SKULL CRUSHER

Skull Crusher is a simple attempt by obsessed fans of hard music who have done decades of homework to capture that elusive gray area of creative overlap where hardcore, metal, and rock morph into one relentless wall of sound – a place where everything to the listener is somewhat classic and familiar, yet simultaneously fresh and dynamic. The backbone is signature timeless New York Hardcore, but with the appropriate nods given to vintage thrash metal as well as sinister, over driven, dark, hard rock. In a word: power.

Ed McKirdy and pal Gordo had been jamming for a few years. Knowledgeable fans of practically every sub genre of "rock" music, their early song ideas were often as varied as their personal play lists. But as writing together became more familiar, a style emerged and stabilized, cutting through other ideas. As drummer Gordo recalls, "To me, what we were coming up with all the time sounded like something that would have been written by a band on Rock Hotel/Profile in 1989 that was also opening up for Danzig on the ‘Not Of This World’ tour and getting solid reviews in Puszone. It was something that could have been blasting at ramp jams, but also blaring on the Walkmans of every dude dead lifting 550 pounds in a New York City basement dungeon gym. The sound we locked into was natural – and it sounded unique and authentic."

Obsessive by nature and intoxicated with inspiration, the two got down to business, crafting four intense and challenging songs, often note by note. Having grown up accustomed to fast blast sub-minute hardcore songs, the two were now building songs that were clocking in at a minimum of three and a half minutes and testing their stamina in the process. No stranger to thrashing, McKirdy explains, "I wouldn’t call it complexity as much as I’d call it thoroughness. This style just seems to demand completeness for each and every song. I’m not making it sound like a rock opera, it isn’t…but can we put in a fourth good mosh part here? Are there enough good solos and leads there? Do we have enough tempo changes? No knock on straight ahead hardcore songs, we love them and always will…but we wanted to put everything we could into each of these song."

While this would be Gordo’s first significant project on drums, the story was different for McKirdy. Having dedicated years of bass and guitar duties in an entire roster of notable east and west coast hardcore acts, McKirdy wasn’t only plotting riffs and song structures for this new project, but vocals and lyrics as well. "I had a lifetime of things I needed to get loud about, and playing bass or guitar weren’t exactly letting me do it. I didn’t want to sing in a band. I needed to sing in a band." Regardless of how much of a tag team effort writing the music was, it was clear that McKirdy was singing first and foremost.

Translating the song ideas into a properly recorded product wasn’t dumb luck. In an age of every heavy record seemingly sounding generically digital, Skull Crusher needed to find someone who knew the classics and how to create a record that sounded gigantic, yet live. Watercourse Studios provided the gear and engineering to capture what would likely have been lost in most other studios. McKirdy: "The actual Watercourse recording and West West Side mix was so critical. We refused to just record to record and mix to mix. It had to sound perfect – big and heavy and daring and not like every modern hardcore recording. It had to sound – what is the word I’m looking for…insane." Trust me, they got it.

With the Blinded By Illusion EP recorded with a crushing delivery, it was time to create a line up to properly present the songs live. This process proved to be never-ending, with no weak links considered for the vacancies. In time, Skull Crusher finally had a complete line-up of New Jersey/New York Hardcore scene veterans. Dan "Cav" was not only a long time friend of both with an endless playing resume, but also extremely well versed in everything influential on Skull Crusher, and a true player as well. In sum, the perfect fit for Guitar I. Hugo Fitzgerald showed up to audition having hardly ever heard the songs, said less than three words, and yet instinctively knew the score and how to melt his guitar neck and smash his headstock at will. Guitar II was set. Completing the rhythm section and coming direct from Long Island, James Tsaptsinos could likely destroy while on any instrument of his liking, but his bass duties here are what round out the band’s fierce delivery in a manner no less than convincing. The low end rumble was a lock. Things got loud. Skull Crusher had their men.

The Blinded By Illusion LP is a taste of what is to develop. Already hungry to write more and more material as well as deliver their sound and energy to live audiences, Skull Crusher is an example of how boundaries can continue to be pushed and previous inspirations can be perfected within the realm of aggressive music.

No question – others have already done it. That said, the list of heavy-hitters is relatively short and exclusive. The underlying structures and ideas to this winning formula aren’t anything mind boggling…it’s rock-based music after all. But sometimes even the most simple sounds – when played by the right people through the right gear – can be devastating.