Hardcore punk

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Hardcore punk
Stylistic origins:	Punk rock
Cultural origins:	Early 1980s North America
Typical instruments:	Vocals - Guitar - Bass - Drums
Mainstream popularity:	Low to Mid
Derivative forms:	Alternative rock - Grunge - Emo - Post-hardcore
Subgenres
Christian hardcore - Crust punk - D-beat - Grindcore - Melodic hardcore - Powerviolence - Skate punk - Thrashcore - Youth crew
Fusion genres
Crossover thrash - Funkcore - Metalcore
Regional scenes
Australia - Brazil - Canada - Europe: Italy - South Wales - Scandinavia: Umeå - Japan - USA: Boston - California - Chicago - Detroit - Minneapolis - New Jersey - New York - North Carolina - Philadelphia - Phoenix - DC
Other topics
Hardcore dancing - Straight edge - DIY punk ethic - List of bands

Hardcore punk (usually referred to simply as hardcore) is a subgenre of punk rock which originated in the United States of America in the late 1970s. It emerged as the first wave of punk artists disbanded or moved onto different genres and the left behind artists became more underground and 'hardcore.'^[1] The sound is thicker, heavier, and faster than 1970s-style punk rock. It is characterized by short, loud, and passionate songs.

Contents 1 Origins 2 The big three 3 Other early notable bands 4 Early support 5 Negative publicity 6 Slam dancing 7 Influence 8 Early history in Europe 9 Hardcore in the 1990s 9.1 Metalcore 9.2 Progression and experimentation 10 Hardcore in the 2000s 11 Hardcore punk record labels 12 See also 13 Notes 14 References 15 External links

[edit] Origins

The music genre that became known as hardcore punk originated in different areas of North America in late 1980 and early 1981. Some of the major areas in North America associated with the origins of hardcore punk include: California, Washington, DC, Chicago, New York City, Vancouver and Boston. At the same time, a British equivalent had emerged, although it would not be known as UK 82 or British hardcore until later.

The origin of the term hardcore punk is uncertain, however one theory is that the Vancouver-based band D.O.A. made the term official with the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore '81.^[2][3][4]

Until about 1983, hardcore was used fairly sparingly, and mainly as a descriptive term. (i.e., a band would be called a "hardcore band" and a concert would be a "hardcore show"). American teenagers who were fans of hardcore punk simply considered themselves fans of punk — although they were not necessarily interested in the original punk rock sound of late 1970s (i.e. the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers).

In many circles, hardcore was an in-group term, meaning 'music by people like us,' and it included a wide range of sounds, from hyper-speed punk rock to sludgy dirge-rock, and often including arty experimental bands, such as The Stickmen and Flipper.

Hardcore was noted for its do-it-yourself (DIY) approach. In most cities (California being the exception) the hardcore scene relied entirely on DIY recordings, zines, radio shows and concerts. Hardcore punk fans brought a dressed-down T-shirt, jeans, and crewcut style to punk fashion. This contrasted with the more elaborate and provocative clothing styles of many 1970s punk rockers, such as Richard Hell, Sid Vicious and Soo Catwoman.

[edit] The big three

Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life traces hardcore back to three bands: Black Flag, Bad Brains and Minor Threat. He calls Black Flag, formed in Los Angeles in 1976, the music’s "godfathers." Azerrad credits Bad Brains, formed in Washington, D.C. in 1977, with introducing "light speed" tempos. He calls Minor Threat, formed in Washington, D.C. in 1980, the "definitive" hardcore punk band.

Black Flag had a major impact on the Los Angeles scene—and later the wider North American scene—with their raw, confrontational sound and DIY ethical stance. The original lineup featured Keith Morris (later of the Circle Jerks), and the final lineup featured former State of Alert singer Henry Rollins, who first sang with Black Flag at a concert in New York City on June 27, 1981.^[5] While their musical influence was limited (few contemporary bands sounded similar to Black Flag), their tireless work^{[citation needed]} in promoting their own concerts and releasing self-financed records inspired other bands to do the same. Tours in 1980 and 1981 brought Black Flag in contact with developing hardcore scenes in many parts of North America.

