, then what is?
AGNOSTIC FRONT, for awhile, had Keith Burkhardt (who later would sing for CFA) fill in for John Watson on vocals while he was in jail in Canada. John eventually got replaced by Jimmy Kontra the Mad Russian, Diego later got replaced by Adam Mucci who was also in MURPHY'S LAW.
     AF did shows in NJ, DC, Norfolk Virginia, Conecticut, Philly, other places.
Kontra didn't stay in the band long. He jumped ship to join Patrick & Natz, formerly of the Undead, in Virus. Kontra got replaced by Roger Miret who was playing bass in the PSYCHOS. Roger started writing music & lyrics & reorganizing some of the material that they already had.
     AGNOSTIC FRONT began take an Oi direction, even starting to dress more like the British skins. They began to follow a more Patriotic stance having the American flag onstage. At this time they also got into a verbal feud with MDC over their difference in political beliefs.
     They recorded the United Blood 7" on their own label. At this time the band was beginning to be taken more seriously. Raybeez had personal problems & made himself unavailable at a time when AGNOSTIC FRONT needed him. He got replaced by Dave Jones who was in Mental Abuse.
     The songs AF had were "United Blood", "Last Warning", "Traitor", "Friend or Foe", "It's My Life", "Society's Suckers", "In Control", and "Smell the Bacon".
     They started writing a whole bunch of new songs that were more in a hardcore type of vein. The nucleus of these songs showed up on the Victim in Pain LP. They began to preach more unity between punks and skins. Which is what they are still doing to this day. Adam got replaced by Todd Youth & was later replaced by Rob Kabula from CFA.
     They were doing songs like "Victim in Pain", "Blind Justice", "Your Mistake", "Power", "Hiding Inside", "United and Strong", and others...The politcs are the same but these guys are aware of what's going on behind the scenes.AGNOSTIC FRONT played shows with CRUCIFIX, IRON CROSS, MDC, SS DECONTROL, others
     The Rock Hotel era started and Chris Williamson had a controlling interest of the headlining bands who played there, but AF was exempt from that due to their drawing power.
     They recorded the Victim in Pain LP on Rat Cage Records, which I would say was an all-time hardcore classic. Dave left the band and was replaced by Petey Hines who was also in Murphy's Law. Petey was replaced by Jimmy Colletti.
     Major labels began to develop an interest in signing hardcore bands. Most of the metal bands that they signed were losing steam, the labels and bands figured that if they associated themselves with the hardcore scene their dying scene would be revitalized.
You know what? It worked.
     The lineup in AF fluctuated. Alex from CFA was added as a second guitarist, but didn't stay. Gordon from Mayhem joined, but didn't stay long either.
     AGNOSTIC FRONT signed to COMBAT CORE, which was a subsidiary of Relativity. Afterwards they became a part of In Effect Records which was a more hardcore sounding name than Combat. They released CAUSE FOR ALARM which was their first crossover style record. That was something big that was going on at that time.
     Will Shepler (drums) & Al Peters (bass), from Circus of Death in Pittsburgh, moved to NY to join the band. Steve Martin from the FUs was added on 2nd guitar. Liberty & Justice was more on a hardcore tip than crossover.
     The AF lineup then had many other people near the end of their first stint. Besides Roger & Vinny, they had Will, Craig Ahead on bass, and Matt Henderson on guitar. Roger did some time in jail, but managed to get out in a year. AF began to tour Europe.
     At this time, Relativity then pulled the plug on In Effect and began to market AGNOSTIC FRONT and all the other hardcore bands that they had. But they didn’t do a good job of it. They did tours with bands like OBITUARY, CANNIBAL CORPSE, & MORBID ANGEL.
     AF released One Voice, their final disc for Relativity. The sound was more like what MADBALL was going to be. The lyrics dealt with a lot of anger from Roger's experiences in jail.
     In 92, AF decided to call it quits after 10 years. They played their final show at CBGBs with MADBALL(with Roger's brother Freddy singing), WARZONE, COLD AS LIFE, DMIZE, & REJUVENATE.
