Sworn Vengeance

Sworn Vengeance is a hardcore band from California. They have played shows across the United States. Their work is composed of crunchy heavy metal riffs, heavy bass and drums, and an extremely aggressive vocal style.

"...In May of 98, Eric had to quit due to the pressures of having a family. Ryan's brother Adam stepped in, and Downshift decided to change their name to Sworn Vengeance. The change was due to feeling no connection with the old name, and also having a new powerful name to go along with the music they were playing.

Adam left the band in late July for personal reasons, and Bob Hookey came down from Montana to fill in as the new bassist. S.V. went back in the studio to record an 8 song demo CD entitled My Friend Violence. The tracks interested Mike Hood, who contacted S.V. about putting out a CD.

In January of 1999, a week before recording, Nate decided to quit. As a four piece, S.V. recorded a 10 track CD for Westcoast Worldwide entitled Abbadon. Even heavier and faster than before, the material took the band onto a whole new level. With a split 7" with All Bets Off, a 7" of the Nineteen Ninety Hate demo (with Hammer) out on Back ta Basics and 2 songs on the first Westcoast Worldwide compilation, crowds at shows began to grow bigger.

Soon after, Bob stepped down to take care of personal matters and Marc, Ryan and Brian auditioned new people. The band picked up Dan Coddaire on second guitarist and Carl Schwartz on bass. S.V. hit the studio again and recorded Domination at the end of 1999 for Breakout Records. International attention grew with this release and helped them establish themselves as one of the heaviest hardcorde bands on the west coast. Soon after this release, Dan was asked to step down and the band continued as a four piece, touring all over both coasts, playing with bands like NJ Bloodline, Shadows Fall, Buried Alive, Vision of Disorder, Glassjaw, Dysphoria, 25 ta Life, Drowningman, Hoods, Unconquered and Punishment, among many others. S.V. was also asked to perform and be interviewed for a foreign documentary on music, with an audience of 6,000,000 people.

Due to personal and band related disagreements, Marc was asked to step down and S.V. picked up Tony Barbier on drums and Doug Weber on second guitar. The S.V. sound took a new turn with the addition of these members, as the band felt that they had finally achieved a cohesive unit with everyone on the same page. The guys all sat down and started writing heavier material with a (at the time) new twist, which was to add harmonies to the riffs. Currently an overdone effect, at the time there were very few, if any, bands in hardcore that were merging harmonies with crushing breakdowns and dark lyrics.

Label interest developed, and S.V. were set to release their next full length on Too Damn Hype Records. S.V. went in to record a series of songs, most for the album and some for some splits and comps that were offered. But a lot of personal and internal pressures were starting to weigh on some of the members, and, on the eve of getting set to release their new album and playing some shows with Hatebreed, S.V. decided to call it quits in 2002.

Carl and Doug have gone on to form First Blood and play in Terror. Other members have settled down with their career goals, with Tony working for one of the top software developers in the world, Brian becoming a police officer in the bay area and Ryan focusing on his media firm and personal art. Recently, Brian, Ryan and Tony got back together with Adam and Neil Dahwan (who played the Don S.E.E.D. memorial shows on second guitar) and played a one off show in Reno, Nevada, with the thought of playing a few shows here and there when time and careers permit. "