The hardcore punk outfit Sick of It All was founded in 1986 in Queens, New York. Their career really took off when they were signed to a major label and they put out their third album ‘Scratch the Surface’. The album built a bridge between punk and metal, characterised as it was by the streetwise punk attitude while being guitar-heavy enough to command the attention of the metal community. More than three decades on, the Koller brothers & Co are still going strong. They’ve often said in interviews that their approach to music is based on what’s going on in their own lives and they try to bring these events across as truthfully and energetically as possible. It’s a craft they master to perfection as the ferocious ‘The Last Act of Defiance’ (2014) so richly illustrates. With 17 tracks under three minutes, their most recent slab to date, ‘Wake the Sleeping Dragon!’ (2018) keeps up the relentless pace that has defined their career. #GMM23
