The punk band whose debut album The Age of Quarrel is a hardcore cornerstone is Cro-Mags.
The New York band released the album in September 1986 on Profile Records. Its fast, aggressive sound helped define the emerging New York hardcore style, while songs such as “We Gotta Know,” “Malfunction,” and “Seekers of the Truth” became especially influential among later hardcore and crossover-thrash musicians.
The album was primarily written by Cro-Mags cofounders Parris Mayhew and Harley Flanagan, with John Joseph handling vocals on the original recording. Its mix of speed, heavy guitar work, and slower metallic passages helped distinguish it from the more straightforward punk sound of the era. The follow-up, Best Wishes, pushed further toward heavy metal.
A common mix-up is confusing Cro-Mags with Agnostic Front, another major New York hardcore band from the same period. Agnostic Front were highly influential contemporaries, but The Age of Quarrel belongs to Cro-Mags. The album’s title references Kali Yuga, traditionally described as an age of conflict, deception, and spiritual decline.