CanadianWasteland Archives: Antioch Arrow

Antioch Arrow was a hardcore band from San Diego, California who were active in the early 90s. Members of the band are also in Heroin, Candle and End Of The Line. Antioch Arrow released two 12" albums, a 12" EP, and a split 7" with Candle.

Antioch Arrow had such a unique sound it's hard to even put into words and have it accurately explain what they sounded like. They could be described as "art hardcore" due to their very experimental mix of chaotic sounds and neurotic, half-spoken poetic vocals. There is a noticeable inspiration from goth rock in their tracks but they put a heavier and much more chaotic twist on it. Listening to their music leaves you with a sense of anxious anticipation.

Because of their idiosyncrasies and unconventional sound, Antioch Arrow was polarizing in their scene. A lot wrote them off for being too weird but other praised them for the same reason. I think they were definitely pioneers in their time, a couple comparable bands would be formed in the late 90s and early 2000s, but back in 1993 when Antioch Arrow was formed, the artsy, chaotic sound was very much new. They remind me at times of Clikatat Ikatowi who are not an easy band to sound like by any means.

I personally love Antioch Arrow in all their weirdness, they spawned a whole new sub-genre of hardcore that was very much an antidote to the more mainstream hardcore coming out of the 90s. Their music feels like a huge fuck you to tough-guy hardcore and really just the whole hardcore scene. They were making music without concern for what people would think or whether they'd fit in and bending the stiff rules of what "hardcore" is.