The Cro-Mags

Cro-Mags
Origin	New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres	Crossover thrash hardcore punk thrash metal krishnacore
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Century Media Mightier Than Sword Records
Associated acts	108 Agnostic Front Bad Brains Danny Diablo Fun Lovin' Criminals Harley's War Hazen Street The Icemen Kraut Leeway Madball Murphy's Law Samsara Shelter Sick of it All The Stimulators Suicidal Tendencies Youth of Today
Website	www.cro-mags.com
Members	John Joseph A.J. Novello Craig Scully Maxwell Mackie Jayson
Past members	Eric J. Casanova Harley Flanagan John Berry Dave Stein Parris Mitchell "Kevin" Mayhew Joel the Hole Doug Holland Rob Buckley Gabby Abularach Scott Roberts Rocky George Craig Setari Franklin Rhi Dave Hahn Petey Hines Dave DiCenso Ryan Krieger Gary "G-Man" Sullivan

The Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk turned crossover thrash band from New York City. The band, which had a strong cult following, has released five studio albums, their first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal and were associated with the birth of a tougher attitude within the hardcore scene in the late 1980s, related to the world of martial arts. John Joseph McGowan and Harley Flanagan (formerly drummer for The Stimulators), are practitioners of boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu respectively. The Cro-Mags have gone through several line-up changes, and as of 2016, there are no constant members left in the band.

According to AllMusic, "before the Cro-Mags, the idea of combining heavy metal and hardcore together was unheard of. But with the release of their classic debut, The Age of Quarrel, hardcore-metal was born, and in its wake came a legion of similarly styled offspring (Biohazard, Vision of Disorder, etc.)."

The band's early years were spent "living in burnt out buildings, squats and on the streets". They first released a demo with songs that would eventually find themselves on their debut album The Age Of Quarrel (1986). Singer John Joseph subsequently parted ways with the band, leaving bass player Harley Flanagan to sing on the following Cro-Mags release, Best Wishes (1989), which had a more heavy metal-influenced sound. The next record Alpha Omega (1992) saw the return of Joseph. According to guitarist and songwriter Parris Mitchell Mayhew, he wrote most of the album with guitarist Rob Buckley. However, neither Mayhew or Buckley played on the actual recording, as Cro-Mags disbanded and later recorded the album with previous members.

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