From the infamous city of Newburgh, New York comes All Out War. Formed in 1991, the band was one of the first to merge hardcore with death metal and are considered pioneers of metalcore, back when that word had a totally different meaning.They are scheduled to play this year’s This is Hardcore Fest along with other greats like Bloodlet and Pulling Teeth. I was recently able to interview vocalist Mike Score, bassist Erik Carillo and guitarist, Andy Petrelongo about their career as well as discuss the current scene in the area.
You guys are normally labeled as one of the first metallic hardcore bands (aka metal core). Do you agree with this label?
Mike: No. Carnivore, D.R.I, Crumbsuckers and all those bands were before us. I guess you can say those were kind of on the standard thrash metal side. We were one of the first to incorporate a bit of death metal.
Erik: We were slower than most hardcore at the time for sure.
Mike: We came in with that second wave along with Darkside, Marauder, Starweather and Confusion.
Erik: I’d say we helped change the hardcore scene. We had more metal in our sound than most hardcore bands at the time,but we weren’t the first at all.
Any new music on the way?
Mike: Yes. We recorded the bulk of our upcoming album August of last year. Our Game plan is to have it by this is Hardcore which is the last week of July. We can’t decide on a name for it right now. Give Us Extinction is the name we have for it but that is likely to change by the time the album comes out.
What are your thoughts on the Hudson Valley music scene as of now? Any favorites?
Mike: It’s a great scene.
Other Guy: Hellkeeper and Dissolve are both great bands.
Mike: On the metal side we have Morpheus Descends, Blast Furnace, Prime Evil. It’s a great underrated scene.
Erik: A lot of good bands came out of here. Sucks most of them didn’t go any further but always a great scene.
