Alpha Omega

By the early ’90s, New York hardcore was evolving in potent new directions thanks to newly formed bands such as Into Another, Quicksand and Life of Agony. But the old guard were also pushing ahead into fresh territory, yielding bizarre and largely forgotten oddities like the third LP from Cro-Mags. Following their classic debut, the belligerent and stripped-down Age of Quarrel, the band began seasoning its sound with more polished heavy-metal trappings. By the time of Alpha Omega — which featured the newly reunited tandem of vocalist John Joseph and bassist Harley Flanagan — they were essentially a hard rock band, albeit an especially burly and, at times, experimental one. Tracks like “The Other Side of Madness” combine chugging riffage with Joseph’s wild vocal range, encompassing both unhinged howling and poignant grunge-esque brooding; others sound like some weird hybrid of Skid Row and Jane’s Addiction, or like a premonition of Limp Bizkit–style rap-metal. And it all culminates in the 12-minute “Changes / Cro-Mags Jam,” which ventures from uptempo aggression to proto–Mars Volta ecstasy. Overall, the record sounds like a band facing the strange genre crossroads of the early ’90s and simultaneously choosing every direction and none at all, with puzzling yet fascinating results.