Cable

Though their approach has shifted across time, Cable emerged among the earliest acts in what would come to be recognized as noisecore, fusing a hardcore/emo sensibility with an intricate, frequently dissonant metal-derived sound. Shifts in personnel and gaps between releases may have limited their wider recognition, yet the Rockville, CT quartet—formed in 1994 with Randy Larsen, Vic Szalaj, Matt Becker, and Jeff Caxide (later of ISIS)—remains acknowledged as a pivotal force in the scene despite other groups achieving greater visibility. Their first album, Variable Speed Drive on Doghouse Records, arrived in 1997 after Bernie Romanowski took Caxide’s place, locking in Szalaj on drums, Larsen on bass and vocals, and Romanowski alongside Becker on guitars. Following a pair of EPs, the trio—now without Becker—delivered their Hydra Head Records debut, Gutter Queen, in 1999. Subsequent tours alongside Neurosis, Today Is The Day, Cave-In, Botch, Isis, and additional acts led to the 2001 EP Skyhorse Jams on This Dark Reign Recordings, which restored the quartet configuration upon Ben Cowles joining as second guitarist. After an extended wait, Northern Failures appeared on Hydra Head in fall 2001, produced by Steve Austin of Today Is The Day; by then the band had adopted a Southern rock-tinged hardcore/metal direction more aligned with Eyehategod, Buzzov-en, or Cavity than their prior work.