Bad Brains are an African-American band that formed in Washington, DC. The band members had backgrounds in soul music, funk, and jazz, and were influenced by rock bands such as Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols. The single "Pay to Cum" b/w "Stay Close to Me" was released in 1980. Their first album (originally a 1981 cassette-only release from Reachout International Records) included three reggae songs, in sharp contrast to the rest of their music.

Minor Threat, also from Washington, DC, formed out of the short-lived Teen Idles. Carry-over members of The Teen Idles were Ian MacKaye (who went on to co-found post-hardcore group Fugazi and emo band Embrace) and Jeff Nelson. Minor Threat played an aggressive, fast, hardcore punk style influenced by Bad Brains. The band was responsible for inspiring the straight edge movement, with their song of the same name. After the Teen Idles broke up, MacKaye and Nelson put the band's concert money toward founding Dischord Records, initially to release their Minor Disturbance EP on vinyl. The record label went on to release EPs by Minor Threat and many other early Washington, DC hardcore bands.

[edit] Other early notable bands

Several 1970s Los Angeles-area bands released records featuring music that sounds very similar to what later became known as hardcore. One of those records is the Middle Class’ 1978 Out of Vogue EP. [1][2] Rhino 39’s 1979 Xerox b/w No Compromise/Prolixin Stomp single is similarly fast and thrashing.^{[citation needed]} It is unclear the extent to which these early records (and the inclusion of the bands' songs on the 1979 compilation LP Tooth & Nail) directly inspired hardcore. Mentions of them in contemporary publications are sparse, and little notice appears to have been taken of them outside the Los Angeles area. A more influential record was The Germs’ 1979 (GI) LP — essentially a hardcore record, not only for its quick tempos but also for its fast chord changes.

Also from LA, the Descendents (formed in 1978 and transitioning from surf-pop to punk in 1980 with the addition of Milo Aukerman on vocals) made a name for themselves in the hardcore scene with a melodic yet aggressive pop-punk sound that has proved to be remarkably influential over the course of the subsequent decades.

San Francisco's Dead Kennedys formed in 1978 and released their first single "California Über Alles" in 1979. By the time they released the In God We Trust, Inc. EP in 1981, the Dead Kennedys were playing very fast tempos. The Circle Jerks’ first album (recorded in late 1979, released 1980) features several songs with very fast chord changes and tempos. The Misfits, of New Jersey, were a 1977-style punk band involved in New York’s Max's Kansas City scene. Their horror movie aesthetic was popular among early hardcore fans. In 1981, the Misfits integrated high-speed thrash songs into their set.

Hüsker Dü was formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979 as a postpunk/new wave band, but soon became a loud and fast outfit. After a postpunk single released in early 1981, a live album was released in early 1982 that has been called a "breakneck force like no other… Not for the faint of heart." [3] By 1985, the band morphed into one of the seminal alternative rock bands of the era.

By 1981, many regional hardcore bands began to appear and to release demos and records, including the Neos of Victoria, British Columbia; Negative Approach of Detroit; The Fix and The Meatmen of Lansing, Michigan; The Necros of Maumee, Ohio; The Effigies and Articles of Faith of Chicago; SS Decontrol, DYS, Negative FX, Jerry's Kids, and Gang Green of Boston; Zeroption of Toronto and the Big Boys, MDC (Millions of Dead Cops) and The Dicks of Austin, Texas; YDI, Flag of Democracy and Sadistic Exploits of Philadelphia.

Many important early hardcore bands did not release records during their lifetime, and were known only through live shows and demo tapes (or through tracks on multi-band compilations). One example is the 1980-1982 New York hardcore scene, discographies of which feature many records from the suburbs (including bands such as The Nihilistics, from Great Neck, Long Island; and The Misguided, from Queens). Active Manhattan-oriented bands, such as The Whorelords, Ultraviolence, Killer Instinct, and the Crypt Crashers generally appear as footnotes due to their very small vinyl presence.^{[citation needed]} Boston's Negative FX — perhaps the most popular hardcore band in Boston circa early 1982 — did not appear on record, and were unknown outside their own area until a posthumous album was released in 1984.

