Agnostic Front is an American hardcore punk band from New York City. Founded in 1980, the band is considered an important influence on the New York hardcore scene, as well as a pioneer of the crossover thrash genre.
History First era (1980–1992)
Formed in 1980 with Vincent "Vinnie Stigma" Capuccio (formerly of the Eliminators) on lead guitar, with Diego on bass, Rob Krekus (aka Robby Crypt Crash) on drums and John Watson on vocals. Despite being billed at their first concert as the Zoo Crew, Stigma introduced them as Agnostic Front, saying that the poster had been made prior to deciding on the name. They soon added Ray Barbieri, aka Raybeez, on drums and Adam Mucci on bass. After Watson was arrested, the band hired James Kontra as their vocalist, who eventually quit before a performance at Great Gildersleeves after a disagreement with Capuccio about how to hand out stickers. Although never having spoken to him before, Stigma told some of his friends to ask Roger Miret (former bass player of the Psychos) if he wanted to be the vocalist of Agnostic Front, because he liked his style of slam dancing. In 1983, this lineup recorded their debut EP United Blood. The EP was officially released later that year, however by that point Mucci had departed from the band, and been replaced by Todd Youth. Miret played his first show with the group on April 16, 1983, at Pogo's, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. For the rest of the year they toured New York and New Jersey opening for acts such as Black Flag, Dead Kennedys and Reagan Youth.
During its initial phase, the band consisted entirely of skinheads. Although this would change over time, Agnostic Front would continue to feature skinheads as part of their lineup. This led to a belief among some that the band espoused ultra-nationalist or fascist politics, an assertion denied by vocalist Roger Miret in a 1985 Flipside interview: "... We're skinheads. And the skinheads in England have a very bad name like with the fascists and stuff like that. But this is America not England. Just because the skinheads are fascists over there doesn't mean we got to grow our hair out if we don't feel like it ... We love our country—but not necessarily how our government works."Donny the Punk, "Agnostic Front," Flipside, whole no. 45 (March 1985), pg. 54.
They were later accused of racism in the song "Public Assistance" by Phil Donahue in a 1986 show on New York hardcore punk.
In 1983 when Roger Miret's younger half brother Freddy Cricien was about seven years old, he visited with his brother in New York City, shortly after he would begin to go on tour with the band and would sing a few songs during the band's performances which would become a staple of their shows during this period. This led to him becoming the group's unofficial mascot and was given the name "Agnostic Fred". The group would have to sneak Cricien into a drum case to smuggle him into early shows during the 1980s.
Their debut album, Victim in Pain (1984), is regarded as a seminal New York hardcore release. Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic dubbed it "the ultimate document of the New York hardcore scene." Agnostic Front embarked on a U.S. tour in support of the album, performing as a supporting act for bands such as the UK Subs and The Exploited. However, the band could not tour internationally due to Cuban-born Miret not having a passport at the time. Dave Jones replaced Raybeez on drums after a mutual agreement among the band members that Raybeez "needed time" to address a developing drug problem. Dave Jones was "a kid from New Jersey" who had previously played with the band Mental Abuse. Rob Kabula took over on bass. In 1984, Jimmy "The Kid" Colletti from Justified Violence joined on drums when 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, where they played with bands like the Cro-Mags and Murphy's Law. During April and May 1985, the band headlined a US tour.
Prior to recording their next album Miret left AF for a few months at the beginning of 1986, during which time Carl "The Mosher" Demola stepped in. During the band's early years they were always on shaky legs due to Miret and Stigma's mercurial relationship which led to them tampering with the band's sound. Inevitably, as their musicianship continued to improve, the bandmembers such as drummer Louie Beatto and additional guitarist Alex Kinon) began losing some of their raw hardcore sound, and with heavy metal rising in popularity, the group started experimenting with the tightly controlled velocity of thrash metal. This led to 1986's Cause for Alarm becoming a difficult album to record, due to constant lineup 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 Agnostic Front's foray into the world of crossover thrash. It also featured some lyrics written by Peter Steele and drumming by Louie Beato (both of Carnivore). Miret left the band for four months between the recording and release of Cause for Alarm, and was replaced by Carl Demola. The band then embarked on a tour in support of the album the "Eliminator tour" which went from May 28, to July 26, with G.B.H. serving as main support, and the "Cause for Alarm tour" which took place in the Fall.
