Sworn Enemy is an American
crossover thrash
Crossover thrash (often abbreviated to crossover) is a fusion genre of thrash metal and hardcore punk. The genre lies on a continuum between heavy metal and hardcore punk. Other genres on the same continuum, such as metalcore and grindcore, ...
band from New York City.
Biography
The band formed as "Downfall" and later on as "Mindset", a product of the extremely expansive and influential
New York hardcore
New York hardcore (also known as NYHC) is both the hardcore punk music created in New York City and the subculture and lifestyle associated with that music. New York hardcore grew out of the hardcore scene established in Washington, D.C., by ban ...
scene. At its original inception the band centered on founding members: vocalist Sal Lococo, lead guitarist Lorenzo Antonucci, second guitarist Mike Raffinello, bass player Mike Palmer, and drummer Zoli.
The band's early output as Mindset was limited to a demo, an appearance on the ''New Found Hope II – The First Amendment'' compilation CD, and a three-song
7-inch
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...
named ''State of Mind''.
Soon after the ''State of Mind'' release, another band named Mindset appeared on the underground
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
scene, having existed as Mindset before the
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
Mindset. Therefore, Sal and crew changed their name to Sworn Enemy.
The band continued to play shows and garner attention in the scene. In 2001 the band released ''Negative Outlook'' on
Jamey Jasta
James Shanahan (born August 7, 1977), known professionally as Jamey Jasta, is an American vocalist, best known as the lead singer of metalcore band Hatebreed and sludge metal band Kingdom of Sorrow. Jasta also fronts metalcore band Icepick. Pr ...
's
Stillborn Records. The record was a mix of old school
hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...
and new school breakdowns, and it quickly gained the band attention in the broader
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 ...
scene. Soon after came ''Integrity Defines Strength'', the title being a play on the I.D.S. crew that Sworn Enemy claimed loyalty to. It contained 3 new songs and a live set at
CBGB
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kr ...
.
Sworn Enemy signed a release deal with
Elektra Records in 2003. The result was ''
As Real as It Gets''. The band changed their style as the CD featured a large
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
influence, as well as abrasive, near-
black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...
. The new style and worldwide distribution led to tours with bands such as
Anthrax as well as a stint on
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy Osbourne, both ...
that year.
''The Beginning of the End'' was released on
Abacus Records, a division of
Century Media
A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c.
A centennial or ...
focusing on underground
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
and
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 ...
inspired bands. The new record displayed more thrash influence, and was immediately followed with a national tour with
Six Feet Under. They have also toured with Dying Fetus and Hatebreed.
In 2007, they were on the Trendkill Tour alongside
Kataklysm,
As Blood Runs Black
As Blood Runs Black is an American metalcore/deathcore band from Los Angeles, California. They have released three albums. Their first album, ''Allegiance'', was released on June 6, 2006. Their second album, ''Instinct'', was released on March 15 ...
, Too Pure to Die, and
Suicide Silence
Suicide Silence is an American deathcore band from Riverside, California. The band was established in 2002, and has released six studio albums, three EPs, and nineteen music videos. They were awarded the ''Revolver'' Golden God award for "Bes ...
.
They were asked by longtime friends, Earth Crisis, to be a part of their reunion tour.
On March 29, 2008, the music video for the first single debuted on MTV2's ''
Headbangers Ball''. The video for "A Place of Solace" from the ''Maniacal'' CD was directed and shot by David Brodsky and edited by Allison Woest.
''Total World Domination'' was released June 16 in US and June 22 in Europe via
Century Media Records. The record was once again produced by
Tim Lambesis
Timothy Peter Lambesis (born November 21, 1980) is an American musician and producer, best known as the founding member and lead vocalist of American metalcore band As I Lay Dying. He also had a solo/side thrash metal project in tribute to ac ...
from
As I Lay Dying
''As I Lay Dying'' is a 1930 Southern Gothic novel by American author William Faulkner. Faulkner's fifth novel, it is consistently ranked among the best novels of 20th-century literature.The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to Wor ...
.
