Bryan (vocals) and Hunter (guitar) formed the band Empire Falls in 1996 out of the ashes of former band Scorch. Empire Falls was formed with the notion of taking back hardcore from the current trend of complacency. Their first demo, recorded with a drum machine, was shopped around to potential drummers and bass players in the North Carolina area until they finally found drummer Will and bass player Billy. The band wrote seven songs and played their first show.

Soon the band was offered a seven-inch deal with Maryland label Fist Fight Records. The lineup of Bryan Scorch (vocals/ bass), Hunter (guitar) and Will (drums) quickly went into the studio and recorded tracks for what would become the "Lines Have Been Drawn" seven inch (1300 pressed). Next came the "Our Blood, Our Brotherhood" compilation on Prophecy Records. Early on the band received a reputation for violence however there isn't really any truth to this. The people attending their shows however were dancing hard ("fighting") regularly and like it or not the band was forever linked to the violence and aggression by rumors.

The "Lines Have Been Drawn" seven inch was doing well and pressed again by local label Groovecore Records (500 copies), a few demos were released and by 1997 Empire Falls was searching for a new rhythm section. They found Steve (drums) and Croad (bass) and the band hit the road in 1997 to tour the East Coast for a week. When they got back home this lineup would record the "Rekindling The Fire" full length for Back Ta Basics Records (1000 pressed). Back Ta Basics also included the band on the widely distributed "A Call For Unity" CD compilation. In the meantime, more shows and violent ones at that.

In early 1998 the band plus new second guitar player Nick Fletcher "Fury" went in to record the "Join Or Die" CD for their own label Prophecy Records (still selling to date). They even managed to play more shows than ever and released a live tape and CD titled "Riot At Cedar Street". After a while the controversy had built to an all time high.

Soon, Nick Fury and Steve had to go. The band quickly found a replacement in One Life Crew's promotion agent, the hard-hitting drummer Blake. Soon the band had several new compilation releases under their belt including the "Young Til I Die: Tribute To 7-Seconds seven inch on Groovecore Records, the "After The Storm: A Tribute To Judge" seven inch on Prophecy Records and the infamous Empire Falls/Pitboss 2000 split seven inch on Ohio's Use Your Head Records (2000 pressed and now considered a collectors item).

In late 1998 the band demos their new tracks and then went into the studio to record the EP "Making Hardcore A Threat". By now the band had managed to alienate the majority of the local PC scene with their hard stance (He! He! He!) However the controversy was to bring in a more determined and dedicated audience to their shows. The shows were getting larger and more intense. With some help from MP3.com calling the band the best metal core act for months in a row by 1999 they had finally gained some worldwide exposure and a dedicated following.

The year 1999 marked a huge hiatus for the band with no touring or recording. The whole band could not work through their differences politically, musically, geographically and socially and in May of 1999, a few months after recording the "Making Hardcore a Threat" EP the band called it quits after playing only two shows in support of the new EP. One song, their cover of Warzones "Kicked In the Head" was released on the widely distributed "The Spirit Remains: A Tribute To Raybees and Warzone" CD comp on Hate-Core Records. For the rest of 1999 and most of 2000 Bryan toyed around with the idea of re-forming Empire Falls while he was busy singing for the new version of Scorch, a Pitboss 2000 side project, and playing bass for the North Carolina oi! band Patriot where he toured and helped out on the bands new record "We The People".

Enter EF 2000: Bryan was getting increased interest from emails and letters about Empire Falls reforming. Bryan didn't seem to think that was all that bad of an idea so in late 1999 and early 2000 he recruited some friends and recorded the "Dawn Of A New Era" EP for his own label Prophecy Records, finishing up the tracks for the EP in 2001 (Still selling to date). Next came a compilation titled "A Breed Apart: On The Outside Looking In" (Not Gonna Say Records) which sported some of the fringe hardcore acts in the scene.the bands that were doing hardcore right and not getting any attention for it. The compilation was met with wonderful reviews and dubbed the years version of the infamous "Where the Wild Things Are" compilation.

Around the tail end of 2001 Bryan had recruited Doug on the guitar and Brandon on drums. The band rehearsed with several bass players until Doug decided to move over to bass and Bryan recruited Eddie, guitar player from local band Floor 13. This lineup recorded some old and newly written tracks on their home recording machine and pressed 500 copies onto vinyl on their own label GCC Records. From this small beginning Empire Falls received the best reviews yet sparking renewed national and local interest in the band. Called their best lineup by far, the same lineup entered Carey Sound and recorded their brand new record "Take A Stab At Society" now available on Prophecy Records. Shows around this time included a Southern tour with Comin Correct (ex-25 Ta Life) and in January Bryan toured Europe for six weeks playing bass for Comin Correct.

