Here's another underrated mid-90's hardcore record that I never really knew much about. The debut 1996 "full-length" (not really, in my opinion, it's only seven songs in less than a half-hour) from Connecticut's Sum of All Fears, which was also the debut release for the fledgling East Coast Empire label. I once made the mistake of parting ways with this CD due to its rather rough recording quality (and, as you can see, this disc also comes from a time when many hardcore record layouts were, to put it bluntly, hideous), but an old mix tape that contained the song "Enduring the Test of Time" quickly drove me to reacquire the record. Of course, I couldn't identify the song un the unlabeled tape, so I had to make an mp3 and post it online with a call for help several years ago, but thankfully someone knew what it was—and let me tell you, that song is without a doubt one of the best hardcore tracks of the 90's—hands down. As a whole these guys' brand of chunky hardcore with a mix of moshy breakdowns and rather basic fast paced power chords was nothing new, but it still had its own little nuances of subtle melody, and when they were on in terms of songwriting, they were fucking dead on. Just check out "Enduring the Test of Time" for flawless proof of what this band had to offer at their finest.
Sum of All Fears "Enduring the Test of Time"
Sum of All Fears "Force Fed"
Sum of All Fears "Suffocate"
Aside from a split 7" with Tenfold and some compilation appearances I'm not sure what else these cats released, if anything. But "From This Day Forward..." is still out there, generally used, so pick it up if you dig the above tunes:
Comments
my old band played with them years and years ago. i remember the day when it seemed like CT’s scene was coming back with bands like SOAF, Deadeyesunder, Groundzero, Die My Will, etc. East Coast Empire was a label I would consistently pick up releases from
10.24.2005 | By Christopher
One of the first CTHC bands i had a chance to see live, the split with Tenfold was good and i never knew about this full length until i stumbled across it for $1 a couple of years ago. Solid release.
10.25.2005 | By Anonymous
Damn great tracks. Gonna try to find the album.
10.25.2005 | By Anonymous
Pretty cool stuff Andrew, I need to get this, however isn’t as good as the blood runs black…finally got a copy of that puppy!!
Also, I have just started a blog, but my lack of technical know how is frustrating me in adding songs to the posts, how the hell do you do this!!!!!!!!!!!! If anyone has the patience and the time to explain, I would be grateful ;)
10.26.2005 | By xbenx
Thanks for the Sum Of All Fears discovery. After hearing the tracks here I bought the album. It’s really very good.
10.29.2005 | By Anonymous
I used to love this band back i in the day..I kinda forgot about them unil recenly I ordered a Fortydaysrain cd and it came with a ECER flyer with SOAF shirts and cd’s its defenatly brought me back ! same goes for Fear Tomorrow another underated band!! check em out!
1.2.2007 | By Silk432
their demo is the best shit. it was also released as a 7” on ECER.
8.20.2007 | By TRIP MACHINE
kick ass cd , still listen to it all the time, its now on spotify too
Sadly, on November 12th, 2000, SOAF’s drummer Rob Blauner passed away after a long battle with Hodgkins Disease.
6.13.2014 | By illwill