Indecision (band)

American hardcore punk band

Indecision was an American hardcore punk band that was started in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1993, and officially disbanded in the summer of 2000 though they still play shows occasionally for charity. Indecision is known for their song "Hallowed Be Thy Name". The song features the lyric "For those I love, I will sacrifice" that fans across the world have turned into a tattoo. Photographer Laura Rauch took a photograph of the tattoo on the ribs of a 19 year old US Army Infantryman named Kyle Hockenberry who was being treated in a medevac helicopter following an explosion that cost him both of his legs and one arm. The photo was taken for a military newspaper and went on to win an award from the Society of Professional Journalists. The lyric subsequently gained popularity with members of the armed forces. Winston McCall, the lead vocalist and lyricist of Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive also has one half of the lyric tattooed down each of his forearms.

Relentless recording and touring kept the band relevant long after many of their contemporaries faded away. Inspired by bands like Black Flag, Indecision embarked on voracious trailblazing tours, and it became their trademark usually spending a solid 9 to 10 months a year on the road. They were dubbed "The Working Man's Band" for their affinity to tour cities and countries that other bands would not dare. Indecision was the first American band to play in Zagreb after the Croatian War of Independence ended in 1995. Indecision also showed its appreciation for its home Brooklyn as well as New York City—which they regularly labeled "Gotham City" on merchandise
The former Indecision members Justin and Rachel are now in the hardcore band Most Precious Blood on Trustkill Records.

In 1999, they tried their luck at another label, putting out Release the Cure on M. I. A. Records (and on Overcome Records in Europe). This, arguably their most highly acclaimed album, would be their last. The lyrical content was notably more socio political with songs questioning the government and health care and conspiracy theories in regard to AIDS and cancer research. It was the first album recorded with full songs with singer Artie, formerly of the band Milhouse.

Indecision was notoriously outspoken. Most of their album art and merchandise was somehow controversial. The band always claimed it was not done maliciously or hatefully, but to "stir up a dialogue and inspire free thought and discussion." Artwork on their apparel from the controversial Dan Henk did not help.

The band's tour stories have become legendary. During their first European tour in 1997, after having played a show in Wels in front of a handful of people at an indoor skate park with Flatline and Racial Abuse the band was stopped at the Austrian border on their way to Zagreb. The members were strip searched and held for hours, while the van was disassembled by the customs officials. Another incident happened on the last day of a tour in Quebec in 1999, when they had all their money and merchandise seized. A follow up to "Release the Cure" was in the works and tentatively entitled "The Curse" but the band broke up before anything was recorded.