Notable early records include The Angry Samoans’ first LP, the Big Boys/The Dicks Live at Raul's Club split LP, the Boston-area compilation This Is Boston, Not L.A., Minor Threat's 7" EPs, JFA's Blatant Localism EP, the New York-area compilations New York Thrash and The Big Apple Rotten To The Core, the Zero Boys' LP, the Detroit-area compilation EP Process of Elimination, the Necros' IQ32 EP, Negative Approach's eponymous EP, the DC-area compilation Flex Your Head, and the Version Sound cassette compilations, Charred Remains and The Meathouse.

[edit] Early support

An influential radio show in the Los Angeles area was Rodney on the ROQ, on the commercial station KROQ. DJ Rodney Bingenheimer played many styles of music, and helped popularize what was, circa 1979–80, called Beach Punk — a rowdy suburban style played by mostly teenage bands in and around Huntington Beach, and in heavily conservative Orange County. He would come under attack from the thriving late 70's punk band the Angry Samoans. Early support in New York City & New Jersey came from Pat Duncan who hosted live punk and hardcore bands weekly on WFMU since 1979.^[6] and Tim Sommer who hosted "Noise The Show" on WNYU.^[7]

In 1982-1983, MTV put the hardcore band Kraut on mild rotation.^[8] College radio was, however, the main outlet for hardcore punk in most of North America.

The San Francisco-area public radio station KPFA featured the Maximum RocknRoll radio show with DJs Tim Yohannon and Jeff Bale, who played the younger Northern California bands. A wave of zines helped spread the new punk style, such as Flipside. In late 1981, Yohannon and Bale’s Maximum RocknRoll zine, modeled on Tim Tonooka's Ripper, had a national circulation and featured scene reports from around the country. A strong infrastructure of independent labels, linked with radio outlets and 'zines helped to create a nationwide subculture.

[edit] Negative publicity

The early hardcore scene became associated with violence, especially in Los Angeles. Hardcore concerts increasingly became sites of violent battles between police and concertgoers. Many concert venues were trashed on both coasts of the United States, despite frantic pleas from 'zine writers. Henry Rollins argued that in his experience, the police caused far more problems than they solved at hardcore performances.

Reputed violence at hardcore concerts was featured in episodes of the popular television shows CHiPs [4] and Quincy, M.E., in which Los Angeles hardcore punks were depicted as being involved in murder and mayhem. Contemporary 'zine writers claimed that these media portrayals attracted new, violent people to the concerts, acting at least partially as a cause of the problem.

[edit] Slam dancing

Main articles: Mosh and Hardcore dancing

The hardcore punk scene of the early 80's gave rise to slam dancing and stage diving.^{[citation needed]} The music was perfectly suited for it as were the venues, with their small atmosphere and easy accessible stages. In the later half of the 80s the thrash metal scene would imitate this form of dancing, with Anthrax popularizing the term "mosh" with the metal scene.^{[citation needed]} Moshing also started being seen at harder college rock shows. In modern times the term "hardcore dancing" describes a style of dance which imitates fighting the air on the spot.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Influence

Hardcore had a huge influence on other forms of rock music in North America. The San-Francisco-based thrash metal band Metallica were among the first crossover artists, incorporating the compositional structure and technical proficiency of metal with the speed and aggression of hardcore. The new style became known as thrash metal, and later speed metal. Other early bands in this genre include Megadeth and Anthrax. Slayer are also well known for their hardcore punk roots, and have released an album formed entirely of hardcore covers called Undisputed Attitude.

The rising influence of heavy metal in the hardcore scene (circa 1984-1985) dismayed some hardcore punks, who felt that hardcore musicians who crossed over to metal styles were embracing a musical style that hardcore punk had originally rejected. However, some musicians in the first wave of hardcore, such as members of Bad Brains and Black Flag, had been influenced by heavy metal acts such as Black Sabbath. Longtime hardcore punks, who remembered fighting with hostile metalheads only a fews years earlier, now felt that those same people were attempting to co-opt hardcore. These die-hard hardcore punks argued that the new long-haired interpreters of hardcore were merely mimicking emotions such as raw anger, that they did not truly feel.

