Sworn Vengeance (band)
| Sworn Vengeance | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States |
| Genres | Hardcore, Metal |
| Years active | 1998–2002, 2011-present |
| Labels | Escapist Records (US), Goodlife Recordings (EUR) |
| Associated acts | Downshift, Terror, First Blood, Light This City, At Our Heels, Set Your Goals, Murder Practice, Glacier Eater |
| Website | Official Site |
| Members | Brian Baumgartner James Chanthanao Ryan Encinas Jon Frost Keith Welch |
| Past members | Adam Encinas Nate Olsen Bob Hookey Dan Coddaire Marc Fortner Carl Schwartz Doug Weber Ryan Wilson Tony Barbier Neil Dhawan |
Sworn Vengeance is an American metalcore band from the San Francisco Bay Area. Formed in 1998, the group has released 4 albums, a handful of 7" records & splits and have been featured on numerous compilations. SV's current lineup is Brian Baumgartner on guitar, James Chanthanao on drums, Ryan Encinas on vocals, Jon Frost on bass, and Keith Welch on guitar. Sworn Vengeance has played numerous shows and festivals throughout the US, in addition to two tours of Mexico in 2014 and 2015.
Sworn Vengeance was founded by Brian Baumgartner, brothers Adam and Ryan Encinas, Marc Fortner and Nate Olsen in 1998 from the ashes of the San Francisco Bay Area hardcore band Downshift. While Downshift had some elements of late 80’s youth crew hardcore bands due to all the members being straight edge, Sworn Vengeance wanted their music to be a much heavier sound with stronger influences of the metal they all grew up listening to. Their first show was in 1998 at the Maritime Hall in San Francisco with Hatebreed. After a Northwest tour in July, Adam left the band and Bob Hookey stepped in as their new bassist.
In September 1998, Sworn Vengeance entered the studio to record an 8-song demo CD entitled “My Friend Violence”. The tracks interested Mike Mraz of the Hoods, who contacted the band about releasing the first album on his new label, Westcoast Worldwide. In January 1999, Nate decided to step down as guitarist. The band continued as a four piece and record a 10 track CD for Westcoast Worldwide entitled “Abbadon." Even heavier and faster than before, the material took the band to a whole new level of sound, as well as exposure thanks to Mike Mraz’s networking within the hardcore underground.
Taking some tracks off their “My Friend Violence” demo, Sworn Vengeance contributed to a split 7" with All Bets Off. Also released at that time was a 7" of the Nineteen Ninety Hate demo (original recorded as Downshift) on Back ta Basics (Rick Healy from 25 ta Life's label). With these releases plus 2 new songs on the first Westcoast Worldwide compilation, crowds at shows began to grow bigger.
Soon after, Bob stepped down and Brian, Marc and Ryan auditioned new people. The band picked up Dan Coddaire on second guitarist and Carl Schwartz on bass. While playing countless shows throughout the Bay Area, Sworn Vengeance hit the studio again and recorded “Domination” at the end of 1999 for Breakout Records. International attention grew with this release and helped them establish themselves as one of the heaviest hardcore bands from California.
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