Survival of the Streets: Sworn Enemy, 'Total World Domination'

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THERE WAS A when you could ID a hardcore punk group's sound by the city it came from. It wasn't always accurate, but it was common to describe a band as a Boston hardcore band or a D.C. hardcore band and have a general idea of the music.

With the Internet, all that has changed. To play off a Youth of Today lyric, the WWW has broken down the walls enough that regional differences are hard to spot, and trends that once took months or even years to migrate can now be downloaded in seconds.

But the metal-tinged machismo of Sworn Enemy, from the borough of Queens, sounds instantly like a New York City hardcore band.

"In the '80s, you could definitely tell: 'Yeah, this is a New York band,'" said vocalist Sal Lococo in Queens accent. "You can hear it in the music and lyrics [now] a little bit, but not as much as you could in the '80s and '90s. Now you go on the Internet and you got the Boston scene and the New York scene in Arizona and Wyoming and Idaho — anyone can be a part of the scene now."

Sworn Enemy puts a ton of Bay Area thrash metal into the mix, too — Testament, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Exodus — but the spirit of the band's sound is the New York hardcore pioneered by Madball, Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front, Judge and Bold.

That brutal combination of influences appears on "Total World Domination" (Century Media), a blindingly angry album full of beatdown anthems fueled by Lococo's raging voice, which recalls a hardcore version of AC/DC's Brian Johnson (mixed with a touch of the screaming voices used by comedians Sam Kinison and Adam Sandler).

But the 12-year-old group has been run through the industry ringer, getting bounced from label to label, and never quite fitting into either the hardcore or metal scenes.

"If you look at our track record and look at our history, we're still fighting to get our just desserts," Lococo said. "It does make you bitter, it makes you kind of angry.

"The worst thing that happened to this band was when our first manager passed away," Lococo said. "When he passed away, I felt like something left us. I really think he would have done big things for us, and he had big plans for us, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Steve Richards, he was the president of No Name [Music], and he passed away from a brain tumor. He was the major reason behind us getting Ozzfest, getting signed to a major label. When Jamey [Jasta] from Hatebreed introduced our music for him, he was thrilled by us and took a liking to us and did a lot for us in a short period of time."

The one thing that has kept Sworn Enemy riffing away — other than pure, bloody vengeance, of course — is the group's passion for music.

"Yeah, it's not that we don't love what we do," Lococo said, "because if we didn't love it we definitely wouldn't be doing it because there's no money involved in this, for sure."

» Jaxx, 6355 Rolling Rd., Springfield, Va.; with Pro-Pain, Mantic Ritual, The Rejected, Brutallion, Sun., June 21, 5 p.m., $20; 703-569-5940.

» Sonar, 407 E. Saratoga St., Baltimore; with Pro-Pain, Mantic Ritual; Mon., June 22, 8 p.m., $15; 410-783-7888.

BONUS Q&A:

» EXPRESS: Is "Still Hating" about anyone in particular? That is one pissed-off song.
» LOCOCO: Sworn Enemy is kind of like a pissed off band. ... It's not about anyone in particular; it's just about all this shit music that I can't stand in general. It's very funny what people call certain genres today. I don't really want to get into the specifics and the details, but I think the industry today is shit, to be honest with you, and I think a lot of the bands coming out are shit.

» EXPRESS: May I quote some lyrics to you from that song, just to see if I understood them correctly? "I still hate after all these years ... you fucking scumbag cocksucker, go fucking die. I'll pound your sister's box out, OHHHH YEAH."
» LOCOCO: Yeah, you got it right [laughs]. We have it printed on the back of a shirt as well.

» EXPRESS: Wow, sister snaps! The only thing lower would be momma rips.
» LOCOCO: We try to stay away from mommas because we all love our mommas. But sisters are different — that's alright [laughs].

» EXPRESS: Is the song "Step Into the Ring" a fight challenge to someone in particular?
» LOCOCO: No, I wrote that for a friend of mine. He wrestles in MMA or UFC, and I saw him at a show and I said, "So, you're doing that professionally now?" And he said, "Yeah." I was like, "If you use our song, I'll write one for you." And he said, "Alright." So, now I gotta get it to him so he can use it. So, it's not actually me wanting to step into the ring with anybody; I'll leave that to my friend — he'll step into the ring and he can handle everybody [laughs]. Joe Newhide — that's not his last name, but that's what I know him as just from the neighborhood. He lives in Newhide Park.

» EXPRESS: Sworn Enemy's music is perfect for ring-entrance accompaniment. Any UFC or MMA fighters use your songs yet?
» LOCOCO: You look at the UFC, their slogan is "As Real As It Gets." C'mon, give me a break, why don't use our fucking song already? We have a song called "As Real As It Gets" on the first fuckin' record. ... I wish we could — I wouldn't even know how to get in touch with someone involved in UFC. It's so big right now. And I'm sure so many big bands have already tried to do it, and they'd probably look at us and be like, "Phht, who is this joke?" [laughs].