Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Warzone

Who is the most iconic hardcore figure in the genre's short history? No individual has been emulated and idolized more than Raymond "Raybeez" Barbieri. He is the only individual in hardcore who receives an annual observance to honor and remember him (September 11th 1997 is the day he died). Raybeez's legacy and influence extends deep into hardcore. Raybeez drummed on Agnostic Front's debut record United Blood. Warzone & Youth Defense League (along with Forced Reality in CT) were some of the first bands to really bring oi and oi influenced hardcore to the USA. John Joseph of the Cro-Mags even credits his friendship to Raybeez, while they were both in the Navy, as a big help to his introduction of punk music. Raybeez is indispensable to the very fabric of hardcore punk. The conduit for much of Raybeez's influence was the legendary Warzone.

Warzone is a bridge band much in the way The Partisans & Bad Brains were. When Warzone came along hardcore in New York stopped and NYHC really began. Warzone was New York City personified. It was AMERICAN, it was a snarky attitude, it was a crew of friends, it was violent. Warzone MADE a lot of the things that are now in the subculture's lexicon into something real. You heard words like "crew" and knew it meant something.

I've talked about bands that are influential, essential, and important already so this next statement should really resonate: Warzone is the most important band in the history of hardcore. Before Warzone, hardcore was a genre of music. It was a forum of ideas and beliefs all clashing against one another. After Warzone, hardcore found its identity. We have Raybeez to thank for that. That is why every September 11th kids in the hardcore scene take a moment to remember him.

Pretty sure this is their entire discography. At the very least all of their albums and most of their demos.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/39zejg9l04c6eyz/Warzone.rar

2 comments:

  1. can you put this greatness up once again???

    ReplyDelete
  2. Therefore, after weeks of Shotgun dominance and Vanguard weapons destroying the meta, some changes are now in effect to keep things going. So now let us have a look at some of the buffs and nerfs in the Warzone Season 1 Reloaded patch.

    ReplyDelete