2002 marked some minor changes with the line-up. Bryan, Eddie and Doug were still plugging away yet with a new drummer. Alex was recruited and shortly thereafter Daniel was hired as a second guitarist and was later fired for not accepting the bands large skinhead following. The band wrote around 5 new tracks for an upcoming album tentatively titled "The Elite" but the album was scrapped due to lack of funds and GCC Records pressed 100 copies of the sessions with a live set onto CD. Also recently the band has repressed some of the older out of print titles and released a new live CD titled "Unsolved Crimes" which they recorded during a packed show supporting Antiseen. Up next was a split 7" with Antiseen and a split CD with Clevelands One Life Crew as well as a split CD with Pitboss 2000 was also in the works.

In 2003 Eddie and Alex were scrapped and two brothers joined as guitarists. Evan and Ryan were old friends from the Greensboro scene and joined the band full time. This lineup played out almost every weekend for the rest of 2003. In the summer of 2003 the band toured with Pitboss 2000 and Baltimore's backhand as well as played shows with 25 Ta Life and Antiseen. Two drummers helped them out during this time. The first drummer was Aaron from the Dirty Politicians and the second drummer being the infamous Ross from the North Carolina skinhead band The Beatdowns. The band recorded a new full length titled "The Underdogs" for RAC Records and New Jersey's Pit-Core records inked a deal to release a 34 song "Best Of" CD.

Everything was going well until squabbles put an end to the momentum. Ross left the band in the Fall of 2003 to pursue other endeavors and shortly thereafter the brothers were fired. Prior Ross's departure the band entered a studio in Virginia to record a dozen songs for a future release. During these sessions the band recorded many of their previously un-recorded live staples. In October Bryan decided to join 25 Ta Life playing bass for their 2 week Californian tour. When Bryan returned Aaron from the Dirty Politicians once again joined the band to help out and Bryan recruited James from the North Carolina skin- band NC Punchout on guitar. This lineup went down to Atlanta to play a gig and on their return went into the studio to record for the OLC/EF split 7 inch release in 2004. Shortly thereafter Ross and Bryan met up at a gig in Chapel Hill and agreed that he should rejoin the band. The re-formed lineup went into the two different studios and recorded for some 7 inch releases, comp songs and splits. The split 7 inch with One Life Crew was released by Prophecy Records in March 2004. Doug Triscuit switched back to guitar and a friend from the North Carolina scene, Phil, joined as bass player. This lineup toured with 25 Ta Life in 2004 and organized and played the first annual Underdogs Super-Show in 2004. Ross was fired after a stage dive filled show on the fourth of July in South Carolina. The reasons were numerous. Phil moved from bass to drums and the band hired Josh Sanders to play bass. Diehard Records (Ohio) inked a deal to release all of the bands EP's from 1996 to 2004 on one CD. With this deal Diehard Records also released a CD of new recordings from 2003-2004 titled "No Compromise/Live Free Or Die". The CD is a massive 31-track collection. In mid 2004 Bryan was asked to sing in the revamped and reformed UK punk band Blitz. Going as NIDGE-BLITZ, the all-star lineup featuring former members of Blitz, Patriot, and Disorderly Conduct plans to tour the states in November/ December 2004. Empire Falls entered the studio for three fun filled days in August and came out with a product that they have been trying to achieve for almost ten years. The new album "Negi-Core Pioneers" captures the band exactly how they sound live. The record is filled with old songs, new songs, and cover songs. Recorded mostly live in the studio, this is Empire Falls best effort and captures the fun, energy, aggression and danger of an Empire Falls live show. In August 2004, Bryan has also been working on the mixing/vocals of the bands follow up to "The Underdogs" titled "On The Attack". The album features basically the same lineup as "The Underdogs". "On The Attack" has taken a year to complete but the process has been easy going and fun. In late 2004 Empire Falls received an unexpected offer. Empire Falls now has a producer/financier who works with the majors. The band is currently working on a year-long project with producer Ray Winters. The Notfortheweak record label is also releasing an Empire Falls tribute CD in 2005/2006 which will feature NYHC legends 25 Ta Life, as well as 14 other bands covering Empire Falls songs.