Berzerkers
The history of The Berzerkers goes back to the late 1980s. These were the days before there was a real hardcore scene on Long Island. There were only a few crews scattered around in different towns across the island. There weren’t any venues back then that would even have shows unless you want to count Sundance—a club that was located in Bay Shore. Most kids from the island would have to get on the train to get to the CBGB’s hardcore matinees. Back then even admitting you were from Long Island was a potential dangerous situation. Kids would risk life and limb just to travel to the city to see their favorite bands perform in a club that catered to a scene that was becoming increasingly violent.
In the late 1980s there was a Long Island hardcore band from Huntington called Justnice consisting of four members, Fetus on vocals, Dr. Vortex on guitar, The Smarts on Bass, and Matt Sphincter on drums. Sometime in 1990 Justnice broke up. Justnice soon reformed without two of its founding members, Dr. Vortex and The Smarts. The two of course, did not appreciate this. Vortex and Smarts wanted to show up the newly reformed Justnice. They decided to make the heaviest band ever. They picked up Dirk Blade from Psycho War Hammer to play bass and Richi Rocker; later of Goon Squad fame took second guitar. The Smarts put down his guitar and took up the drums. With Vortex on vocals and guitar, they played death metal, supposedly. No one who was not in the band has ever heard the music. They practiced under a variety of names including Advocates of Asmodeus and the Four Horsemen. Soon Richi left the state, to escape jail time for some crime that we won’t mention here and the Four Horsemen were reduced to three. About this time most of the songs from the original Berzerkers set were written, most with different lyrics. The music was fast and heavy. Vortex was looking for a new band name that better matched the new material; Dr. Craw of the band Psycho War Hammer suggested that the band should call themselves the Berzerkers. So that’s what they did.
In the winter of 1991 the band became extremely tight and began to play shows with some of the other Long Island bands of the era, Vice Grip (which later became Neglect), Mind Over Matter, and Disciplinary action. A lot of these early shows were marked with violence. As a matter of fact, once during one show at Sundance the entire club broke into a huge fight that sent everyone running into the parking lot to brawl, leaving the Berzerkers on stage playing to absolutely no one. A demo was recorded but copies were only given to close friends of the band.
Vortex then decided that playing guitar and singing was too much for one guy to handle. Berzerkers decided to get a new vocalist. Many ideas were bounced around (including a female singer) but the only person who was even asked to try out was Jaw. A few months earlier in 1990 at a party at knockout studios, Jaw got on stage and did a freestyle Jam with a straight edge band called First Cause. His performance pretty much blew away everyone in attendance including The Smarts and Dr. Vortex. He left such an impression on the two that when the time came to get a vocalist they went straight to him.
Jaw was a skinhead also from Huntington who was known for his non-stop and aggressive lyric writing. He and close friend Brian Zoid (the singer for Vice Grip and later on, Neglect) made a spoken-word tape called “Terracide”, it was the groundwork for a band the two had planned to sing for together. Those plans were squashed when Brian joined Vice Grip without Jaw.
On April 19, 1991 The Smarts asked Jaw if he wanted to sing for the Berzerkers. Being a fan of the band's music, he quickly accepted and the band jammed together for the first time on April 30, 1991. The band told Jaw that he could change all the lyrics except for the choruses in certain songs. “I’m right, you’re wrong, “On the streets” and “Piss me off” were off limits to lyrical change.
Jaw had tons of lyrics, an intense screaming vocal style and stage presence that hadn’t been seen since the days of bands like Negative Approach or Black Flag. (One of Jaw’s main influences) Songs were written quickly. It was at this time the band wrote most of its best material that would appear on the original demo.
On May 25, 1991 the Berzerkers played live with Jaw as the new vocalist for the first time at a party in Huntington along with Psycho War Hammer. Several bikers and other shady characters were in attendance.