     Afterwards, AGNOSTIC FRONT did a final European tour and the members went on to other things. Roger went to motorcycle repair school in Florida. Craig joined SICK OF IT ALL. Everybody else did MADBALL.
     In 96, AGNOSTIC FRONT members Roger, Vinny, Kabula, & Will got up and did a couple of songs during a MADBALL set. They decided to reunite with Jimmy Coletti on drums. They played their re-debut at Wetlands. They had bands like H2O, 25 ta Life, Faction Zero, Killing Time, Maximum Penalty, and Against the Grain opening for them.
     Next, they got signed to Epitaph and began recording new albums back in the vein of Victim in Pain. They began touring and doing videos. They began doing newer songs like "Something's Gotta Give", "Believe", "Gotta Gotta Go", "It's My Life"(a different song), "Riot Riot Upstart", and others.
     Currently Kabula left and was replaced by Mike Gallo from On the Rise. Aside from their AF duties Roger has his own thing going called Roger Miret and the Disasters. Vinny also plays in a punk band called the Zombie Vandals. Jimmy sings for Loved and Hated.
After 20 years on and off, AGNOSTIC FRONT remains a driving force on the NYHC scene to this day.

Recommended hardcore record releases:
     • Agnostic Front-United Blood 7 inch EP
     • Cause for Alarm/Victim in Pain CD (Combat).
     • Liberty & Justice For... CD (Combat Core)
     • Live at CBGB's [LIVE] CD (In Effect)
     • One Voice CD (Relativity)
     • Last Warning live CD (Relativity)
     • Raw Unleashed CD (Grand Theft Audio)
     • Something's Gotta Give CD (Epitaph)
     • Riot Riot Upstart CD (Epitaph)
     • Dead Yuppies CD (Epitaph)

	AGNOSTIC FRONT by Tommy Rat	LINKS: agnostic-front.com hardcore-thru-my-eyes.com
	AGNOSTIC FRONT is the closest thing to a success story in New York Hardcore. They set the standard to open doors for more bands to be able to play out. Back in ‘82, Vinny Stigma, who was in the Eliminators and The Attack, wanted to start a band with some of the hardest dancers in the NYHC scene that did not play in any bands. He got John Watson on vocals, Diego on bass, & Robbie CryptKrasher on drums.
Robbie later joined CFA & was replaced by Raybeez who was like their roadie at the time. His first gig was at Terminal 406 in Baltimore, Md. They played with MDC, MINOR THREAT, FAITH, SCREAM, the BOLLOCKS. Ray shaved his eyebrows for this show. I remember we traveled with more than 3 cars to get down there. Me, Uncle Al, & Willie No Edge rode in the back of a pick up truck with a tarp over us for 4 hours. Tell me if that wasn't hardcore, then what is? AGNOSTIC FRONT, for awhile, had Keith Burkhardt (who later would sing for CFA) fill in for John Watson on vocals while he was in jail in Canada. John eventually got replaced by Jimmy Kontra the Mad Russian, Diego later got replaced by Adam Mucci who was also in MURPHY'S LAW. AF did shows in NJ, DC, Norfolk Virginia, Conecticut, Philly, other places. Kontra didn't stay in the band long. He jumped ship to join Patrick & Natz, formerly of the Undead, in Virus. Kontra got replaced by Roger Miret who was playing bass in the PSYCHOS. Roger started writing music & lyrics & reorganizing some of the material that they already had. AGNOSTIC FRONT began take an Oi direction, even starting to dress more like the British skins. They began to follow a more Patriotic stance having the American flag onstage. At this time they also got into a verbal feud with MDC over their difference in political beliefs. They recorded the United Blood 7" on their own label. At this time the band was beginning to be taken more seriously. Raybeez had personal problems & made himself unavailable at a time when AGNOSTIC FRONT needed him. He got replaced by Dave Jones who was in Mental Abuse. The songs AF had were "United Blood", "Last Warning", "Traitor", "Friend or Foe", "It's My Life", "Society's Suckers", "In Control", and "Smell the Bacon". They started writing a whole bunch of new songs that were more in a hardcore type of vein. The nucleus of these songs showed up on the Victim in Pain LP. They began to preach more unity between punks and skins. Which is what they are still doing to this day. Adam