New York’s own MERAUDER were on the forefront of the metalcore wave in the early ’90s (being the first band to mix hardcore with riffs right out of the Slayer songbook, something which hundreds of crossover bands have since adopted), and few bands have had the pleasure of receiving the worldwide attention and embellishing the genre’s conviction as these New York natives have. With their formation in 1990, the band’s early days were spent playing live s hows with other oldschool hardcore and metal notables such as Sick Of It All, Carnivore, Motörhead, Morbid Angel and the Cro-Mags, and along the way they released a pair of demos and contributed a track to the now legendary 1992 compilation, East Coast Assault.

Realizing that they would not be able to fully progress with their original singer, MERAUDER sought out and recruited a young vocalist by the name of Jorge Rosado from the band Full Contact, which was the best decision they could have ever made. After a few more years of gigging and writing material, the band released a split 7" with fellow New Yorkers Stigmata in 1995, and immediately began an east coast tour with Biohazard despite still being unsigned. Their third overall demo (and first with Jorge fronting the band) showed that this band was ready to step up to the next plateau.

By mid-1995 the band was signed to Century Media Records and quickly began work in the studio with Parris Mayhew, founding Cro-Mags guitarist and longtime friend. They recorded one of the best hardcore / metalcore albums of all time: MASTER KILLER.