Roger Miret and Vinnie Stigma formed a new incarnation of AF over the summer of 1987, enlisting lead guitarist Steve Martin, bassist Alan Peters and drummer Will Shepler. With this 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. Following the release of the album bass player Alan Peters was replaced by Craig Setari. The band then went on "Liberty and Justice For… tour" a North American tour which went from December 1987, to April 1988.
The band's first live album Live at CBGB, was also released that year with was recorded on tour the previous summer. In January 1989, Miret was sentenced to four years in prison for drug trafficking a couple of years earlier. While in prison, Miret began writing new songs while Stigma and the band toured Europe for the first time. Miret was released early in September 1990 after the charges were overturned. At the beginning of the band "Blind Justice" European tour in October 1990, Miret was refused entry to Belgium as he didn't have a valid visa; the band continued the tour, with roadie Mike Shost stepping in as temporary vocalist. They then toured the US to close out the year. The lyrics, written by Miret while incarcerated, formed most of 1992's One Voice, which featured members of Madball and Sick of It All. Miret later stated in a 2011 interview "Those songs told the story of my life. That was pretty damn cool for that reason." During the subsequent touring cycle, Miret was temporarily replaced by his younger brother (and Madball bandmate) Freddy Cricien for a string of shows in July, while he underwent surgery to treat an inguinal hernia.
Agnostic Front toured with Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation and Obituary on the Complete Control Tour from July to September 1992.
In January and February 1993, the band toured Europe alongside Madball. The band's last show was at CBGB on December 20, 1992. The show was recorded for the live album Last Warning which was released by Roadrunner Records in 1993. During the band's hiatus Stigma and Herderson continued playing in Madball with Miret's younger brother Freddy Cricien.
Merit claimed the band never officially broke up stating:
Start of the second era (1996–2006)
Stigma and Miret reformed Agnostic Front in May 1996 and did a few reunion shows in December 1996, signing to Epitaph Records and recruiting Jimmy Colletti on drums and Rob Kabula on bass, who was playing with Against the Grain at the time. Their latest venture was titled Something's Gotta Give. In 1999, they followed up with Riot, Riot, Upstart. Their comeback albums have sold well and been mostly acclaimed by music critics for their pure hardcore punk sound. That same year they also released a split with Dropkick Murphys EP titled Unity. In 1999 the group played a few shows at that years Warped tour.
After touring until the summer of 2000, AF briefly took a break to start writing material for a new album during this period, Kabula was replaced by Mike Gallo. Then 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 band. The track "Love to be Hated" appears on a volume of Epitaph Records' Punk-O-Rama compilation series, but the band left the label shortly after release and recorded a split live album with Discipline, Working Class Heroes, in 2002, before signing to Nuclear Blast Records.
In 2002, Miret worked on a side-project band, Roger Miret and the Disasters, looking for a sound akin to old-school punk and Oi!. During a European tour in early that year, Colletti was briefly replaced by former drummer Will Shepler after being shot. Also that year, the band appeared in Matthew Barney's film Cremaster 3 along with Murphy's Law. The band continued touring and in late 2003 they joined Unseen and Hatebreed on US tour.
Colletti left permanently in early 2004, being replaced by Gallo's brother Steve, who had previously played a few tours with the band. On November 1, it was announced the band had signed with Nuclear Blast Records, and later that same year, Agnostic Front released their fourth studio album 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 mash-up album Threat: Music That Inspired the Movie, where it was remixed by Schizoid and renamed "World at War". Agnostic Front then embarked on the "Another Voice" North American and European tours with Death Before Dishonor supporting both legs.
In 2005, Agnostic Front took part in the Unity tour alongside bands such as Terror and Diecast, they also co-headlined a US tour with Full Blown Chaos. In 2006 they released a live album titled Live at CBGB – 25 Years of Blood, Honor and Truth, which was limited to 500 copies. During the Summer they toured Europe alongside First Blood.
Warriors and My Way My Life (2007–2011)
On March 7, 2006, Agnostic Front released the DVD Live at CBGB. This follows the efforts of many bands that tried to save CBGB from shutting down. Miret claims that "We played more shows at CBGB than any band ever, and we played more benefit shows for CBGB than any band ever" when the club did close, most nostalgia focused on 1970s punk bands.
By the summer of 2006, Di Sclafani had been replaced by Joseph James. On November 6, 2007, Agnostic Front released the album Warriors with the hit "For My Family" which was largely a continuation of the band's crossover thrash sound. Agnostic Front took part in the 2007 Persistence European Tour alongside Hatebreed and Ignite. In 2008, they held their own European and South American headlining tours in support of the album. Vinnie Stigma started a solo project called Stigma that same year.