Lorenzo Antonucci (guitars, vocals) commented: "I'm very excited about this album and its writing process was better than ever. I've been a part of all the writing for every record and I feel this is our best foundation yet. We took it back to ''As Real as It Gets'' with a little of ''
Beginning of the End'' and ''
Maniacal'' in it. The sound is way faster and more pissed off than ever, harder than ever and a lot more ignorant. It was also fun working with Tim again. This also marks our first recording with Sid (bass) and JRad (drums), so we are all very excited about that. We couldn't be more proud of this effort and prepare to have your faces melted!"
During the next few years the band saw some lineup changes. In May 2014 the band regrouped with new members and released "Living On Borrowed Time" on Rock Ridge records. They followed the album with several tours including tours in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Sworn Enemy is still touring in support of "Living on Borrowed Time".
Discography
Members
Current members
* Sal Lococo – vocals (1997–present)
* Jeff Cummings – lead guitar (2010–present)
* Matt Garzilli – rhythm guitar (2011–present)
* Mike Pucciarelli – bass (2012–present)
* Taykwuan Jackson – drums (2014–present)
Former members
* Mike Palmer – bass (1997–1998)
* Zoli – drums (1997–1998)
* Mike Raffinello – rhythm guitar (1997–2005)
* Jimmy Sagos – bass (1998–2001)
* Paul Wallmaker – drums (1998–2001)
* Timmy Mycek – drums (2001–2002)
* Mike Couls – bass (2001–2005)
* Paul Antignani – drums (2002–2008; died 2018)
*
Jordan Mancino
Jordan Mancino (born May 22, 1983) is an American drummer. He has played with several metal acts as the official or as a live member, including As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage, and Wovenwar. Mancino, alongside the rest of AILD, have stated th ...
– drums (2008–2009)
* Lorenzo Antonucci – lead guitar (1997–2010), rhythm guitar (2005–2008)
* Jamin Hunt – bass (2005–2008), rhythm guitar (2008–2012), lead guitar (2010)
* Sid Awesome – bass (2008–2011)
* Jerad "JRad" Buckwalter – drums (2009–2012)
* Anthony Paganini – bass (2011–2012)
*
Danny Lamagna
Danny Lamagna is an American musician; he is the drummer for rock bands Agnostic Front, Suicide City, and Sworn Enemy.
History
Suicide City
In 2004, Lamagna started Suicide City with Groovenics singer Karl Bernholtz, Groovenics/Ghost Fi ...
– drums (2012–2014)
;Timeline
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bar:Palmer text:"Mike Palmer"
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bar:Wallmaker text:"Paul Wallmaker"
bar:Mycek text:"Timmy Mycek"
bar:Antignai text:"Paul Antignani"
bar:Mancino text:"Jordan Mancino"
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bar:Antonucci from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2008 color:Rhythm width:3
bar:Cummings from:01/01/2011 till:end color:Lead
bar:Raffinello from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/2005 color:Rhythm
bar:Hunt from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2012 color:Rhythm
bar:Hunt from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2011 color:Lead width:3
bar:Garzilli from:01/01/2012 till:end color:Rhythm
bar:Palmer from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 color:Bass
bar:Sagos from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/2001 color:Bass
bar:Couls from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2005 color:Bass
bar:Hunt from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2008 color:Bass
bar:Awesome from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2012 color:Bass
bar:Pucciarelli from:01/01/2012 till:end color:Bass
bar:Zoli from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 color:Drums
bar:Wallmaker from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/2001 color:Drums
bar:Mycek from:01/01/2001 till:06/01/2002 color:Drums
bar:Antignai from:06/01/2002 till:01/01/2008 color:Drums
bar:Mancino from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 color:Drums
bar:Buckwalter from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2012 color:Drums
bar:Lamagna from:01/01/2012 till:01/01/2014 color:Drums
bar:Jackson from:01/01/2014 till:end color:Drums
References
External links
Sworn Enemyat
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
Sworn Enemyat
InstagramSworn Enemyat
MySpaceSworn Enemyat
Last.fm
Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...
{{Authority control
Metalcore musical groups from New York (state)
Crossover thrash groups
Century Media Records artists
Hardcore punk groups from New York (state)