Emerging from a world in which 500 people at a gig constituted a big crowd, Sick of It All didn’t court mainstream success. Still, the band’s breakthrough album, “Scratch the Surface” (1994), sold more than 250,000 copies and is credited with helping to spread New York’s sledgehammer brand of hardcore to an international audience.
“Step Down,” a track from that album, even made it to MTV, turning the band into “trailblazers for a type of music that had never made so much as a dent outside of its own walls,” Louder said.
The band broadened its appeal by touring with heavy metal and Nu metal acts like Exodus, Korn and Slayer. “We’d always have people looking at us like, ‘What?’ to begin with,” Mr. Koller told Louder. “And then, whether they liked it or not, you could see they appreciated the energy of this type of music.”
The band defied expectations in other ways, too. Sick of It All emerged from a club world where moshing — or slam-dancing — could almost be confused with hand-to-hand combat. But instead of stoking the rage with the anarchic nihilism of many hard-core bands, it served up messages of unity and mutual respect.
In “Good Lookin’ Out,” from the 1997 album “Built to Last,” Mr. Koller extolled the virtues of loyalty and support among friends: “You’re not in this all alone / Just look around, and you’ll see / The answer’s right before your eyes / I’m here for you, and you for me.”
He concluded the song by snarling: “True friends will always be there.”
In “Pushed Too Far,” from “Blood, Sweat and No Tears,” the band denounced bullies: “Walking around, think you’re so cool / Beating up kids weaker than you.”
