Cro-Mags
photo: selbymay · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Formed in New York City around 1980-81 and fronted by bassist Harley Flanagan alongside former Bad Brains roadie John Joseph, the Cro-Mags fused hardcore punk with thrash-metal muscle on their landmark 1986 debut The Age of Quarrel. Their heavier, more metallic attack made them one of the key architects of crossover thrash and a major influence on 1990s New York hardcore.
The Cro-Mags drew equally from Bad Brains, Motörhead, and Black Sabbath, and vocalist John Joseph had been a Bad Brains roadie — the connection shows up in the raw speed and intensity underneath the band's heavier riffs.
listen forListen to Bad Brains' 'Pay to Cum' and then Cro-Mags' 'We Gotta Know' — both open at full sprint with barely a breath before the next line, though Cro-Mags anchors it with a thicker, more metallic guitar tone.
Motörhead was cited as one of the Cro-Mags' core influences, evident in the relentless, motorik speed of the band's fastest tracks — punk aggression run through a metal band's sense of momentum.
listen forThrow on Motörhead's 'Ace of Spades' and then Cro-Mags' 'Show You No Mercy' — both barrel forward at a full-throttle gallop that never lets up for the length of the song.
Black Sabbath was one of the Cro-Mags' three foundational influences, and it's audible in the doom-laden, downtuned heaviness the band brought into hardcore, well beyond what most of their punk peers were doing.
listen forPlay Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' next to Cro-Mags' 'Street Justice' — both ride a heavy, riff-driven low end, with Cro-Mags keeping Sabbath's weight but pushing the tempo into hardcore territory.