Integrity

There was the dawn of the 1990's, still rattling from the roar of American hardcore punk and heavy metal that had both taken seed in the previous decade and whose delineating lines had by this point almost completely faded. There was a burgeoning American underground music scene beginning to flourish in the wake of these new musical and cultural forms. There was catharsis and camaraderie found in rambunctious, deafening celebrations of youth, there were dreams of widening audiences and open arms. And then there was the darkness. There was Integrity. First emerging as a metallic punk outfit with a serious violent streak from the punk underground in 1988, Integrity soon began to evolve into something very different. You could feel the pull towards darkness on the band's first release, the In Contrast of Sin 7" EP released by Victory Records while the label was still in its infancy. The record was stained with a sinister sound and style that was rooted in classic hardcore but had this undeniable metallic crunch and a seething rage that felt like the music could completely spin out of control at any moment. Much of this black energy was coalesced in the strange, strained roar of ... more...