For the most part, if a band is obscure and unpopular, it’s because they were shitty and nobody liked them. But every so often, there are those forgotten bands who slipped through the cracks because they cared more about their music than self-promotion, and should have been 100 times bigger than they were. Such is the case with one of my favorite NYHC bands, IRATE.
I fucking love when bands do the ‘melodic intro into brutal mosh part’ thing, ala Crown of Thornz “Juggernaut”
I really don’t know anything about these guys except that they were from the Bronx, apparently don’t exist anymore, and only released one full-length called “NY Metal” before quietly disappearing. That they came and went so quickly is a bummer, because “NY Metal” is seriously one of the best NYHC records in the history of the genre– I put it right up there with Merauder “Master Killer”, Crown Of Thornz “Trainyard Blues” and All Out War “Truth In The Age Of Lies” when it comes to brutal, danceable, yet also somewhat melodic and progressive metalcore.
Few bands can pull off a slow jam, but “I Remember” gets me every time. Really sad lyrics about seeing his father die slowly from illness.
For any of you metal fans, the thing that sets Irate apart in my eyes is that they really are metal as fuck- I’ve never read an interview with them or anything, so I don’t know exactly what their influences are, but these are not guys who started listening to At The Gates two years ago.
“Shattered Dreams” wouldn’t be too out of place on the first three Sepultura albums
They can play their instruments about a thousand times better than your typical generic breakdown band, and although they’re obviously a “hardcore” band, the truth is that they sound more like early Sepultura, Sodom, or Kreator than they do Youth of Today, even down to the super crunchy, Dimebag-style tone and Jackson/Ibanez guitars.
The classic video for “Vendetta”! I actually don’t think it’s one of their better songs, but the video fucking rules, and this post wouldn’t be complete without it.
Again, I have no idea what happened to these guys or if they are in any new bands, but if you are into ignorant, brutal NYHC, you owe it to yourself to study “NY Metal” like it’s your bible. It’s a staple of my gym playlists, and really should be counted among the top 10 NYHC releases of all time IMO.
FINALLY someone remembers IRATE they played pressure fest in germany in 05, shit went the fuck OFF.
witness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91CjEGa-_JI
they’ve got 1 ep: burden of a crumbling society, 2 full lengths: 1134 & NY. Metal. NY metal is by far one of the best metallic NYHC records ever made! the lyrics are pure gold!
+ the VENDETTA video gets me hard every time. wish i could mosh like that….
Don’t sleep on Burden of a Crumbling Society, their EP from ’98 or so. Shit is fucking perfect.
Saw them play in CT in 2005. Everyone in the band was like 5 feet tall — guitar player might have been playing an ESP Explorer, not sure. And I remember their crew of bros drinking Sparks non-stop (there were like 800 cans in the trash bins at the venue), wearing stained white tees, and moshing like they hated their dead-end jobs.
That sub-genre of late 90s/early 2000s super-ignorant NYHC bands that never really went anywhere yet stayed together for 10 years was definitely a phenomenon — Irate, Everybody Gets Hurt, Billyclub Sandwich, etc. All those bands were great.
“That sub-genre of late 90s/early 2000s super-ignorant NYHC bands that never really went anywhere yet stayed together for 10 years”
lolololol EXACTLY!
i think if you are gonna do a post about irate then there at least needs to be a post about the real kings of ignorant mosh SHATTERED REALM.
YES
got a mediafire link??
“if a band is obscure and unpopular, it’s because they were shitty and nobody liked them.”
True.
“…there are those forgotten bands who slipped through the cracks because they cared more about their music than self-promotion, and should have been 100 times bigger than they were.”
This is a good thing to do if you’re in a band. If your art is well-crafted, it will make the few who took notice then to do this job for you endlessly and pave the way for a successful reunion tour maybe, 100 times bigger than any success you could have earlier.
checking this out…
I really hate tough guy racist generic NYHC but this is fucking brutal metalcore. Sepultura, much???
Racist? You do know the NYHC scene has always had a huge latino component i hope? Going all the way back to Agnostic Front and Madball (roger miret is half cuban, half colombian, freddy maball is obviously the same, hoya is puerto rican, etc). Not that latinos cant be racist, but i think you are misinformed…
oh. I’m just thinking about those whole anti-immigrant songs. I’m probably misinformed. I don’t like or listen to this shit. sorry!
this band ruled though.
Thats the weird part- the song you are thinking of (“public assistance”) was written by a cuban immigrant. I dont get it either!
That’s because anyone with an immigrant father knows that immigrants really don’t like other immigrants.
i have an immigrant father, although he is Norweigan and they are pretty liberal
Isn’t it fairly common knowledge that it was Pete Steele who wrote the Cause For Alarm record though? Although of course, Roger still had to sing it, and Pete claims he wrote based on ideas for songs that the band gave him.
This sounds pretty good.
Little bit off topic but there was a NYHC band called SHUTDOWN who only did one album. I think it could be considered more youth crew style, though. They didn’t really go anywhere either although they still play shows.
Yeah I remember Shutdown, I’ve known the singer’s brother for a million years. Good dudes.
great album… one of the best
you really didint do your homework on this one, did you?
GTFO smug euro, this isnt a textbook
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Irate/119362
Apparently the nerds at Metal Archives recognize Irate, so there’s more info there, I’d be interested in tracking down their older shit cuz “NY Metal” is hard as fuck.