One King Down was a

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, thi ...

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

band from

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, that recorded and performed from 1994 until 2001.

Background

One King Down played crunchy, danceable

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

heavily influenced by such scene contemporaries as

Snapcase Snapcase was an American hardcore punk band from Buffalo, New York. Their records were released on the Chicago record label Victory Records. During the course of the band's initial run of fourteen years, they released six studio albums before ...

and

Earth Crisis Earth Crisis is an American hardcore punk band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993 the band's longest serving members are vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ian Edwards ...

. The group formed in the mid-1990s, centered on the brotherly team of bassist Bill Scoville and guitarist Mike Scoville, along with guitarist Matt Wood and drummer Derrick Van Wie. With their original singer, they crafted a CD EP for Trainwreck Records, but it was with energetic frontman Rob Fusco, and

Equal Vision Records Equal Vision Records is an independent record label based in Albany, New York. It was founded in the early 1990s by Ray Cappo, singer for the punk bands Youth of Today, Shelter, and Better Than a Thousand. The label originally existed solely to ...

(for whom Bill worked for a number of years), that One King Down really made their mark on the international hardcore punk scene. The diminutive Fusco's growl and lyrical espousing of the vegan straight-edge lifestyle (not all of the band's members were vegans, or even vegetarians, but they were all drug-free) garnered them attention from all over the U.S. and Europe. Coupled with the band's stop-and-go rhythms and dancefloor-moving heavy groove, Fusco's vocals were put to tape for the ''Bloodlust Revenge'' EP, released by Equal Vision in 1997 and still regarded by most fans as the band's finest recorded hour. The group toured with Erie, PA's Brothers Keeper and other bands, selling several thousand copies of the record at shows and through major independent distribution channels. They also released a split EP with Spirit of Youth through Europe's Good Life Recordings. Internal friction caused the ousting of Fusco shortly before the band was to embark on a national tour supporting Earth Crisis and

Madball Madball is an American New York hardcore band formed in New York City, that originated in the late 1980s as a side project of Agnostic Front. The band developed after Agnostic Front's front man Roger Miret would let his younger half-brother Fr ...

, to be followed by another trek with

Hatebreed Hatebreed is an American hardcore band from Bridgeport, Connecticut, formed in 1994. The band released its debut album '' Satisfaction is the Death of Desire'' in 1997, which gave the band a cult following. The band signed to Universal Records ...

. One King Down scrambled to find a replacement, inviting then Burn It Down vocalist Ryan Downey to fill in for them. This union only lasted for two shows before the singer-less One King Down returned home to regroup. Eventually, they teamed up with Syracuse native Jon Peters, who lent his vocals to the band's debut full-length album, 1998's ''God Loves, Man Kills''. After subsequent touring, Peters left the band and they split up for a short time. Mike Scoville auditioned for the Foo Fighters, but the job ultimately went to someone else. One King Down re-formed and Fusco was eventually invited to rejoin. They played a few shows before Van Wie left the group, with Wood switching to drum duties as the Albany band pared down to a four-piece. One King Down released the ''Gravity Wins Again'' EP in 2000, a collection of newly penned songs together with older, previously recorded tracks. In 2001, after skipping an appearance at Syracuse, NY's

Hellfest Hellfest (), also called Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one of ...

, it appeared that the band was done once and for all. In March 2018, it was announced that they would play at This is Hardcore 2018 in July, their first show in over 17 years. In October 2018, they played in their home state once again, in the Albany area at the Upstate Concert Hall. One King Down supported

on their

Firestorm A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been used ...

30th Anniversary tour in March-April 2023.https://www.brooklynvegan.com/earth-crisis-announce-firestorm-30th-anniversary-shows-with-one-king-down/

Members

*Rob Fusco – vocals *Michael Scoville – guitar *Bill Scoville – bass *Derrick Van Wie – drums *Matt Wood – guitar *Bill Brown – vocals *Jon Peters – vocals

Discography

*J''awbreaker'' Demo Cassette (1994, self-released) *''Absolve'' CD (1995, Trainwreck Records) *''Bloodlust Revenge'' (1997,

) *''God Loves, Man Kills'' CD/12" (1998,

) *''Gravity Wins Again'' 7"/CD (2000,

– CD version contains ''Absolve'') *''Rob Loves, Man Kills'' Demo CDr (2006, unreleased) *Split – One King Down /

Spirit of Youth ''Spirit of Youth'' is a 1938 boxing film directed by Harry L. Fraser and starring then-heavyweight world champion Joe Louis in a story with similarities to his own real life. (According to IMDb, the Spanish title is ''La vida de Joe Louis'', w ...

Split CD (1998,

Good Life Recordings Good Life Recordings is a Belgian independent record label which was founded in 1996 by Edward Verhaeghe, who had been the lead vocalist of Nations on Fire. The label specializes in hardcore punk bands. It has released albums by the majority of the ...

) *Split – When Angles Shed Their Wings Volume 2 7" (2001, Devil's Head Records) *Split – One King Down / Mindsnare / Day Of Contempt Split 7" (2001

Trial & Error Records Trial & Error Records is an independent record label based in Melbourne, Victoria. It is one of Australia's largest hardcore labels. The label is owned and run by Mindsnare bassist, Nigel Melder. As of 2019 Trial and Error are no longer relea ...

) *V/A – ''City Rockers: A Tribute to the Clash'' (1999, Chord Records)

References

External links

Equal Vision Records page
''Equal Vision Records page''
One King Downs official myspace page
''One King Downs official myspace page'' {{Authority control Straight edge groups Equal Vision Records artists Hardcore punk groups from New York (state) Metalcore musical groups from New York (state) Good Life Recordings artists