Starting in the 80s and founded by Brett Gurewitz Epitaph was said to be the savior of Southern California punk rock. The company started as a platform to release Bad Religion’s first few albums starting with their self-titled album and  How Could Hell Be Any Worse?. For the first few years, the company has been signing their own albums, but in 1989 they signed in their first band Nofx with their debut album S&M Airlines. Once 1990 hit the company started their path to stardom. By 1993 they had signed more and more bands, with bigger names such as:  Pennywise, Down by Law, Coffin Break, The Offspring, Rancid, RKL, SNFU, Total Chaos, and Claw Hammer. After almost 20 years of absence, Bad Religion returned to Epitaph Records releasing more albums; the latest being  Age of Unreason. 

In 2005 however, Epitaph Records strayed away from their punk roots and signed post-hardcore bands  The Blackout, Escape The Fate, From First to Last, Hell Is for Heroes, I Am Ghost, Matchbook Romance, Our Last Night, Scatter the Ashes, Story of the Year, Thursday, Vanna, and You Me at Six. 2010, with the punk scene slowly fading away in later years, Epitaph Records signed their last batch of bands of emos  The Menzingers, Joyce Manor, Pianos Become the Teeth, Defeater, The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, and Touché Amoré. 

Throughout its 43 years of bands coming, going, and some staying, Epitaph has lasted through the ups and downs of alternative music. They have most of their artists from the past few decades, bands like NOFX have signed off and made their own record companies. After saving Southern California punk rock Epitaph Records has and will keep signing music.