Act of Faith
From HotATLDIYwiki
1988 - 1996
Contents |
Bio
Forming in 1988 and disbanding nearly a decade later, Act Of Faith—along with Neon Christ and the Anti Heros (sic)—can lay claim to being one of the most influential hardcore and punk acts to ever come out of Atlanta, though rarely given the credit and critical acclaim awarded to the two aforementioned bands.
Led by its only constant member—guitarist Jonathan Dixon, formerly of The Crooks, who later moved behind the drums—AOF started out as a straightforward, skate rock-inspired punk band. Despite a few fluctuations in lineup over its first few years, AOF eventually settled into a permanent setup with Dixon on guitar, Joshua Terrell on bass, J.L. Hall on drums and Steve Bolton on vocals. Bolstered by a growing fanbase in the metro Atlanta area, AOF entered the studio in 1990 to record its self-titled demo cassette.
The demo found the band moving into a more traditional hardcore songwriting style, featuring blistering tempos, little vocal melody and recurring themes of teen angst.
Soon thereafter Bolton left the group and a friend and former high school classmate of Dixon and Terrell, Rob Fuller, stepped in. Whereas Bolton’s vocals were one-dimensional—though a fine complement to AOF’s brand of almost thrash-inspired yet heartfelt music—Fuller brought much more melody and range to the table, allowing AOF to move into a more melodic direction, while still retaining the urgency and attitude of previous work.
Accordingly, the band’s next recording—1991’s Soul of One 7”—incorporated Fuller’s vocal talents into the band’s sound, evolving into an act more reminiscent of Verbal Assault. Also, shortly following the recording of this EP, guitarist Ken Saluzzi was added to the lineup, allowing the band more options with respect to songwriting and live performances.
Next up, in 1993, the band leveraged its growing popularity in Atlanta to help out a few up and coming bands, all of whom regularly opened shows for AOF, by contributing the newly recorded song “The Network” to a compilation titled That Was Then This Is Now on Fuller’s newly founded label, Standfast Records. In addition to AOF, the comp featured songs by Crisis Under Control, Spiney Norman and The Difference.
Later that same year, and perhaps a bit overdue, AOF finally entered the studio to record its first full length, the cassette-only Forward. The songs were evidently the work of a band firing on all cylinders, and the group did a good job of walking the line between unbridled aggression and melody.
Keeping with its established work ethic, AOF entered Sleepless Nights Studios—run by future Good Clean Fun frontman Issa Diao—the following year to work on another full-length, Test Of Strength. Though suffering from a lackluster mastering job, the disc was otherwise a superb representation of AOF’s sonic evolution, including a remixed version of all the tracks from Forward, in addition to five new songs and a cover of Survivor’s “Eye Of The Tiger.” The new songs (“Side View,” “Rampage,” “Standing On The Shore,” “Beyond Belief,” and “Test Of Strength”) were noticeably darker in both theme and sound, and were an indicator that the band’s growing unease, although the new formula provided AOF with some of its best and most memorable work thus far.
Perhaps as an indicator that the increasingly bleak outlook wasn’t feigned, the otherwise stable band soon parted ways with Hall, which prompted Dixon to abandon the guitar and move behind the drum kit. The band played a handful of shows as a four-piece, but eventually brought in former Difference guitarist Carter Davis to fill the vacant guitar spot.
Shortly thereafter, in 1995, the “new” band once again entered Sleepless Nights Studios to record a five song EP titled Gain. As the band members were no longer high school students living with their parents, the disc featured themes more appropriate for young adults struggling to find their place in the world. For example, the opening track, “Passed On” was a bile-filled rant lambasting parents who impart their own hate and ignorance to their offspring, and the disc’s closer, “No More Heroes,” was a descriptive tale about once-naïve children growing into jaded adults who are no longer able to view the world through the rose-colored glasses of youth.
While the hardcore scene began tipping heavily in favor of bands that played down-tuned, overtly simplistic, metal-based hardcore, AOF forged ahead, undaunted by the ever-changing scene all around, and stayed true to its brand of punk-inspired hardcore. Sadly, Gain would be the band’s final artistic statement, as the demands of adulthood and the strains of maintaining a D.I.Y hardcore band eventually proved too much for Act Of Faith to overcome.
After nearly ten years, close to 100 local shows, a handful of U.S. tours, two full-lengths, two EPs and a couple of compilations, Act Of Faith was done.
In the aftermath, the band’s members were quick to move on to new projects. Fuller and Saluzzi started the band Ex Members Of... while Terrell and Davis quickly joined up with up and coming band Broken—who eventually morphed into Downpour and later The Power and the Glory, and, perhaps in contrast to the band’s early recurring themes of distrust of authority, Dixon joined the Atlanta Police Department, a job he still holds today.
While also playing consistently packed shows in Atlanta, AOF toured the States extensively several times and played numerous shows throughout the Southeast.
Aside from the recorded output and the always-exciting live show, AOF’s legacy can also be witnessed in the current strength of the Atlanta hardcore scene. Simply put, the scene would not exist today were it not for the efforts of Act Of Faith and its members. For example, Fuller, a tireless networker (no pun intended), used his talents to work with local promoters and help bring countless hardcore punk and hardcore bands to town that otherwise might have skipped the still hardcore-unfriendly city, including NOFX, Avail, Down By Law, Earth Crisis, Strife and Strength 691, while promoting many of the shows out of his own pocket. Additionally, with the help of Saluzzi, Fuller’s Standfast Records, was for a time, just about the only place for an Atlanta hardcore band to find a guaranteed audience and decent distribution.
The possibility for any potential reunion shows is highly doubtful, as the band’s members now live in at least four different states and are in very limited contact with each other. But you never know…
Members
- Jonathan Dixon - Guitar (1988 - 1994) Drums (1994 - 1996)
- Joshua Terrell - Bass (1988 - 1996)
- Rob Fuller - Vocals (1991 - 1996)
- Ken Saluzzi - Guitar (1992 - 1996)
- J.L. Hall - Drums (1988 - 1994)
- Carter Davis - Guitar (1994-1996)
- Steve Bolton - Vocals (1988 - 1991)
Discography
* Demo - 1990/Cassette 01 Separate Change 02 Flashback 03 Nevermore 04 Modern Day Hero 05 In The Past 06 On My Own 07 Stop The World 08 Lost Time
* Soul of One - 1991 / 7" vinyl EP 01 Important Man 02 Not Me 03 Burning It Down 04 Soul Of One
* Forward - 1993 / Cassette All tracks included on Test Of Strength
* Test of Strength - 1994 / CD 01 Stepping Away 02 Victim's Song 03 Side View 04 Out Of Reach 05 Rampage 06 Network 07 Illogical Sense 08 Standing On The Shore 09 Forward 10 Older 11 Powerplay 12 Flashback 13 The Scandal 14 Beyond Belief 15 Test Of Strength 16 Eye Of The Tiger
* Gain - 1995 / CDEP 01 Passed On 02 Gain 03 Coldfront 04 My Faith 05 Exchanging Points 06 Intro 07 No More Heroes 08 Stay Gold Outro
Compilations:
* That Was Then, This Is Now - 1992 / 7" vinyl EP 01 Network
* Sleepless Nights Cover Comp. - 1995 / CD