A 1986 concert by the UK band Discharge in New York City generated brief international notoriety when a crowd of roughly 1,500 paid $10 admission and pelted the band with garbage, an apparent response to the band's turn to a more metallic sound.

In 1985, New York's Stormtroopers of Death, an Anthrax side project, released the extremely popular album Speak English or Die. Though it bore similarities to thrash metal, such as a characteristic bass-heavy guitar and fast tempos and chord changes, the album was distinguished from thrash metal by its lack of guitar solos and heavy use of crunchy chord breakdowns (a New York hardcore technique) known as "mosh parts". Other bands, such as Suicidal Tendencies and DRI, switched from hardcore to a similar metallic style, which came to be known as crossover.

Many hardcore bands began experimenting with other styles, moods and concerns as their careers progressed in the 1980s, becoming known as alternative rock. Bands such as Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, and The Replacements drew from hardcore but broke even further away from its "loud-fast" formula; critic Joe S. Harrington suggests the latter two "paraded as Hardcore until it was deemed permissible to do otherwise".^[9] These bands diversified the genre's sound in ways that would be a major influence on later alternative rock bands.^[10] Grunge music was especially heavily influenced by hardcore. In the mid-1980s, Washington State bands such as The Melvins and Green River developed a sludgy, "aggressive sound that melded the slower tempos of heavy metal with the intensity of hardcore."^[11] The sense of liberation that many of the grunge bands got — that you don't have to be the greatest musicians to form a band — was at least as important as the music. Even though the early grunge sound was more influenced by Black Sabbath and Black Flag's My War album than hardcore punk rock, bands like Mudhoney and Nirvana instilled a traditional hardcore influence as well as take the sound into more conventional pop-oriented territory. Kurt Cobain once described Nirvana's sound as "The Knack and The Bay City Rollers being molested by Black Flag and Black Sabbath." The popularity of grunge resulted in renewed interest in American hardcore in the '90s.

The hardcore punk scene had an influence that spread far beyond music. The straight edge philosophy was rooted in a faction of hardcore particularly popular on the east coast of the United States. Hardcore also put a great emphasis on the DIY punk ethic, with many bands making their own records, flyers, and other items, and booking their own tours through an informal network of like-minded people. Radical environmentalism and veganism found popular expressions in the hardcore scene.

More recently, hardcore punk has given life to new styles of pop punk. Some contemporary pop punk bands (often containing members of former hardcore bands such as New Found Glory's Chad of Shai Hulud fame) have created a new blend of the style by mixing hardcore influences. A phenomenon referred to as the "pop punk breakdown" has become increasingly popular, in which bands play hardcore style breakdowns with more melodic chords.

[edit] Early history in Europe

The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, and Germany have had notably active hardcore scenes. However, in the United Kingdom, UK82 (also known as UK Hardcore) bands such as The Exploited, Charged GBH, Discharge, and The Anti-Nowhere League occupied the cultural space that American-style hardcore did elsewhere. These UK bands at times showed a musical similarity to American hardcore, often including quick tempos and chord changes, and they generally had similar political and social sensibilities. However, they represented a case of parallel evolution, having been musically inspired by earlier London Oi! bands such as Sham 69, and the proto-speed metal band Motörhead.

Discharge played a huge role in influencing the early Swedish hardcore bands, such as Anti Cimex. Many hardcore bands from that region still have a strong Discharge and Motörhead influence. The band Entombed is also cited as a strong influence on Swedish hardcore bands from the early 1990s onward.

In much the same way, anarcho-punk bands such as Crass, Icons Of Filth, Flux Of The Pink Indians and Rudimentary Peni had little in common with American hardcore other than an uncompromising political philosophy and an abrasive aesthetic. Many American hardcore punks listened to British punk bands, but others upheld a strict regionalism, deriding the UK bands as rock stars, and their fans as poseurs. Expressive fans of Crass were called Crassholes.

American hardcore bands that visited the UK (such as Black Flag and U.S.CHAOS in 1981-1982) encountered equally ambivalent attitudes. European hardcore bands suffered no such prejudice in the U.S.; Italian bands Raw Power and Negazione, and the Dutch BGK, enjoyed widespread popularity.

