Band: Armor Class
From: Lansing, Michigan
Their formation story:
(Mike Hartley, guitar): "We all grew up in the same hometown and have played in/with eachothers bands since middle school. As the story goes, once high school ended we all went our separate ways but remained in contact. Fast forward to post COVID and a few of us began attending local shows again. Experiencing the current thriving hardcore scene in Michigan and feeling the energy in the crowd reignited the passion we all shared.
"In 2022, I started writing song ideas with Scott Schoenberg (vocals) and Brendon Merritt (guitar) and we were putting them in the ol’ demo folder for safe keeping. We all were thrilled to be contributing to something musical again, even if it wasn’t clear at the time what the goal was.
"Early 2024, more of our friends agreed to join in and we added Bill Bretschneider (guitar), Ryan Durow (bass), and Nick Bretschneider (drums) to finish off the lineup. As time went on the ‘demo’ songs became more refined and we finally decided to release them in late December of 2024."
Their sound in their own words:
"We really focus on taking key ingredients from hardcore, d-beat, thrash, beatdown, two-step, and mixing in some traditional metal elements on top for spice. All the stuff we love to listen to on the day to day.
"Some of our top influences include: Trapped Under Ice, Terror, God's Hate, Twitching Tongues, Stick to Your Guns, The Acacia Strain, Speed, Alpha & Omega, The Mongoloids, Weekend Nachos, Rancid, and Comeback Kid."
Latest release info:
"We released our first demo digitally in December and followed up with a physical tape release in January on Setterwind Records. Its 3 pissed-off and gritty tracks that we felt best encapsulated what people can expect from us.
"With each track pulling from a different topic altogether; 'Lich Bitch' focuses on political corruption. 'F.Y.P.M' highlights corporate greed, and 'Abuse of Power' describes someone using their position within a community for evil."
Future plans:
"Our first show is coming up at the Montie Haus in East Lansing on 2/28 and we will be opening up for our label mates Drop Rate to celebrate their most recent release. We have some others in the works and should have official announcements for those soon so stay tuned. We are looking forward to getting out and playing as much as we can in 2025."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Drop Rate, Triflin, Nuff Said, Bad Beat, Worst Self, Wounded Touch, World of Malice, The Sissy Boys, Vigilante, Escalation of Force, Moral Pollution, Snakeout, Bitter Truth, Suffer No Fools."
Demo 2024 is available on cassette via Setterwind Records.
Armor Class on social media: Instagram
Tagged: armor class
