Integrity is a Hardcore Band from Cleveland, Ohio that formed in 1989, combining a blend of classic horror, apocalyptic visions and religious dementia with a metallic hardcore backbone that was not particularly common in the late 1980s-early ’90s hardcore punk movement.
Prior to officially forming, Integrity were a fictional band with shirts and stickers but no lineup and no music.
Officially forming in late summer of 1989 the band consisted of vocalist Dwid, guitarist Aaron Melnick, bassist Tom Brose and drummer Tony Pines.
They had once played together (minus Tom) in an earlier band called Die Hard, but due to multiple reasons Dwid quit / was kicked out of the band and was replaced by “Stork” Schlacter.
After leaving Die Hard Dwid was contacted by Tony Brummel on a recommendation from Walter of the Guerilla Biscuits. Dwid agreed to release a record on Tony’s new label “Victory Records” though Integrity was still only a “sticker” band at this point.
Dwid then recruited Aaron, Tony and Tom and they wrote and recorded the 7” titled “In Contrast of Sin” in late November and early December of 1989. At this point Die Hard were still together but since Aaron and Tony were putting half their effort into Integrity, Die Hard broke up.
Shortly after recording “ICOS”, Tom left and Aaron’s younger brother Lenny took over on bass. “ICOS” was released in February of 1990 as Victory’s 3rd release.
In the months following, the band added Frank Cavanaugh as second guitarist and they recorded 3 new songs in the summer of 1990, with the song titled “Darkness” being released on Victory’s “Only the Strong” 7” record. “Darkness”, along with “March of the Damned”, was released as a cassette single titled “Grace of the Unholy” on Progression Records. “Dawn of a New Apocalypse ” was also recorded, but the master of that song was accidentally lost. Bill Mckinney replaced Frank Cavanaugh shortly after these recordings.
Integrity had planned to release their debut full length on Progression records titled “Den of Iniquity” but Progression went out of business before this happened.
Integrity by this point had built quite a reputation, even though they had been together for less than a year, thanks in part to their bad mouthing many other bands. In addition to this due to some problems between the band / Dwid and Tony Brummel they left / got kicked off Victory Records.
In 1991 the band, (with Chris Hawthorne Smith now on second guitar) signed to Overkill Records and recorded their debut full length that September. “Those Who Fear Tomorrow” would be released in the first months of 1992 on CD and cassette only. Dave Nicholi Araca replaced Tony on drums after “TWFT” was recorded and Integrity recorded 3 new songs in February of 1992. In late 1992 Integrity toured Europe for the first time along with Neurosis and Into Another. Mark Konopka would play drums during this tour.
In 1993 numerous drummers would be part of the line up including Mark Konopka, Bill Gill, Chuck Uhler and Dave Araca. Integrity also recorded a Negative Approach cover and a new track titled “Jimson Isolation”, both with Dave Araca on drums. They would also tour Europe for a 2nd time with Mark Konopka on drums.
In 1994 Victory records and Integrity had made amends and Integrity signed to Victory once again. Integrity’s original drummer Tony Pines would rejoin the band for a short while and Frank “3gun” Novinec went on to replace Chris Hawthorne on 2nd guitar. In November Integrity entered the studio and started recording songs for their upcoming LP titled Systems Overload. Mark Konopka played drums during these recordings.
By February of 1995 Integrity finished recording for the new LP which was released on May 1st. Once again original drummer Tony Pines returned for a very short while but was replaced by Bob Zeiger, who in turn was very quickly replaced by Chris Dora. Integrity entered the studio that October and recorded “Humanity is the Devil” which would not be released for some time. That November they toured Europe for a third time along with Ringworm.
In March of 1996 Integrity entered the studio and recorded three new songs, one of which would be released on their split 7” with Psywarfare, Dwid’s side project. “Humanity is the Devil” would finally be released later that year.
1997 saw Integrity entering the studio that March to record songs for their next album, titled “Seasons in the Size of Days”. Immediately after these recording sessions Integrity left to tour Europe along with Fury of Five. That September Integrity would tour the US to promote the new album.
By 1998, internal friction had come to its boiling point and the band decided to call it quits, with their last show scheduled for October in Chicago, Illinois. Integrity never got to play as Dwid got into an altercation with members of security at the club.
A few weeks later Dwid resurrected the band with members of Mushroomhead calling themselves Integrity 2000. They entered the studio that January and in April of 1999 they released a self titled full length on Victory Records.
After this release the line up was again changed and the band was then known as Integ2000. They released a split CD with the Connecticut band Fear Tomorrow and also released a full length that included cover songs of Slayer and Billy Idol. They would do a very short European tour that November.