In June the Berzerkers decided it was time to record. Dirk Blade set up his four-track recorder on June 25, 1991, and the band recorded a few songs. Due to problems with The Smarts drum sounds, not all of the band's 13 songs were recorded that day. They decided to try again another time.
The Berzerkers played their first official show at Carol’s Place in Island Park with Disciplinary Action, and Head on. The date was July 14, 1991. The band destroyed the stage. They played a furious 13-song set in less than 20 minutes, highly impressing everyone in attendance.
On July 16 the Berzerkers finished recording the demo. During that same recording session the band improvised a song that could only be described as a rock/rap combination unlike anyone had attempted before. Since rock/rap was not the band’s intention, that style was never fully developed. Strict, fast, hardcore was the only direction the band wanted to go in. They decided to call the demo “Designed and Built to Kill People”. It was named after the band’s new logo that was designed by Jaw; a menacing spiked balled with the letter ‘B’ inscribed on its face. This demo stands as one of the most influential and powerful recordings by a Long Island hardcore band.
The Berzerkers played their first NYC show on August 4, 1991. It was a party held on a rooftop somewhere on 13th street in Manhattan. Summers Eve, Iron Lung, Mind Over Matter, Maggot, Vice Grip, and a few other bands played as well. None of the bands would have even played if the Berzerkers hadn’t shown up because they were the only band that bothered to bring a guitar amp. The party was quite laid back and mellow until the Berzerkers woke the place up with their intense style. The NYPD showed up during the Berzerkers’ set but the band kept playing anyway. After the song even the NYPD wanted the band to keep playing!
It was during this time that The Smarts began to show a lack of interest in the band. He cancelled practice sessions often and didn’t seem enthusiastic about playing. He acted like a real bitch. What happened next only made him lose interest even more. The Berzerkers played The Bond Street Café on September 5 with Disciplinary Action, Iron Lung and Summers Eve. The show was a disaster. The band ripped through the set and kept playing even after the club pulled the plug on Jaw’s microphone. Jaw retorted to jumping in the crowd and screaming in people’s ears. A little while later during Iron Lungs set, some skinhead who was out to just fight someone decided it would be a good idea to punch The Smarts right in his mouth so hard that he had to get stitches. After that someone sprayed mace during Disciplinary Action’s set forcing everyone to clear the club. This was the beginning of the end for Berzerkers.
Berzerkers took the next few weeks to work on new material and practice for an upcoming show. It was not easy to keep the band tight due to The Smarts increasingly flaky attitude towards the band. The next show was played on October 23 at Sparks in Deer Park, Long Island with fellow Huntington band, Psycho War Hammer. This was a truly great performance by both bands. The Berzerkers opened the show and blasted out 13 songs. Everyone in the crowd scooped up all demos, things were beginning to look up but unfortunately this would be the Berzerkers last show with this lineup.
During the month of November the Berzerkers didn’t play any shows together or even practice. The Smarts and Dr. Vortex were uninterested in playing. It seamed like there would never be another show until Jaw and Dirk Blade met The Smarts and Dr. Vortex in a dark Long Island parking lot on December 5 to discuss the band’s future. They decided to give it another shot and the following week they began to jam together again.
The band was soon booked to play live on the Crucial Chaos radio show at NYU. They tightened up the new material and on January 2 the band hit the airwaves. They blew away everyone who was there to witness it. Never before never again would a bands sound as perfect as The Berzerkers did on that night. The mix was perfect, the vocals were amazing and what was even more amazing was that Jaw could not hear anything he was singing. He was screaming into a microphone with no knowledge of how he was sounding at all. Friends who listened at home recorded the show on their tape decks. The recordings were so good they were used as a second demo. During the song, “Living and Insane” Jaw screamed, “We’re straight outta Long Island!” helping to establish the area’s up and coming hardcore scene.
But, as good as the recording was and as well as they band played, they would unfortunately never play again. January 2, 1992 was the last time the band ever played together with this incredible and dynamic lineup. The recording from this legendary session is all that remains.