Sick of It All is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1986 in Queens, New York City by brothers Pete and Lou Koller. Their classic lineup, which had lasted for 33 years, included the Koller brothers (vocalist Lou and guitarist Pete), drummer Armand Majidi and bassist Craig Setari (who joined the band in 1993). As of Lou's death in 2026, Pete remains as the only consistent member of Sick of It All, although Majidi (who left in the band in 1989, but rejoined in 1991) is one of the three members to appear on every studio album.
Sick of It All is considered a major part of the New York hardcore scene, and by 2020, they had sold at least half a million records worldwide. Though their 1989 debut album Blood, Sweat, and No Tears was a moderate success, Sick of It All did not achieve commercial success until later albums. After the release of their second album Just Look Around in 1992, East West Records saw the band's potential and signed them in 1993. Sick of It All's third and major-label debut album, Scratch the Surface, was released in 1994 to critical acclaim and included the singles "Scratch the Surface" and "Step Down". They released another album on East West, 1997's Built to Last, before signing with Fat Wreck Chords the following year, which released the band's next three studio albums. They signed to Abacus Records afterwards, a subsidiary of Century Media. This label released their eighth studio album Death to Tyrants in 2006 to positive reviews (Abacus eventually went out of business, though Sick of It All would remain on Century Media, which released the band's next three albums). Sick of It All's latest album, Wake the Sleeping Dragon!, was released in 2018.
History
Early career (1986–1992) Formed in 1986, the members met while attending Francis Lewis High School in Queens, New York City,Slattery, Denis (September 28, 2014). "Hardcore boro Band invents 'Sick' new meaning for Bronx". New York Daily News. p. 39. the band was formed by Lou Koller on bass and vocals, Pete Koller on guitar and David Lamb on drums. The Koller brothers originally intended for their first band to be named General Chaos, however Lamb proposed calling the band Sick of All, with the intent to abbreviate it to S.O.A. Lou pointed out that another band existed with that name and decided to expand the name to Sick of It All. After recruiting bassist Mark McNeely, the band played their first show on Saturday May 17, 1986, just a month after they formed, at the Right Track Inn in Long Island, supporting Youth of Today, Straight Ahead and Crippled Youth, the show was booked by future bandmate Craig Setari. After this performance, Lamb and McNeely left the band, leading to the brothers hiring Rich Cipriano as bassist and Armand Majidi as a "fill-in" drummer. This lineup also played its first show at the Right Track. The band recorded the Sick of It All demo in 1987 and the band began to play Sunday afternoon matinees at renowned venue CBGB's, and soon after released a self-titled 7" on Revelation Records (which was later re-issued on the tenth anniversary of its release, in 1997).
Revelation had also expressed interest in releasing Sick of It All's debut album but told the band they would have to wait a year as they were planning to release an album by Gorilla Biscuits. So instead Sick of It All signed to Relativity Records in 1988, the band's deal with Relativity was to last for seven albums; Lou said they signed as they thought they would disband after their first. "We were kids [...] we didn't think we'd be doing this forever." Throughout the year Sick of It All toured the US as an opening act for bands such as Youth of Today, Agnostic Front and Murphy’s Law. They were also tabbed by Exodus to open on five shows during their East Coast tour. They then recorded their first full-length album, Blood, Sweat, and No Tears, which was released in 1989. The album was a surprise success, selling over 100,000 copies, and being met with positive reception and is viewed as a classic in the hardcore genre, Chris Ingham of Metal Hammer called it a "blueprint" for New York hardcore in the 1980s. Whilst Joachim Hiller of Ox-Fanzine said it "heralded a generational shift in NYHC, establishing the tone for the 1990s and the growing popularity of the genre."
The band embarked on their first national tour in support of the album, as both a headliner and supporting act for Bad Brains, joining halfway through Bad Brains' Quickness tour with Leeway, and touring the West Coast of the United States with both bands for two weeks. Thereafter, Majidi left Sick of It All to focus on his other band Rest in Pieces, and Max Capshaw was recruited as his replacement. On September 15, 1989, Sick of It All performed a showcase with Killing Time and Nuclear Assault at the Sundance in Bay Shore, after which they embarked on a headlining tour of the North Eastern United States in the fall of 1989. The band also filmed a music video for "Injustice System". Lou was dissatisfied with the video, believing it was too censored and that Majidi should have been in it instead of Capshaw, since he performed on the record. Majidi ultimately returned to Sick of It All for a national tour with D.R.I., with Capshaw "[not working] out because he was too young", according to Lou.
Prior to touring with Agnostic Front in 1990, Cipriano and Majidi both left Sick of It All. The Koller brothers decided to continue the band, replacing both departed members with Eddie Coen and Eric Komst, respectively. Both members appear alongside photos of the old lineup in the liner notes of the We Stand Alone EP (1991), which Lou and Pete intended to show they were committed to continuing Sick of It All. Coen left to join Cycle Sluts from Hell following the Agnostic Front tour, and Komst was later fired. In 1991 they took part in the New Titans on the Bloc tour with Sepultura, Sacred Reich and Napalm Death. By the time Sick of It All recorded their second album Just Look Around (1992), Majidi and Cipriano had rejoined the band. Prior to the album's release Sick of It All embarked on a spring European tour, they then toured the continent once again in support of the album during the winter of that year.
