Artist description Hell To Pay plays a blend of punk, oi!, and hardcore, most resembling the 4-skins mixed with Cro-Mags

Music Style Old school hardcore

Musical Influences Slapshot, Discharge, Sheer Terror, Bulldoze, Cro-Mags

Similar Artists Blood For Blood, Sheer Terror

Artist History DC’s Most Hated Hardcore band, a seemingly funny thing for a band to brag about. That is, unless you know the DC Hardcore scene and the four surly old men in Hell To Pay. In a city where the median allowance income of the kids at the shows is more than most average adults make, its easy to see why a band this hateful just doesn’t fit in. While other hardcore bands from DC sing their songs while smiling, its apparent that Hell To Pay is obviously in the wrong town. Heck, wrong decade. But if this was New York City in 1989, things would be a lot different. Instead, they’re DC’s Most Hated and exceedingly proud of it. Hell To Pay formed in 1999 from the ashes of a short lived but well known DC Metalcore band and some old friendships. Vocalist Karl Groves formed Hell To Pay with guitarist Dave “Beats” (Days Lost, Murder One), drummer Matt Mayhem (First Offense, Darkest Hour, Days Lost), and bass player John Cook (First Offense), with a clear-cut understanding of the mission they were about to embark on - Make hardcore music the way hardcore was made when hardcore was great: Furious, charged with anger & purpose. Sickened by the state of the local hardcore scene - filled with metalheads who had cut their hair in order to “stay alive in the biz”, indie rock (aka emo) kids who latched onto the scene like they do their backpacks because theirs was dying before their eyes (and the hardcore scene wasn’t) and white gangstas from the suburbs who think Korn invented hardcore, they had all the inspiration that they would ever need to forge on in their mission. And forge on they have. In their short existence, Hell To Pay has appeared up and down the US East Coast with the likes of Suicidal Tendencies, The Business, Agnostic Front, Murphys Law, Alabama Thunderpussy, Dropkick Murphys, Leeway, Hatebreed, All Out War, 25 ta Life, Breakdown, Skarhead, Toe to Toe, Beerzone, Straightfaced, Shutdown, Ensign, Mushmouth, Sworn Enemy, Stretch Armstrong, Anti-Heros, Diecast, Next Step Up, Cro-Mags, and Blanks 77 to raging crowds who sometimes don’t quite understand why they identify so much with the hateful, mean-spirited assholes in Hell To Pay. With their first release, “The Not So High Life” (Recoil Records), Hell To Pay bare themselves with 9 tracks of anger and alienation wrapped in an old-school hardcore shell. Acclaimed by peers and lauded by even those in national, mainstream music press, that debut release placed the band firmly in the hearts of all who have a love for true hardcore music from the streets, as well as those who like their singers angry. To follow it up, the band will soon release another full-length tribute to inner despair, on Virginia’s Deadlift Records . With songs such as “I Don’t Need You Here”, “Ten Years”, and “Zero Tolerance”, the record is continuance of their statement on the modern Hardcore scene. And with songs like “Valedictorian” and “You Should Be The One” they continue on with their well-known theme of alienation and despair. In support of this release, Hell To Pay will continue its perpetual assault on the US East Coast. Combined with literally dozens of upcoming compilation appearances as well as a full-on press blitz, Hell To Pay is about to chisel its presence on the hardcore scene worldwide, culminating in a European Tour in the summer of 2001.

Group Members Dave Craun - guitarMatt Maben - drumsKarl Groves - vocalsJohn Cook - bass

Albums The Not So High Life

Press Reviews "Like a very pissed off bull in a very small china shop" - Music Monthly Magazine

Location Baltimore, MD - USA

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