Integrity - Those Who Fear Tomorrow (1991)^{Release ID: 1782}

So the original metalcore album was Rorschach's Remain Sedate. But what if you can fully establish metalcore as a genre without being highly dependent on hardcore roots, to influence heavier subgenres, a bit like Black Sabbath's way of heavy metal in Masters of Reality? Add that and lyrics of the confusing insanity of life, and you have the violent intensity of Integrity's Those Who Fear Tomorrow! This hardcore juggernaut is the start of the band's over 3-decade legacy. It is one of the first ever metalcore albums, from 1991, though only the second after Rorschach album from a year earlier. It's no secret that Cro-Mags and Corrosion of Conformity where experimenting with crossing metal over into their hardcore, but Integrity helped bring life to a brand new world. Hardcore verses and metallic breakdowns are led by the original metalcore Dwid Hellion!

For this album's violent soundscape to work, Dwid was born for this world to unleash his psychotic vocals. This unique approach was for many a complete anomaly. This bizarre delivery was unusual at that time, and somehow it still works greatly, with lyrics tackling every trick in the hardcore book. What needed to be kept in mind was, this album was made by strapping young lads in the hardcore scene. Effective messages of "us vs. them" are delivered in gang-like introspection. This music was for suburban Americans preparing for battle, with tattoos and punky uniforms on, ready to tear down more walls than Mr. Gorbachev and descend into dark chaos...

The album begins with a short ambient intro, "Den of Iniquity", a hint at Dwid's later ambient noise part of his career. Despite that intro, you already what's coming for you in hardcore... Dwid makes an unforgettable shout of "MICHA!!!" that kick-starts the title track. This was an important part of 90s hardcore, already signifying the metalcore vision of Earth Crisis and Hatebreed, even Killswitch Engage. "Die Hard" sounds more desperate. This would fit well in the one of the first couple Die Hard movies. However, the scenario the vocal cries creates for me is a crazy caveman fight against feral wolves. The lyrics ring through psychotic guilt. "Lundgren/Crucifixion" is another fast hitter. Lyrically, "Judgement Day" would carry their attitude torch to modern bands to Terror. That song would've had potential in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, from the same year.

"Descent Into" nicely sets things up before something perfectly righteous... The immediate "Darkness" is probably my favorite track here, blowing your mind with despair for a solid 3 minutes! This is the right theme for those with thoughts of the world's insanity. This would've probably helped me during a sh*tty time back in my teen years, but back then I was into power metal, and that was good enough for me. "Tempest" is a song worth listening to appreciate what bands like Misery Signals wouldn't exist without. "In Contrast of Sin" is another very early example of what would remind you of more hardcore bands like Nails. It's tough, fast, and the vicious vocals have a lot worth shouting along to. The rhythm pounds like a hammer through your head. Later on, the album would have apocalyptic themes of love and evil, and that's apparent in "Dawn of a New Apocalypse". With that said, they also add a bit of metaphors related to an abusive mother-son relationship, and that would be some vile disturbing imagery.

"Wings Tear" would continue the metallic hardcore sound Skycamefalling would have 10 years later. "Harder They Fall" punches the floor like a motherf***er. "Candra Nama Vijayasya Stri Pums' Calayasti" is a short interlude with a strange name. "Apollyon's Whisper" follows as another short hardcore track. "March of the Damned" ends the album with some final twists of desperation. I don't know if it would end upwards and downwards, but I guess any direction they go.

So what was next for Integrity? They would make two more EPs and three more albums before guitarist Aaron Melnick left after touring. Dwid would continue the band with more experimental tendencies. Yet he would stay true to the band's legacy and violent touring. Dwid is pretty much an underground legend that helped spawn a massive genre for the worldwide masses. More live albums and compilations would be on the way maintain the band's cult following, and Dwid would even experiment on a more gothic-sounding solo album. Still, Those Who Fear Tomorrow is responsible for a metalcore tomorrow....today!

Favorites: "Micha: Those Who Fear Tomorrow", "Die Hard", "Judgement Day", "Darkness", "Dawn of a New Apocalypse", "Harder They Fall", "March of the Damned"

One of the first Metalcore bands, and perhaps the first to receive some real success, Integrity take a pretty standard Hardcore Punk approach and add some mean Crossover Thrash riffs and all around Metalcore heaviness. The vocals are transitioning from punk yells to the growls that inhabit metal. Lyrical themes are dark and the mood is a straightforward, angry bundle of energy.

The album is pretty damn simple and consistent, and with 15 tracks they all blend together by the end. Integrity do slow it down a fair bit which adds some variety, but for the most part every song sounds the same. No problem if you want some great Metalcore from the genre’s inception, but it's still a very primitive form of what the genre would become.

8/10