Scar Culture

Scar Culture are a New York City-based quartet, comprised of members Pheroze Karai (vocals), John Conley (guitars), Duke Borisov (drums), and Frank Cannino (bass), whose brutal, high-velocity metal sound incorporates various forms of heavy music influences, including grindcore, death metal, and hardcore. Their full-length album, Inscribe, was released by Century Media in October 2001.

In the fall of 1997, an early incarnation of Scar Culture emerged in the New York City metal underground, then under the name Scrape. The group, whose personage accurately reflected the "melting pot" quality of its hometown — featuring a cultural blend of Indian, Russian, and American backgrounds — cut its teeth on the stages N.Y.C. institutions like CBGBs, Castle Heights, and the Voodoo Lounge, often opening for bands like Skinlab, Brutal Truth, and Hypocrisy. Re-christening itself Scar Culture, the band independently released a six-song demo, which quickly picked up great reviews in the underground metal press, and the band's music was being featured on compilations like Razorback Records' Pit Magazine sampler, Alabaster Records' So Mote It Be, Vol. 1, and 316 Productions' Redefining the Rockstar, Vol. 4.

A second demo, recorded at Brooklyn's Systems Two studios (also host to such notables as Biohazard, Life of Agony, and Type O Negative), garnered even more positive press in magazines like Metal Maniacs and Delirium, which called the demo a "stomp heavy, in-your-face, incessant howl of metal mastery." Adding to the group's visibility were standout performances at both Milwaukee Metalfest 1999 and the 1999 and 2000 New Jersey Metalfests.

One of Scar Culture's most vocal new fans was S.O.D. frontman Billy Milano, who, after one listen to the band, could only gush, "f*cking brutal!" He subsequently brought the band to his own Blue Meenie studio (Madball, Lunachicks, Voivod, Sick of It All) in Hoboken, NJ, where he oversaw the recording of their first full-length recording, Inscribe. Milano brought Scar Culture to the attention of Century Media, who signed the Brooklynites to a worldwide record deal. The Milano-produced Inscribe was released in October of 2001.