Terror

An influential Los Angeles beatdown hardcore band whose sound fuses punk rock with thrash metal, Terror is the brainchild of East Coast transplant and former Despair, Sludgefest, and Buried Alivevocalist Scott Vogel. Emerging in 2002, the band flirted with mainstream success in 2004 with the release of their sophomore album, Always the Hard Way, which reached number ten on Billboard Heatseekers and number 19 on the Top Independent Records chart. Subsequent efforts like 2013’s Billboard 200-charting Live by the Code (2013), 2018’s Will Putney-produced Total Retaliation, and 2022’s uncompromising Pain Into Power saw Terror remain at the fore of the American hardcore scene, with Vogel and drummer Nick Jett serving as the group’s sole constant members.

Founded in April 2002 shortly after Vogel’s relocation, Terror issued a four-song demo that circulated among the underground scene before releasing a 7″ through Takeover Records. After a lot of touring, the guys — including guitarist Todd Jones (ex-Carry On), and First Bloodmembers drummer Nick Jett (also of Carry On and Piece by Piece), bassist Carl Schwartz, and guitarist Doug Weber — signed with Bridge 9 and entered a Cleveland studio to record. The resulting nine-song EP, Lowest of the Low, was released in January 2003, and true to form, the band spent the rest of the year touring, including a stint in Europe with Biohazard. With Frank Novinec replacing Jones, Terror signed with Trustkill Records, and issued two albums of metallic hardcore through the label: 2004’s One with the Underdogs and 2006’s Always the Hard Way. Schwartz had left the band before Christmas 2005 to concentrate fully on First Blood and he was replaced on bass by Jonathan Buske; Novinec left as well, in his case to join Hatebreed, and Martin Stewart (ex-Donnybrook!) was soon welcomed on second guitar.

In 2008, Terror dropped a studio album, The Damned, The Shamed, as well as an archival live set, CBGB OMFUG Masters: Live 6/10/04 The Bowery Collection. By this point, the Terror lineup shifted again, with bassist Jonathan Buske replacing Carl Schwartz in 2006. In 2010, the band issued Keepers of the Faith, which was their first album to feature guitarist Jordan Posner (who’d replaced Doug Weber) and bassist David Wood (who took over for Jonathan Buske). This gave the group a stable lineup that would last through three studio albums (2013’s Billboard-charting Live by the Code, 2015’s The 25th Hour, and 2018’s Total Retaliation), two EPs (2012’s Hard Lessons/Only the Devil Knows and 2017’s The Walls Will Fall), and another live album (2010’s No Regrets, No Shame), as well as extensive touring. In 2021, Terror reunited with founding guitarist Todd Jones for Trapped in a World, a set of career-spanning re-recordings, and in 2022 they released their eighth full-length LP, Pain Into Power, which was produced by Jones and featured a guest spot from hardcore legend George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi

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