In 2001 after another round of line up changes, the band released a full length titled “Closure” which was to be Integrity’s final release, Dwid even briefly changed the band’s name to Angela Delamorte after its release. Angela Delamorte even recorded several songs, one song appearing on a Victory records sampler CD, but they broke up shortly thereafter
Throughout late 2001 and late 2002 Dwid would resurrect the band for one off reunion shows, numerous members performed in the band during this time.
In early 2003 Integrity returned with a vengeance and members Included Guitarist Blaze Tishko, Original drummer Tony Pines, Bassist Steve Rauckhurst and Guitarist John Comprix, later replaced by Mike Jochum. The band played countless shows including tours in the United States and Europe and released an EP on Deathwish records titled “To Die For”.
In December 2003 the band was involved in a fight in Portland, Oregon with drummer Tony Pines being the target. Following the fight the band played one more show but due to internal friction the band called it quits and disbanded. Dwid would then move to Belgium.
In 2004 Dwid recruited members from a couple of different European bands for a one off Integrity Japan tour.
On 26 March 2005, Integrity reunited and played a show at Peabody’s in Cleveland which included members Mike and Steve from the “To Die For” lineup along with new guitarist Matt Brewer and new drummer Nate Jochum.
In October 2005 they performed a 10 day east coast tour known as the “Blackest Curse tour”.
The band came out of a lengthy hibernation in the summer of 2008 and performed in Belgium for the North Sea Hardcore Fest and a complete European tour which lasted almost 6 weeks playing alongside Converge and Coliseum. They also worked on material for their return LP titled “The Blackest Curse”
In October the band released a long awaited new record titled “Walpurgisnacht” with songs that were written in 2005.
To finish out 2008 they played the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Texas on November 8th which was the last show with Guitarist Matt Brewer.
On January 12th 2009 the band played a show in Baltimore, MD with new Guitarist Rob Orr. They went on to play 4 more shows in 2009 including a few shows in Japan. A split 7” record with Creepout was released around this time.
2010 began with Integrity performing on January 9th with Ringworm, Gehenna, and Pulling Teeth in Baltimore, MD. Many 7” records and the LP are planned to be released this year.
DISCOGRAPHY
(Note: various re-releases and some compilations are omitted when they feature no new or unreleased material.)
- Harder They Fall - Demo cassette - 1989
- In Contrast of Sin 7” EP - Victory Records - 1990
- Only the Strong Split 7” - Victory Records - 1990
- Grace of the Unholy Cassingle - Progression Records - 1990
- Those Who Fear Tomorrow - Overkill Records - 1992
- Integrity/Mayday Split 7” - Endgame Records - 1992
- Integrity Demo cassette - 1992
- Den of Iniquity CD - Dark Empire - 1993
- Systems Overload LP - Victory Records - 1995
- Septic Death karaoke 7” - Blood Book 3 - 1995
- Humanity is the Devil 10” EP - Victory Records - 1996
- Integrity/Psywarfare Split 7” - Victory Records - 1996
- A Compilation for Atonement Split 7” - Dog Collar Records - 1996
- Integrity/Kids of Widney High Split 7” - Blood Book 5 - 1996
- Seasons in the Size of Days LP - Victory Records - 1997
- Integrity/Hatebreed Split 7” - Stillborn Records - 1997
- Integrity/Lockweld Split 7” - Victory Records - 1998
- Integrity 2000 LP - Victory Records - 1999
- Integ2000/Fear Tomorrow Split CD - East Coast Empire Records - 1999
- Integ2000-Project:Regenesis - East Coast Empire Records - 1999
- Closure - LP Victory Records - 2001
- To Die For - EP Deathwish Inc. - 2003
- Palm Sunday Live LP - Aurora Borealis - 2005
- Silver In The Hands Of Time compilation CD - Good Life Recordings - 2005
- Always Is Always Forever DVD - Van Hellion International - 2005
- Walpürgisnacht 7” - A389 Records- 2008
- Integrity/AVM Split 7” - Holy Terror Records - 2009 (aka septic death part II)
- Integrity/Creepout Split 7” - Jukeboxxx record - 2009
- Integrity/Rot In Hell split 7” - TDON Records - 2010
- The Blackest Curse CD/LP - Deathwish Inc. - (Not yet released) - 2010
- Integrity/Gehenna Split 7” - Holy Terror Records - (Not yet released) - 2010
- Integrity/VVegas Split 7” - Holy Terror Records - (Not yet released) - 2010
