Forty years after The Age of Quarrel helped shape New York hardcore, Turnstile guitarist Meg Mills joins Cro-Mags to revisit the record that inspired her to start a band.
New York hardcore legends Cro-Mags have released a new recording of their 1986 track ‘It’s The Limit’, featuring Turnstile guitarist Meg Mills.
Released on Thursday, 15 October, the track is the latest preview of The Age of Quarrel: 40 Years of Quarrel, a complete re-recording of the band’s influential 1986 debut, arriving 13 November through BLKIIBLK.
For Mills, the collaboration carries particular significance. The guitarist has credited the original album with inspiring her to start a band, making her appearance on the anniversary recording something of a full-circle moment.
Reflecting on the opportunity, Mills described it as the greatest honour she could receive as a New York hardcore fan.
“Wouldn’t have ever started a band without this record,” she said in a statement accompanying the release.
The collaboration connects two generations of hardcore musicians, with Cro-Mags helping establish the crossover sound that brought hardcore punk and thrash metal together during the 1980s, while Turnstile have carried hardcore into considerably larger venues and audiences.
But the anniversary project is about more than revisiting an influential record.
When Cro-Mags announced the album in August, founding bassist and vocalist Harley Flanagan explained that the decision to re-record The Age of Quarrel was partly motivated by longstanding disputes over the original recordings.
Flanagan claimed the musicians who performed on the 1986 album had never received payment or an accounting of its sales. He also said attempts to reunite the original line-up and reclaim rights to The Age of Quarrel and its follow-up, Best Wishes, had been unsuccessful.
The project eventually took shape after several songs were re-recorded for the documentary Harley Flanagan: Wired for Chaos, because, according to Flanagan, the original recordings could not be licensed.
The resulting album brings together musicians from across Cro-Mags’ history and the wider hardcore scene.
Original guitarist Doug Holland and former Cro-Mags guitarist Rocky George contribute alongside Rise Against guitarist Zach Blair, with Sepultura drummer Greyson Nekrutman performing the drum parts. Arthur Rizk, whose credits include Power Trip and Blood Incantation, produced and mixed the record.
The 15-track release also includes ‘Everybody’s Gonna Die’, a song dating back to the band’s 1985 demo recordings.
For Flanagan, the re-recording represents an opportunity to revisit the music on different terms. He has said the new project is intended to compensate the songwriters, with remaining proceeds going to charity.
For Mills, it’s an opportunity to play a part in the record that helped set her musical journey in motion.
The Age of Quarrel: 40 Years of Quarrel arrives 13 November via BLKIIBLK.
Watch Cro-Mags’ ‘It’s The Limit (2026)’ lyric video below.
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