CanadianWasteland Archives: Neil Perry - Discography (1998-2003)

6/16/2024

Neil Perry - Discography (1998-2003)

Neil Perry was a hardcore / screamo band from New Jersey who formed in 1998 and split up in 2003 after releasing a discography 2xCD containing all their recorded tracks. They had split releases with Kaospilot, Usurp Synapse, Joshua Fit For Battle, A Day's Refrain, and A Satelite Crash. The band is named after a character from the film Dead Poets Society (1989). Members of Neil Perry were also in You & I, Welcome To The Plague Year, Instill, Hot Cross and more.

Neil Perry mixed intense screamo-style vocals with ear shredding elements of grindcore creating a chaotic, noise-driven heaviness that would become popular among DIY hardcore in the early oughts. Hailing from New Jersey, Neil Perry ripped their way through the hardcore scene making connections, playing shows and releasing splits with many bands from around the US. They managed to record around 40 songs over their years as a band firmly landing them a place in hardcore history. Not quite as metalcore influenced as You & I or as emocore as Welcome To The Plague Year, Neil Perry landed somewhere in the middle mixing elements of both bands and adding a touch more grindcore to the mix.

Along with Love Lost But Not Forgotten and Joshua Fit For Battle, Neil Perry stands out to me as one of the best to do it in the early oughts, among a sea of mediocrity in the hardcore scene. The early 2000s was a weird, shifting time for DIY hardcore and unlike the 90s there weren't a ton of great bands around for a few years, however, Neil Perry is one of the good ones. Bringing trends of the 90s emo-hardcore scene back and mixing them with the chaos and noisiness that became popular around the 2000s, they created a sound all their own.