As Friends Rust

The Gainesville, Florida ensemble As Friends Rust formed around former members of Culture, Morning Again, Roosevelt, and Shai Hulud. Their hybrid of punk and emo coalesces into melodic hardcore, a style critics often liken to Turning Point, Dag Nasty, and Avail. What distinguishes the band is its preoccupation with personal relationships and the ways people relate to one another. Goodlife Records issued the debut EP The Fists of Time in 1998, after which Doghouse Records released the self-titled full-length the following year. A split with Discount surfaced two years later, succeeded months afterward by the album Won. Equal Vision brought out the EP A Young Trophy Band in the Parlance of Our Times in 2002. Lead singer Damien Moyal left early that year, yet the remaining members opted against disbanding and instead adopted a new name to launch a fresh chapter with different vocals; by September the group had been rechristened Salem.