CanadianWasteland Archives: Iconoclast - Discography (1992-1994)

6/05/2023

Iconoclast - Discography (1992-1994)

Iconoclast was an influential hardcore band from Freehold, New Jersey. They were one of the earliest east-coast bands, along with Merel and Rorschach, to develop the sound that would later be known as "screamo". Iconoclast played a major role in the early 90s D.I.Y hardcore scene, they helped define Ebullitions early catalog with their intricate 7" packaging and inserts containing important political gospel. Guitarist Kevin Sabarese ran Old Glory Records, which released incredible and influential records (Jeromes Dream, Funeral Diner etc...) up until the late 90s. Iconoclast was the only band to ever be signed to Ebullition because of a demo tape, they sent the tape to Kent Mcclard and he was so impressed by their sound that he immediately offered to help them put out more music.

Iconoclast made some intense left-field hardcore tracks with screamed vocals, incredible build ups and explosive breakdowns that weren't really breakdowns in the traditional sense. If you are looking for a heavy hardcore band that breaks up the chuga-chuga breakdown monotony, Iconoclast is a good bet to get you white knuckled and bedroom moshing.

Iconoclast is simply put, one of the angriest sounding hardcore bands I have heard, and for good reason. They made music with the intent to spread important political messages, with many of their inserts and lyrics containing words about political apathy, the police and discourse/problems within the hardcore scene at the time (some of this still rings true today...). Iconoclast also took the time to experiment with their sound and continually develop it; this is evident when you compare the earlier versions of their songs to the re-recorded ones, and in their later work such as the split with Abyss. Iconoclast wasn't afraid to speed things up, slow things down or use unconventional instruments (Roto Toms!!!) to spice up their music.

This band stands as one of my favourite hardcore bands of all time and they never fail to get my pulse going fast, even if you hate "emo-core" I would still highly recommend this band to any classical hardcore fan. They kind of get lumped in with the emo scene because of their political nature.