Confusion is an early metallic hardcore band hailing from Brooklyn, NY. Their demos showcased their heavy and aggressive style, drawing influences from prominent NYHC bands like Breakdown, Fit Of Anger, Maximum Penalty, and Dmize. Over time, their sound evolved to incorporate more metallic elements while still maintaining a raw and aggressive hardcore energy. Today, the DAZE label is giving us a unique chance to recall some of their gritty craft, through a new digital stream of the band’s 1993 single “Storm The Walls“, released for A Call For Unity (East Coast Hardcore Compilation) via Back Ta Basics Records in 1996.
The song hints at the upcoming release of the 1990-1994 discography of STORM THE WALLS, which will be available in the summer of 2023 through Daze Records s for the CD/digital and Generation Records for the vinyl version.
Grab a tee HERE and check out the sheer power of Confusion below!
New York metalcore band Confusion came to rise out of Brooklyn in the early 1990s, mixing real hardcore with death metal. Mostly quiet since their initial break-up in 1994, today the band teams up with DAZE and New York’s Generation Records to announce Storm The Walls: 1990-1994. The compilation, which will be available on CD and vinyl this summer, is the complete recorded discography of the band, remastered by Mark Dann. The packaging features liner notes from members of Indecision, All Out War, Starkweather, Next Step Up, Darkside NYC and more.
Combining the brutality of Obituary and Deicide with the groove and street smarts of Biohazard and Breakdown, Confusion is often credited for creating the original “deathcore” sound.
Michael Scondotto, the bassist of the band Confusion, recounted the band’s history and evolution to Blogged & Quartered blog.
He noted that Confusion emerged in the summer of 1990, during the decline of the second wave of NYHC, and as other bands that had initially inspired them were either breaking up or changing their sounds. The Brooklyn scene also forged its own identity outside of NYC, which included bands like Confusion, Patterns, Lament, Merauder, Life of Agony, Darkside NYC, Nobody’s Perfect, Judgement Day NYC, and non-Brooklyn bands like Subzero, Dmize, Starkweather, Next Step Up, and All Out War. Their first show was in August of 1990 in a backyard in NJ with other bands. Michael became the bassist about a week or two later after the original bassist was kicked out and he was asked to audition.
He emphasized that Confusion did not invent “Deathcore” or the idea of mixing real hardcore with Death Metal. Instead, it was due to their obsession with bands like Obituary, Morbid Angel, Malevolent Creation, Entombed, Death, and Deicide, that they became a metal band completely by 1992, hardly even playing the songs on their 1990 or 1991 demos. They wanted to be the most “brutal” band in Brooklyn, and eventually, they achieved it.
In the spring of 1992, Confusion recorded their first and only 7″ EP called “Taste of Hate,” which was released in the early fall of 1992 by the French label Hardway Records. Only 1,000 were pressed, and it didn’t sell all that great initially since the band didn’t tour, and “distros” hardly existed. The songs were longer and had a Death/Thrash vibe mixed along with their Hardcore parts.
Confusion played both Hardcore and Metal shows, but by 1993/1994, the Metalheads were embracing them more due to how heavy they had become. They were quite popular in the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey since those were the only places they played outside of the five boroughs of NYC. Confusion’s biggest shows as far as attendance goes were Death Metal shows, where they played with Cannibal Corpse, Disincarnate, Cancer, Unleashed, Incantation, and countless others.
Michael mentioned that Confusion as a band did not always get along well, and they fought a lot. There was even a time when he was kicked out of the band for like two weeks. Their lead singer, Mike, was going off to college in Florida, and in the summer of 1994, they decided to end the band at the end of the year. Their last show was in December at L’amour with Deicide.
Michael regretted not recording their best material, which he believes should sound like “Deathcore,” which consists of mosh parts, no real guitar solos, and are kinda short. In the summer of 2002, the original Confusion guitarist and founding member Frank Collins was killed in a motorcycle accident in Brooklyn. Although Frank was kicked out of the band in late 1992, they were all still friendly, and they organized a benefit to raise money for his mother, which was held in January 2003 at CBGB’s.
In the summer of 2007, Confusion resumed playing after a nine-year hiatus, performing two shows in Kearney, NJ and Peekskill NY with Darkside NYC, All Out War, Inhuman, and others. They were scheduled to play a memorial show for their friend Javier “SOB” Carpio of Merauder, but were unable to do so.
The band experienced a lot of violence and chaos during their shows in the 90s, particularly in Brooklyn and NYC. However, Michael still cherishes those days and the friendships he made during that era. In November 2011, Michael decided to make all of the Confusion material available for free as a gift to their fans and friends. Despite being a relatively small band, Confusion continues to receive inquiries and emails from fans who appreciate their hardcore sound and attitude.
In conclusion, the re-release of their catalogue on DAZE has put the band back in the radar and has served as a reminder of the rich history of metallic hardcore in New York. Their music, along with other bands from that era, paved the way for the aggressive and intense sound that continues to influence the hardcore scene today.