In the more underground part of the UK punk scene, a new hardcore sound and scene developed, inspired by continental European, Scandinavian, Japanese and American bands. It was started by bands like Asylum and Plasmid, and their sound — only heard at live concerts and on demo tapes and compilations in the mid 1980s — evolved into bands such as Heresy, Ripcord, Napalm Death, Hellbastard, Doom, The Stupids, Concrete Sox, Jailcell Recipes, Visions of Change and Extreme Noise Terror.

Some of the most important influences among late-1980s UK bands included the Japanese band GISM; Boston band Siege, Idaho band Septic Death, and Swedish band Anti Cimex; as well as more metallic bands such as Celtic Frost and Metallica. However, by the late 1980s, UK bands were becoming far more influenced by American bands such as the Dead Kennedys (who were always very popular in the UK), Black Flag and many of the early Washington, New York, Boston and West Coast hardcore bands such as Minor Threat, DYS, Slapshot and 7 Seconds. Straight edge began to make its presence felt in the UK, with the emergence of small straight edge communities in most major cities in the UK, and straight edge bands forming in Durham and London.

There were many 1980s bands that could be described as sounding like something in between the styles of the dominating UK and US bands. While the bands that had the most significant influence were parallel-evolved bands such as Discharge and Charged GBH, others, such as The Stupids (a UK band influenced by US hardcore) gained brief but widespread college-radio airplay in the US.

Some notable bands from that era in Europe were Wretched, Raw Power, Declino, Crise Total (Portugal), Negazione, Indigesti (Italy), H.H.H., MG-15, Eskorbuto (Spain), Inferno, Vorkriegsjugend, Scapegoats (Germany), U.B.R. (Former Yugoslavia), Kafka Process, Barn Av Regnbuen (Norway), Heimat-Los (France), Lärm, BGK, Funeral Oration (Netherlands), Vi, Enola Gay, O.H.M. (Denmark), Dezerter, Armia, Moskwa, Siekiera (Poland), Kaaos, Rattus, Rutto, Kansan Uutiset, Terveet Kädet, Appendix (Finland), Headcleaners, Asocial, Missbrukarna, Sound Of Disaster and Anti-Cimex (Sweden).

Examples of bands that continued to play that style of hardcore in the 1990s include: Seein Red, Uutuus, Kirous, Health Hazard, Slapshot, Totalitär, Los Crudos, Sin Dios, and Detestation. After fall of the Iron Curtain in eastern Europe, many harcore bands were created or became more publicly known (after hiding in garages and being known by small circles of underground fans). Examples of such bands include Brachyblast, Radegast or Sarcastic front from Czech Republic. Hardcore also become popular in Asia in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with bands such as Disaster Funhouse, Chronic Mass, Noisemonger and Cramp Mind from Malaysia; 4-Sides and Stomping Ground from Singapore; Agony of Destruction, Death from Above, Mutual Assured Destruction and Biofeedback from the Philippines; and Disclose and Death Side from Japan.

[edit] Hardcore in the 1990s

In the 1980s, hardcore was strictly a style of North American punk rock. By the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s, hardcore became much more diverse, branching off mainly into two sounds: one traditionally punk-based, the other metal-based.^{[citation needed]} The punk-focussed sound retains much of the style and feel of the original hardcore bands, while the metal-based sound, now known as metalcore, tends to be more technical. Many fans of traditional hardcore do not consider metalcore a form of hardcore punk.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Metalcore

Main article: Metalcore

Being a chiefly urban phenomenon, hardcore often reflected the life of its players and fans. The incorporation of heavy metal (both musically and mentality-wise) led to a sect of hardcore bands branching off into heavier directions. The mixture of metal and sometimes hip hop beats, brutal and unforgiving depictions of urban life, and syncopated musical breaks gave birth to what is variously called heavy hardcore, new school, metalcore, toughguy hardcore or nowadays just simply known as "hardcore". Notable bands who developed the genre in early years include Madball, Biohazard and Edgewise. Today, some of the most well-known representatives of the metalcore genre are Norma Jean, Underoath, As I Lay Dying, and Hatebreed. This type of music is currently known as the "hardcore" of this time.^{[citation needed]}

The sound is an amalgamation of deep, hoarse vocals (though rarely as deep or guttural as death metal), downtuned guitars, thrashy drum rhythms inspired by earlier hardcore bands, and slow, staccato low-end musical breaks, known as breakdowns. Thrash metal and hip hop elements are also common. Sworn Enemy and Boxcutter are two current examples.