got replaced by Todd Youth & was later replaced by Rob Kabula from CFA. They were doing songs like "Victim in Pain", "Blind Justice", "Your Mistake", "Power", "Hiding Inside", "United and Strong", and others...The politcs are the same but these guys are aware of what's going on behind the scenes.AGNOSTIC FRONT played shows with CRUCIFIX, IRON CROSS, MDC, SS DECONTROL, others The Rock Hotel era started and Chris Williamson had a controlling interest of the headlining bands who played there, but AF was exempt from that due to their drawing power. They recorded the Victim in Pain LP on Rat Cage Records, which I would say was an all-time hardcore classic. Dave left the band and was replaced by Petey Hines who was also in Murphy's Law. Petey was replaced by Jimmy Colletti. Major labels began to develop an interest in signing hardcore bands. Most of the metal bands that they signed were losing steam, the labels and bands figured that if they associated themselves with the hardcore scene their dying scene would be revitalized. You know what? It worked. The lineup in AF fluctuated. Alex from CFA was added as a second guitarist, but didn't stay. Gordon from Mayhem joined, but didn't stay long either. AGNOSTIC FRONT signed to COMBAT CORE, which was a subsidiary of Relativity. Afterwards they became a part of In Effect Records which was a more hardcore sounding name than Combat. They released CAUSE FOR ALARM which was their first crossover style record. That was something big that was going on at that time. Will Shepler (drums) & Al Peters (bass), from Circus of Death in Pittsburgh, moved to NY to join the band. Steve Martin from the FUs was added on 2nd guitar. Liberty & Justice was more on a hardcore tip than crossover. The AF lineup then had many other people near the end of their first stint. Besides Roger & Vinny, they had Will, Craig Ahead on bass, and Matt Henderson on guitar. Roger did some time in jail, but managed to get out in a year. AF began to tour Europe. At this time, Relativity then pulled the plug on In Effect and began to market AGNOSTIC FRONT and all the other hardcore bands that they had. But they didn’t do a good job of it. They did tours with bands like OBITUARY, CANNIBAL CORPSE, & MORBID ANGEL. AF released One Voice, their final disc for Relativity. The sound was more like what MADBALL was going to be. The lyrics dealt with a lot of anger from Roger's experiences in jail. In 92, AF decided to call it quits after 10 years. They played their final show at CBGBs with MADBALL(with Roger's brother Freddy singing), WARZONE, COLD AS LIFE, DMIZE, & REJUVENATE. Afterwards, AGNOSTIC FRONT did a final European tour and the members went on to other things. Roger went to motorcycle repair school in Florida. Craig joined SICK OF IT ALL. Everybody else did MADBALL. In 96, AGNOSTIC FRONT members Roger, Vinny, Kabula, & Will got up and did a couple of songs during a MADBALL set. They decided to reunite with Jimmy Coletti on drums. They played their re-debut at Wetlands. They had bands like H2O, 25 ta Life, Faction Zero, Killing Time, Maximum Penalty, and Against the Grain opening for them. Next, they got signed to Epitaph and began recording new albums back in the vein of Victim in Pain. They began touring and doing videos. They began doing newer songs like "Something's Gotta Give", "Believe", "Gotta Gotta Go", "It's My Life"(a different song), "Riot Riot Upstart", and others. Currently Kabula left and was replaced by Mike Gallo from On the Rise. Aside from their AF duties Roger has his own thing going called Roger Miret and the Disasters. Vinny also plays in a punk band called the Zombie Vandals. Jimmy sings for Loved and Hated. After 20 years on and off, AGNOSTIC FRONT remains a driving force on the NYHC scene to this day. Recommended hardcore record releases: • Agnostic Front-United Blood 7 inch EP • Cause for Alarm/Victim in Pain CD (Combat). • Liberty & Justice For... CD (Combat Core) • Live at CBGB's [LIVE] CD (In Effect) • One Voice CD (Relativity) • Last Warning live CD (Relativity) • Raw Unleashed CD (Grand Theft Audio) • Something's Gotta Give CD (Epitaph) • Riot Riot Upstart CD (Epitaph) • Dead Yuppies CD (Epitaph)