New York hardcore is a small, tight scene, and Madball is a family business in the literal sense: in the late '80s, Agnostic Front singer Roger Miret started letting his half-brother Freddy Cricien take the mic at AF shows, and the side project that grew out of it played unused Agnostic Front songs with Miret on bass, Vinnie Stigma on guitar, Will Shepler on drums and a 12-year-old Freddy up front. After the Ball of Destruction EP in 1989, Roadrunner signed the reworked band in 1994 for Set It Off, then Demonstrating My Style in 1996, and Cricien has kept it going ever since, through records like Legacy, Empire, Hardcore Lives and 2026's Not Your Kingdom.