Jesus fucking Christ try googling this band and getting any goddamned info (or not get on some NSA watch list). Straight outta Kalamazoo, MI comes the unfortunately monikered Jihad which probably sounded like a fucking great name way back in 1995 while the band was tearing up the hardcore scene around WMU. The band was able to release a bunch of splits and singles throughout the mid-90's - their surprisingly original brand of 'core being kind of a weird mishmash between Boston snot and the crossover sound fronted by Biohazard and their ilk. Totally paving the way for the screamo scene led by bands like Eighteen Visions (or Throwdown, whom they oddly remind me of) a few years later, Old Testament is an amazing compilation covering the band's sadly short career. My favorite material is from the split with Inourselves although all of it is enjoyably hard and blisteringly fucking fast. Great breakdowns, great screams, lotsa bitterness and... well you get the idea. Enjoy.
2 comments:
funny jihad related story.. I think it was summer 96 I was on tour with my band somewhere in the vast expanses of the southwest. Jihad had printed some shirts that said "Jihad miliita" We stopped at a pilot or someplace like that and this one trucker was looking at me hard and said "do you EVEN know what that means?" I said "yeah, holy war." Then maybe realizing this dude was taking offense and probably had a gun I followed up with "it's a band" Anyways as I'm leaving the guy is talking to his buddies in the KFC or whatever fast food franchise was inside this gas station.
I have thought about it many times since... I probably was close to getting my ass kicked but my world was a world full of hardcore/punk kids so it didn't occur to me that somebody might be offended.
Probably one of those times I narrowly avoided an ass whipping.
I guess I should mention that Jihad and Ordination of Aaron were the biggest bands in KZOO but there really wasn't that great of a scene circa 94 and 95 so while they might have been the biggest bands, most of the known bands in Kalamazoo at the time in the hardcore/punk-ish scene had to play places like Indy or Detroit to have any sort of audience. It felt like a big diy punk show in Kalamazoo at the time was about 25 kids. That is my take anyways, but 20 years have passed so I could totally remember it wrong.
Ha - fucking love it dude. Thanks for the story man.
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