Sick of It All
Scratch the Surface

It is well known that each decade has its predominant musical trends that capture the attention of critics and the public. If the 80's were the golden age of thrash metal and hardcore punk on the one hand and certain new-wave and hair metal on the other, the '90s seem to sweep away these genres all at once.

And so, at the beginning of the new decade, America brings us the new grunge school from Seattle and the punk revival of Green Day, Offspring, Rancid, and similarly-voiced groups from California and nearby villas. Thrash disappears, not by chance many of these bands flop in sales, others change style to adapt to market demands; the fact is it's a black period for the genre. The same can be said for pure hardcore punk where the major founders of this movement had disbanded in the mid/end of the '80s and were already moving towards new solutions beyond the borders traced so far.

Focusing the magnifying glass on 1994, it can be said that it was a year rich with music releases, often quite significant, and especially in the punk rock genre (but not only) decidedly important.

"Dookie", "Punk In Drublic", "Smash", "Let's go", and the list could go on, these are just the most famous. But even expanding the horizons, there were various "Blue Album" (Weezer), "Grace" (Jeff Buckley), and Soundgarden. But there was not just this; indeed, for one reason or another, there are often shadowy areas towards certain realities, which do not receive the right importance, also related to their specific weight. We are talking about the legendary Sick Of It All. Unlike melodic hardcore and pop/punk rock, which began to gain admiration and audience with their enchanted structures of speed/melody, speaking primarily of the US, the SOIA had nothing in common with the latter.

After two records, still in '94, the album of world consecration "Scratch The Surface" sees the light, a true pillar in every sense. Lou Koller and company, despite being able to align themselves with the melodic-core bandwagon and lighten their sound for more visibility, continued to carry forward their creed, which is that of pure New York-style hardcore which they themselves created and developed along with bands like Agnostic Front and Madball.

The album is composed of 14 fast-paced tracks without any tension drops or any stops of any kind, dominated by the animalistic screams of Lou Koller (typical raw hc voice, therefore neither growl nor screaming), the razor-sharp riffs of brother Pete, the hyper-distorted bass of Craig Setari, and the double-kick drum of Armand Majidi.

The album was a violent critique against those, mainly majors, who wanted to force the band to move to more commercial and melodic shores. The album thus presents itself as a compact rock, well-built from the foundations and in total antithesis to the trends of the time. It's hard to choose the best episodes, because if you love the genre, it will be enough to put the record in the stereo, to be immediately struck by this condensed passion and pure energy.

The curtain rises with the excellent and speedy "No Cure" (with an exciting instrumental tail), which along with the subsequent "Insurrection" a real blow to the teeth, and the brutal and almost thrash-riffed "Goatless" only 80 seconds, constitute a very respectable triptych. In between, we find notable rhythm changes and always inspired bass parts, true trademarks of the group in "Consume" and especially "Who sets the rules" with a hellish ending.

Next up. And what a next. Here comes "Step Down" opened by unreleased choruses in full oi! style, it turns into a great anthem and elevates itself as the group's flagship, with a refrain that makes you want to scream at the top of your lungs in a chorus. One of their most famous songs. "Maladjusted" slows the structure, but does not lose in power, on the contrary, here Koller seems literally to tear his vocal cords, where Setari's sublime bass lines dominate. Opened by a series of continuous rolls "Scratch The Surface" honors and fulfills its task admirably, so beautiful, it is difficult to describe.

No way: "Free Spirit", "Force My Hand", "Desperate Fool", "Farm Team", and finally closing with the sublime "Cease Fire" are all pieces damn passionate and genuine in their virile disruptiveness. Among them, the latter deserves a mention, with a splendid fairly long instrumental intro, where a vaguely clean bass and guitar peek through at the beginning, quite rare elements in this album, but when it seems the piece is granting a break after much noise, the silence is broken in an instant and the hapless listener is immediately overwhelmed by the shockwave.

I would like to emphasize that despite the genre not leaving much room for innovation and stylistic variety, here the songwriting is at extremely high levels. Although among its members you won't find the melodic vocals and choruses of bands like NOFX and Lagwagon, the guys never seem boring. The choice to include no more than 14 pieces, for a total duration of just under half an hour, seems apt. To be honest, Rancid should take inspiration from this "strategy", as with their 22/23 songs per album, they gladly make their albums very heavy.

The atmosphere that surrounds the album is wonderful. An unhealthy, restless, gloomy, deep atmosphere, which blends with the messages of social and equality themed lyrics that SOIA wants to convey with their songs. Finally, the artwork on the main front of the platter is sublime. Many current hardcore and metal groups, by the way, declare significant influence received from Sick Of It All, who are cited among their influences, as in the case of Hatebreed, for example. A similar discussion applies for Bad Religion in melodic hardcore.

A few more words certainly deserve the capital performance behind the microphone by mister Lou Koller, undoubtedly one of the best and most charismatic singers in the hardcore scene, who irradiates positive energy and immediately involves the listener, leading them to a wild headbanging.

"Scratch The Surface" is among the best releases in the sector, as well as a manifesto of the genre, which they themselves brought to prominence, and one of the fundamental albums of the '90s without distinction of labels and musical categories. Praise to SOIA.