As Friends Rust is an American melodic hardcore band based in Gainesville, Florida. The original line-up, which included vocalist Damien Moyal, guitarist Henry Olmino, bass guitarist Jeronimo Gomez and drummer Matthew Crum, formed in Davie, Florida in September 1996. After recording a demo tape but failing to secure a record deal, the band parted ways in February 1997.
Following his move to Gainesville, Florida, Moyal reformed As Friends Rust in June 1997, with a new line-up (made-up mostly of then-members of his other band Culture), ultimately stabilizing the band with drummer Timothy Kirkpatrick, guitarists Gordon Tarpley and Joseph Simmons and bass guitarist and backing vocalist Kaleb Stewart. The band released its debut EP, The Fists of Time, via Good Life Recordings in 1998, prior to which Tarpley was replaced by Peter Bartsocas. After an American tour, Bartsocas was replaced by James Glayat and As Friends Rust released a split with Discount, also on Good Life in 1998, supported by a European and British tour. The band signed with Doghouse Records and released the 1999 EP, As Friends Rust, ensuing a series of American, European and British tours for the next two years, along with reissues of early material.
Inner tensions caused line-up changes in 2000, culminating with Glayat, Kirkpatrick and Stewart quitting. Moyal and Simmons reconstructed the band by recruiting guitarist and backing vocalist Christopher "Floyd" Beckham, drummer Zachary Swain and bass guitarist Thomas Rankine. The new line-up recorded As Friends Rust's debut full-length album, Won, for Doghouse / Defiance in 2001, and embarked on extensive American, European and British tours. As Friends Rust signed with Equal Vision Records and released the 2002 EP, A Young Trophy Band in the Parlance of Our Times, by which time tensions had again surfaced, resulting with Moyal quitting the band at the peak of its popularity. Beckham quickly took up lead vocals, until Adam D'Zurilla was welcomed as Moyal's replacement a month later. With D'Zurilla, As Friends Rust toured the United States, Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom several times, before Beckham, too, quit the band. In September 2002, the remaining members of As Friends Rust announced their continuation under the new band name of Salem.
As Friends Rust reunited in 2008, with Moyal, Kirkpatrick, Stewart, Simmons and Glayat reprising the 1998–2000 line-up. The band embarked on a European and British tour in 2008, followed by a Japanese tour in 2014. As Friends Rust has since performed a series of American and European festival dates in 2015 and 2019, supporting its compilation albums Greatest Hits? and The Porch Days: 1998 to 2000. In 2019, Stewart was dismissed; the band has since been without a permanent bass guitarist. In 2020, As Friends Rust released the EP, Up from the Muck, through Unity Worldwide Records and Stick to the Core Records, containing its first-recorded material in eighteen years. The band's second full-length album, Any Joy, was released on September 8, 2023, via End Hits Records. The material features contribution by bass guitarist Andrew Seward, who joined the band to tour in promotion of the album.
History
First incarnation (1996–1997)
In September 1996, vocalist Damien Moyal was invited to a band practice in Davie, Florida by guitarist Henry Olmino, bass guitarist Jeronimo Gomez and drummer Matthew Crum; the three had been playing under the name Wayside, originally with vocalist Robert Rudas, since 1994. Moyal had previously been the vocalist in Shai Hulud and Morning Again, and was then simultaneously playing in Bird of Ill Omen and had just rejoined Culture (having originally left that band in April 1995).
Moyal named the new melodic hardcore band "As Friends Rust", after the lyrics "as days count down and as friends rust from exposure to exposure", which he had penned in early 1996 while in Shai Hulud, planned for a song titled "Now Ruin Is". Instead of using Moyal's lyrics, Shai Hulud guitarist Matthew Fox wrote new lyrics and the song became "My Heart Bleeds the Darkest Blood" (originally sung by Moyal, but later recorded with vocalist Chad Gilbert). After being kicked out of Shai Hulud, Moyal took the unused lyrics to his next band, Morning Again. While Morning Again did write a song titled "Now Ruin Is" using Moyal's lyrics, it was thrown out shortly after Moyal was kicked out in June 1996. Moyal again re-used the abandoned lyrics for a Bird of Ill Omen song in August 1996, and a month later As Friends Rust was formed. Bird of Ill Omen later recorded the song "Now Ruin Is" for its debut album, Self, Dare You Still Breathe?, but with vocalist William Shane Post, who replaced Moyal in April 1997.