BY THE GRACE OF GOD For The Love of Indie Rock 1996

Discogs

Artist Biography by Ryan Downey

By the Grace of God was easily the most sincere, radical, and politically outspoken band of the straight-edge and hardcore revival scenes of the mid-'90s. Which are two scenes that the band would eventually distance itself from as they became increasingly political and more highly critical of the hardcore scene's turn toward "mainstream" thinking and mass marketing. By the Grace of God began as little more than an excuse for vocalist Rob Pennington and guitarist Duncan Barlow to play uplifting, politically charged, high-energy hardcore together again. The two had cut their teeth fronting the phenomenally emotional Louisville hardcore band Endpoint and had since drifted off into various post-hardcore, metal, and indie-oriented projects -- most notably Barlow with Guilt. By the Grace of God started out playing small shows, quickly amassing a following with their outspoken and passionate performances. The duo had assembled a veritable who's who of the local scene that included Thommy Browne (Enkindels) on drums, Jay Palumbo (Empathy/Elliott) on guitar, and Benny (Elliott) on bass, all of whom would join in the sloganeering as By the Grace of God shouted their anti-corporate local-business-supporting message at audiences between songs. The five of them quickly inked a deal with Chicago's Victory label, issuing the For the Love of Indie Rock EP shortly thereafter. The title of the record was a playful jab at some former friends of the band. The "friends" in question were members of an Indianapolis band called Split Lip, who had seemingly abandoned their own hardcore roots. Hardcore roots that By the Grace of God was wearing on their sleeves. Split Lip began to favor a more indie approach after the release of their For the Love of the Wounded LP on Endpoint's former label, Doghouse. By the Grace of God's first record included a cover of a Poison Idea song, in addition to the band's own sing-along ready anthems in waiting. Their next release was the much more polished Perspective LP, produced by Steve Evetts in his New Jersey studios. After playing a large handful of regional shows, Palumbo and Benny left the band to focus full-time on Elliott. They were replaced by bassist Brian Roundtree and guitarist Robby Scott. The band then embarked upon a national tour supporting Avail, AFI, and Good Riddance before Barlow's increasing dissatisfaction with small but violent right-wing factions within the national hardcore community caused him to announce his "retiring" from the scene altogether, effectively ending By the Grace of God for a time. The band played a couple of "final" shows in Indiana and recorded songs intended for a final EP, though they had severed their connections with the Victory label. After a bit of a hiatus, By the Grace of God re-formed with an Ohio native named George replacing Browne. They performed with this lineup for a time as their final recordings saw release as the Three Easy Steps to a Better Democracy CD through Louisville-based label Three Little Girls. Barlow decided to move to Colorado so the band decided to disband again, playing another "final" show at Krazy Fest 3 in 2000 with onetime Endpoint drummer Lee Fitzer joining them for a couple of Endpoint covers. A few months later By the Grace of God reunited one last time to see Pennington off to Colorado as well, this time with the lineup of Browne, Palumbo, Scott, and Roundtree. In 2001, Pennington returned to Louisville where he formed the band Black Widows with Browne and members of the National Acrobat.

Tracklist  

1	Intro	0:07
2	Remora	1:26
3	Goliath	2:36
4	Pallbearer's Hymn	2:06
5	November's Lie	2:37
6	Fissures	2:20
7	Navigator	2:05
8	Ipecac	2:06
9	Plastic Bomb	8:25

ENDPOINT Catharsis 1992

 

Discogs

Artist Biography by Ryan Downey

Endpoint was the definitive Midwestern hardcore band throughout most of the '90s, leading the charge for progressive, positive, empowering politics with uplifting, cathartic anthem after anthem championing the oppressed and the free-thinking rights of the individual. Their sound evolved from moshable, singalong-inducing hardcore heavily influenced by the coastal straight-edge scenes and skate rock into moving, more mid-tempo heavy indie core of a more intellectual variety. The band was formed in the late '80s by Louisville natives Rob Pennington, whose soulful crooning and high pitched wails defined the band's sound, and guitarist Duncan Barlow after the dissolution of their Deathwatch project. In 1989, they released a mini-album on cassette only (later reissued on CD by Doghouse) through the Slamdek label, called If the Spirits Are Willing, that also featured the talents of Rusty Sohm (drums) and Jason Graff (bass). Endpoint's next move after securing a new drummer named Lee Fetzer and second guitarist Chad Castetter, was to release an album called In a Time of Hate through California's Conversion label. The band then signed a deal with a then-fledgling Doghouse Records that would eventually help Endpoint become a centerpiece of the international hardcore scene, and the label grow into the sizeable independent entity it is today. The first album to see the light as a result of this partnership was 1992's monumental Catharsis, arguably the best record of the band's impressive career. The album featured new bassist Kyle Noltemeyer and a collection of the band's most harrowing and heartbreaking yet alternately inspiring songs. That same year, Endpoint released an EP of covers similar to Metallica's Garage Days, paying tribute to Embrace, Rites of Spring, Malignant Growth, and the Misfits -- complete with a cover spoofing Samhain's blood-soaked Initium cover shot. At one point during touring, Split Lip's Curtis Mead filled in on bass. Noltemeyer left the band and was replaced by Indiana native Pat McClimans, with Fetzer's spot being filled by Kyle Crabtree. In 1993, this lineup conceived After Taste, a bit of a departure for the band that featured streamlined song writing, slower tempos, less furious posturing and more introspective, poetic lyrics, and even an acoustically driven ballad. The band remained intensely political, however, including a message about women's rights inside the liner notes. The members of Endpoint also became involved in various other projects, with Barlow and Noltemeyer's Step Down project becoming Guilt and eventually signing to Victory Records, McClimans fronting Scab before sitting in with Falling Forward, in addition to a band called Metroschifter (together with Castetter) and Tramlaw. In 1994, Endpoint decided to call it a day, playing a huge farewell show on December 31 and releasing The Last Record in 1995, a mini-LP that, while not as important as Catharsis, is perhaps their most focused and accomplished work. Barlow and Noltemeyer continued playing with Guilt until that band's dissolution, with Barlow moving on to other projects before reuniting with Pennington in a band called By the Grace of God, who released records and toured until the year 2000. Both McClimans and Castetter eventually left Metroschifter. McClimans formed a roots rock band called MT Rhoades and His Lonesome Woods Band. Pennington formed a band called Black Widows in 2001.