Rising popularity (1993–1997) Sick of It All began 1993 playing a handful of shows in Japan, before touring the US as an opening act for Biohazard and Sheer Terror. In August and September of that year they held a European headlining tour with Graveyard Rodeo and Black Train Jack serving as supporting acts. They also released their first live album titled Live in a World Full of Hate which was recorded during a show in New Jersey.
During May and June 1994, Sick of It All toured Europe once again playing multiple festivals and opening for bands such as Leeway, Only Living Witness and Obituary. In October of that year Sick of It All released their record Scratch the Surface on major label EastWest Records. They also recorded a video for "Step Down" and the title track "Scratch the Surface". The record was the first recorded with long-time friend and former Straight Ahead, Rest in Pieces, Youth of Today and Agnostic Front bass player Craig Setari, who had replaced Rich Cipriano, in early 1993. Scratch the Surface became the band’s first album to chart debuting at number 67 in Germany, the "Scratch the Surface" video debuted on MTV's Headbangers Ball on December 10, 1994, whilst the "Step Down" video—in a feat described as "previously unimaginable" by Stephen Hill of Metal Hammer UK—entered rotation on MTV.
The album is their highest performing album, selling over 250,000 copies and receiving generally positive reviews upon its release. In The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock (1997), Ira Robbins described the album as "a blast of unreconstructed hardcore in a time and a place where such a thing was once impossible to imagine". Scratch the Surface is retrospectively described as a classic album, and in 2012 it was inducted into the Decibel Hall of Fame. That same year in an interview with Decibel, Pete said that he considered Scratch the Surface to be Sick of It All's most important album as it "pushed [the band] up into the higher realm" of songwriting and popularity, whilst Majidi saw it as the band's "quintissential album [...] that we are always forced to try to top."
Sick of It All embarked on a worldwide tour in support for Scratch the Surface, touring North and South America, Europe, Japan, and New Zealand. In October 1994, the band toured with Strife for two weeks. In November, they supported Helmet and Quicksand across the United States, before playing ten shows with Black Train Jack in December. In January 1995, Sick of It All toured Europe and played four shows in the United Kingdom supported by Strife and Understand, before returning to the United States for a headlining tour with supporting acts featuring Korn, Orange 9MM and Trial that lasted until March 1995. The album helped boost their popularity worldwide and according to Mike Hill of Vice, Scratch the Surface "took NYHC worldwide" and turned Sick of It All into "the closest the hardcore scene has to a household name." With the success of Scratch the Surface it allowed the band to tour worldwide, and In 1995 took part in the first installment of the warped tour.
In 1997, they released their next record on the EastWest sister label Elektra, Built to Last which debuted at number 32 on the US Heatseekers charts. The record featured a number of live staples for the band, including "Us vs. Them", "Busted" and "Good Lookin' Out". Sick of It All toured with Napalm Death and Sepultura during the album cycle, while also making another appearance at that years warped tour. Entertainment Weekly wrote that with the album the band manages "to overcome the genre’s bark-and-lunge cliches simply because they’re so archetypal; these guys can actually make you feel the fury behind a song called 'Us Vs. Them'.” The album also marked the end of Sick of It All's contractual agreement with EastWest. That same year Revelation reissued their debut EP on both vinyl and CD to commemorate its 10th anniversary. The band toured worldwide in support of the album and once again taking part in the Warped tour.
The Fat Wreck Chords years (1998–2004) In 1998, Sick of It All signed to independent record label Fat Wreck Chords, owned and run by Fat Mike of NOFX. After releasing the "Potential for a Fall" single – for which another video was filmed, Call To Arms was released in February 1999 and debuted at number 84 on the German charts. This album was also met with positive reception, with Kevin Ruggeri of Pitchfork stating: "Call to Arms proves once again that Sick of It All are masters of their genre. For over a decade, they have consistently provided the best hardcore their genre has to offer, and with their promise to stick around considered, the future of the scene seems bright indeed." In early 1999 while doing a show in Argentina infront of 2,000 people, Slayer who were playing a festival in Argentina the following day attended the show. Following the concert the members of Slayer went backstage to tell Sick of it All "We had to see what fucking band could draw 2,000 people when there's a sold-out festival the next day." This resulted in Sick of it All touring with Slayer and Meshuggah later that same year.
The 2000 follow-up Yours Truly was less critically acclaimed. Despite containing some of the band's favored live tracks, including "Blown Away", "The Bland Within", "District" and "America", some fans felt alienated by the album's progressive nature and in a recent interview, frontman Lou Koller claimed that the album's cover art probably contributed to its poor reception.