Morning Again

Morning Again
Origin	Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Genres	Hardcore punk, metallic hardcore
Years active	1995–1999
Labels	Conquer The World, Eulogy, Good Life, Immigrant Sun, Intention, Moo Cow, Revelation
Past members
Kevin Byers John Wylie Steve Looker Jerry Villarroel Matt Thomas Damien Moyal Joseph Simmons Mike Wahls Eric Ervin Louie Long

Morning Again was a hardcore band from Florida. They were known for their extreme metallic hardcore sound as well as for their straight edge, vegan and anti-government ideas. The band was a "sister band" to Culture, often switching members after one had left the other. Several members went on to play in other bands such as As Friends Rust and Dead Blue Sky. The band was originally from Cooper City, Florida, but moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1998.

History

John Wylie who had left Culture earlier that year wanted a band with more intense and personal views. In December 1995, Morning Again was formed with Damien Moyal and Louie Long who had both been in Culture in the two prior years, on vocals and drums. Mike Wahls came in on second guitar, and Eric Ervin on bass. The band recorded an EP's worth of material which was sent to Conquer the World Records as it had released Born of You and the members were familiar with it. The label agreed to put it out, and the band made some promo tapes to help promote the upcoming release. Soon after the mini-album came out, Intention Records, who had also worked with Culture on their split with Roosevelt, asked John to release a 7" of new material. After landing a deal with the then-new label Good Life Recordings (as the first American band on the label) in Belgium (H8000 area), a compilation of all the released material was compiled for the European market.

Tensions between Moyal and Wylie once again surfaced, as they had in Culture. During one of the last shows with Moyal, Morning Again played with Ohio band Outcast (which happened to be playing their final show) of which Kevin Byers played bass, Steve Looker guitar and Matt Thomas drums. Byers and Wylie were getting along well and he was asked to replace Moyal. Within a week Byers had moved to Cooper City and was the new vocalist. During this time Ervin was also replaced by Peter Bartsocas (who was in Bird of Ill Omen, a band that had toured with MA early that year, and was on Wylie's record label). Immediately they started working on new songs, which would be released on a split with Shoulder on Moo Cow Records. Wahls and Bartsocas left almost immediately after, and Jerry Villarroel became the first stable bassist. They released another 7", as a four piece, on Immigrant Sun Records, My Statement of Life in a Dying World. Joe Simmons would come in as second guitarist and would help to write most songs on the sophomore Good Life release, Martyr. Matt Thomas came in to replace Long and the band gained attention of Revelation Records who quickly signed them to a single release contract. However, by the time As Tradition Dies Slowly, not only did Steve Looker came in to replace Simmons, but Revelation was trying to move all the heavier bands on the label to their subdivision, Crisis Records. The band found a breach in their contract which prevented them from being moved or dropped, and the album was released appropriately.

They released their final record for Good Life, a split with 25 Ta Life, and went back to Europe to tour. Their final release was To Die a Bitter Death on Immigrant Sun. The band quickly fell apart but a last line-up was found resulting in Byers and Thomas still on vocals and drums respectively, while Aaron Hiser and Chris Commons moved from Ohio to join on guitars, and Floyd Beckham came in on bass. They wrote a single last song, "Innocence Forever Lost" and made shirts concerning it for their final tour. In 2000, Wylie's own label released a compilation of both Immigrant Sun Records 7"s as The Fallen... The Few That Remain.

The band has since done two reunion shows. The first was in 2000, where they played under the name "The Cleanest War", which featured Damien Moyal back on vocals as well as the original line-up. The second was under the name "Hand of Hope" in 2002, where they had merch made specially for the show in Orlando, Florida. First a compilation of Hand of Hope and Martyr, Hand of the Martyr and an appropriate shirt. The line up for that show was Moyal on vocals, Wylie on guitar, Ervin on bass and Wes Keely on drums.

Discography

• The Cleanest War (1996)
• Morning Again (1996)
• Hand of Hope (1996)
• Split w/ Shoulder (1997)
• My Statement of Life in a Dying World (1997)
• Martyr (1997)
• As Tradition Dies Slowly (1998)
• Split w/ 25 Ta Life (1998)
• To Die a Bitter Death (1999)
• The Fallen... The Few That Remain (2000)
• Hand of the Martyr (2003)

Other contributions

• "Martyr" - Appeared on You, who are Innocent, what Have You Done Worthy of Death? (1997)
• "Stones" - Appeared on West Coast Hardcore vs. East Coast Hardcore (1998)
• "To Die a Bitter Death" - Appeared on Sweet Deal! (2000)
• "Turning Over" - Appeared on Transcend (2002)
• "Turning Over" - Appeared on The Anti-Pop Sampler (2003)

External links

• Morning Again on Myspace
• Morning Again on Eulogy Recordings
• Morning Again on Good Life Recordings
• Morning Again on Moo Cow Records
• Morning Again on Revelation Records