Some of the bands that helped pioneer the mixture of hardcore with death metal in the 1990s were Brooklyn, NY's Merauder and Confusion; Jackson Heights, NY's Dmize. They have been described as a cross between bands like Kreator and Obituary with New York hardcore. Darkside NYC, formed by Alan Blake of Sheer Terror was often described as Celtic Frost meets Sheer Terror musically, and Negative Approach meets Crumbsuckers vocally. They were known for incorporating blastbeats, which was a direct death metal/grindcore influence.

Dmize, Confusion, and Darkside NYC managed to achieve cult status in the U.S., Europe, and Japan while only playing shows in the Northeast US during their short existences. Merauder signed with Century Media and toured the world, still performing today. In upstate NY, All Out War, formed with ex-Merauder members, gained an extremely violent reputation because their audience members would pummel each other. Many concerts ended in a full scale riot.^{[citation needed]} As a result, many clubs were loathe to have these kinds of bands perform.

This particular scene is known for its stereotypical image and attitude of inner city street thugs. With the popularity of inner city fashion and image, and the similarities of some of the heavier bands' music to hip hop, it is not surprising that the two would end up crossing over. Actual hardcore/hip hop crossovers were most likely the catalyst of much of the image, such as Biohazard's general sound and collaborations with Onyx; KRS-One's appearance on a Sick Of It All song; Madball's streetwise attitude, and New Jersey's E.Town Concrete.

[edit] Progression and experimentation

In the late 1980s, bands like NoMeansNo (British Columbia, Canada) and Victim's Family (Northern California) created a new style of music by blending aggressive elements from hardcore with influences such as psychedelic rock, progressive rock, noise, jazz, or math rock (a development sometimes termed jazzcore).

This path was followed in the early 1990s by Mr Bungle, Candiria and lesser-known bands such as Deep Turtle (Finland), Ruins (Japan), and Tear of a Doll (France). The noisecore played by Melt-Banana (Tokyo) was probably a separate evolution. Other important hardcore-influenced bands in this genre include the avant-garde Naked City, formed by saxophonist John Zorn, and Neurosis, who started as a hardcore band before exploring slower tempos and dark ambiance to evolve a style of their own.

Many bands started to incorporate emotional and personal aspects into their music, influenced by the sounds coming out of Washington, D.C. and Dischord Records, which by the late 1990s had evolved into emo music (a contraction of 'emotional hardcore'). The Nation of Ulysses was one of the most influential bands to come out of D.C., combining dissonant guitars similar to those of Black Flag, elements of jazz, and a seemingly absurdist (or situationist) political ideology. Their sound and fashion sense influenced the San Diego (or 'Chula Vista') hardcore scene. Perhaps in response to this emotional hardcore, bands with a heavy political bent began to appear, such as Struggle, also from San Diego.

Ebullition Records, founded in 1990 by Kent McLard in Santa Barbara, California, was a record label with bands that often presented a critique of the American political and economic system — frequently straying into the arena of outright hostility — and giving far less attention to personal issues. Their sound featured screeching vocals, heavy distortion with thick chord progressions, and busy drums. It contained few, if any, guitar solos. Examples of these bands include Manumission, Econochrist, Downcast, and Nation of Lepers. East coast bands, such as Rorschach and Born Against, from New Jersey and New York respectively, also played a similar left-wing, almost Marxist political hardcore.

The San Diego Band Heroin splintered into many new bands, most notably, Antioch Arrow and Clikatat Ikatowi. Antioch Arrow, were brutal and spastic, with a goth aesthetic. Clikatat Ikatowi combined pounding tribal drums and dissonant guitar with a post-punk aesthetic, and became one of the most unique bands of the 1990s hardcore scene. The Locust, who started out as a fairly conventional hardcore band, developed their own sound, which is fast, brutal, and spastic. Some have described the Locust as free jazz meets hardcore. Gravity Records was an important record label of the 1990s hardcore scene, releasing bands like Antioch Arrow, Clikatat Ikatowi, and The Locust; the label was later associated with the power violence genre.