Tracklist

1	Caste	2:34
2	Remember	2:52
3	Iceberg	1:53
4	Promise	2:21
5	Inside	3:11
6	Stone	2:12
7	Days After	2:47
8	Guilty By Association	1:59
9	Maturity	1:28
10	Last Song	3:47
11	Untitled 1	0:56
12	Untitled 2	5:06
13	Untitled 3	2:07
14	Untitled 4	2:21

GUILT Further 1997

Discogs

2nd release from Louisville, Kentucky's hardcore kings

 

Tracklist

1	Untitled
2	Untitled
3	Untitled
4	Untitled
5	Untitled
6	Untitled

GUILT Bardstown Ugly Box 1995

Discogs

 

biography

[+] by Ryan Downey

Guilt's impact and overall relevance went largely unrecognized during their six-year tenure as an intense and emotive über-indie-noise-metal-hardcore band. Their songs combined the best elements of several genres without sounding contrived, and managed to evoke soulful emotion and raise thought-provoking questions within the confines of a musical style typically confined to mundane "evil" topics and horror imagery. Guilt evolved from the band Stepdown, which formed in 1991 with former Endpoint drummer Lee Fetzer and Endpoint bassist Kyle Noltemeyer on guitar, Christian McCoy on bass, powerhouse drummer Jon Smith, and Endpoint guitarist Duncan Barlow on vocals. Stepdown were fiercely political and rabidly confrontational, going head to head with the Nazi faction of the Louisville scene on more than one occasion. As Barlow's own personal battle with depression set in, however, the group's focus shifted and soon the name was changed. Fetzer left the group and Barlow picked up second guitar in addition to vocal duties. The Empty 7" was recorded at Mom's Studio and released by Initial, a small record label then based in Michigan. After a handful of shows, the band dissolved for almost a year, eventually re-forming and recording several new songs at DSL Studios that would later become the Synethesia 10"/CD EP on Initial. The record was heavy and intense, with darkly poetic lyrics and song titles named after colors picked to represent various moods. McCoy was replaced by Telephone Man's Ashli State before the band signed a deal with Chicago's Victory Records label. Guilt entered the studio with producer/Shellac member Bob Weston, who helped the band hone their sound by enhancing the drums, bringing down the metal element in the guitars, and eliciting top-notch, emotional performances. The end result was Bardstown Ugly Box, the band's masterwork, so named for a street in their native Louisville, KY. It was years ahead of its time in the hardcore/punk scene, fusing elements of noise, melody, heavy metal, punk rock, indie rock, and poetic storytelling seamlessly, with intensity yet class and style. Shortly after the album's release and subsequent touring with labelmates Earth Crisis, Noltemeyer left the group, with State soon behind him, the latter moving to Philadelphia and joining the ranks of "vampire" obsessed punk rockers Ink and Dagger. Barlow and Smith, together with Noltemeyer as a guest, recorded the Further EP, an odd collection of untitled songs that borrowed a bit from the heavy percussion and meditative drone of Neurosis and avant-garde, atmospheric and experimental music in general, though it still retained the band's trademark heaviness. In 1996, the band played one more show with By the Grace of God/Elliott guitarist Jay Palumbo on bass. Guilt reformed a year later, with State and Noltemeyer returning, to record two final songs and release them as a 7" single (a split release between Barlow's fledgling Nerd Rock and the now Louisville-based Initial) and play a final show on Halloween of 1997. In 1999, Nerd Rock compiled a collection of previously released Guilt compositions and rare recordings with a Stepdown demo (and more), releasing it as A Comprehensive Guide to Anger Composed in Drop D. A Stepdown reunion show in Louisville celebrated the collection's release, with the original lineup taking the stage.

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Tracklist

	Chapter One - Man Versus Society
1	Gamma	5:06
2	Omega	4:49
3	Chi	4:48
	Chapter Two - Man Versus Himself
4	XI	3:52
5	Omnicron	3:55
	Chapter Three - Man Versus Human Nature
6	Theta	2:21
7	Phi	24:58