Today, another heavier sound is represented by bands such as Mosquitos Can Kill, From Ashes Rise, and Tragedy who play a brand of melodic crustcore.

Straight edge also became prominent in the 1990s, with the youth crew revival a popular style among hardcore jocks and hardcore bros, hardline, and vegan straight edge bands like Earth Crisis.

[edit] Hardcore in the 2000s

Many bands in the 2000s have stuck to the roots of original hardcore punk. The scene has evolved somewhat since the 1980s, but several bands still follow many of the ideals. Many contemporary bands play hardcore in the original style while attempting to add even more intensity to the music. One common trend is to try to capture the sound of influential bands from an earlier era. For example, D-beat bands emulate the early music of Discharge. D-beat bands include Deathcharge, Dischange, and Disclose.

Many hardcore record labels continue to keep the tradition of the music alive. Among these are Bridge 9 Records, Sonic Wave International, Deranged Records, Rivalry Records, 1917 Records, and Revelation Records. However, Revelation has been known to stray from the accepted boundaries of hardcore, with releases by indie rock and emo bands such as Elliot, On the Might of Princes, and Texas Is The Reason.

The term hardcore has been applied to some bands that play death metal, metalcore or thrash metal. Bands such as Inside Recess, Trial, Shipwreck, Invade, Soldiers, DIVIDER, and Poison the Well have fused the aggression of traditional hardcore with the musical stylings of metal. Typical of this new genre are breakdowns and harshly delivered vocals, sometimes verging on death metal growls. As this music has evolved, so has the subculture associated with it (i.e. fashioncore).

Some hardcore bands of the 2000s have continued the sound and attitude of the 1980s hardcore scene; such as Career Suicide, Fucked Up, BORN/DEAD, and Wasted Time, on labels such as Grave Mistake Records. Most of these types of bands are from Canada or the eastern United States, with a few exceptions. Some bands have created a sound that has been described as melodic hardcore. Melodic hardcore bands include Strike Anywhere, Set Your Goals, Crime in Stereo, Shook Ones and Capital. This sound is often associated with East Coast United States cities such as New York City and New Jersey. Many of these bands are influenced by 1990s bands such as Lifetime, Kid Dynamite, and H2O.

[edit] Hardcore punk record labels

• Alternative Tentacles
• Alveran Records
• Bad Taste Records
• Bridge 9 Records
• Burning Heart Records
• BYO Records
• Dischord
• Ebullition Records
• Epitaph Records
• Equal Vision Records
• Eulogy Recordings
• Facedown Records
• Hellcat Records
• Indecision Records
• Lifeforce Records
• Revelation Records
• Spook City Records
• SST Records
• Trustkill Records
• Uprising Records
• Victory Records

[edit] See also

• Straight edge
• Youth crew
• Hatecore

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• American Hardcore: A Tribal History (Steven Blush, Feral House publishing, 2001, ISBN 0922915717
• Going Underground: American Punk 1979-1992 (George Hurchalla, Zuo Press, 2005)
• Smash the State: A Discography of Canadian Punk, 1977-92 (Frank Manley, No Exit, 1993), ISBN 0-9696631-0-2

[edit] External links

• KFTH An online hardcore discography
• The Punk Vault History of punk and hardcore

Hardcore punk
Christian hardcore - Crust punk - D-beat - Melodic hardcore - Powerviolence - Queercore - Skate punk - Thrashcore - Youth crew Emo - Funkcore - Grindcore - Metalcore - Post-hardcore
Regional Scenes
Australia - Brazil - Canada - Italy - South Wales - Greece - Scandinavia: Umeå - Japan - Yugoslavia Boston - California - Chicago - Detroit - Minneapolis - New Jersey - New York - North Carolina - Phoenix - DC
Other topics
DIY punk ethic - Hardcore bands - Hardcore dancing - Straight edge