There’s always a lot of talk about how 1994 was the year of punk with all the mainstream success of bands like Green Day, The Offspring, Sonic Youth, and all that other lame non-hardcore shit. Real ones know 1994 was the year of hardcore. 1989 through 1993 was an awkward time for hardcore and society in general. That transition time period was when the genre moved away from the punky fastness of ‘80s hardcore and started to pull in some heavier metal influences.
We realize it’s probably been a long time since you’ve thought about a lot of these bands and you may have a hard time even remembering them in your declining years (have you taken your ginkgo biloba and Centrum Silver yet today by the way?) so we’ve compiled a list of thirty hardcore albums (and seven inches) that came out thirty years ago to help ease you into your midlife crisis. DISCLAIMER: You may feel the need to get up out of your comfortable chair and start moshing around your living room but we suggest consulting your doctor first.
Madball “Set It Off”
We’re setting things off in the most setting-it-off way possible. New York Hardcore luminaries Madball actually set things off in the late ‘80s but it wasn’t until their first major label release in ‘94 that it was officially set to the off position. This album is so New York it hops turnstiles and knocks over Times Square tourists for walking too slow. I’m too scared to critique it in any way so let’s just say 10/10 would listen again.
Unbroken “Life Love Regret”
Easily one of the most beloved albums of 1994 if not the whole decade. Unbroken went back to the lab after their first LP Ritual and emerged with just the mixture of Slayer riffs, rock rhythms, and pile-on singalongs. Sure, it’s a little rough in a “we only have time for one take for every song” kind of way but if you want musical precision maybe stick with Yngwie Malmsteen.
Strife “One Truth”
The rumor was it cost over $50k to record ‘One Truth” which was an absurd amount for a hardcore album thirty years ago and honestly is almost more absurd today. That money was put to good use though because this actually sounds like it was recorded in a real studio and not your cousin Kyle’s basement with a Mr. Microphone like most bands at the time put out.
108 “Songs of Separation”
The rise of Krishna-core in the early ‘90s is still truly kind of mind-boggling. I prefer to gloss over the hows and whys of it all and the fact that Krishna is essentially a pyramid scheme for white suburban kids to cosplay as Eastern mystics and instead focus on how much these dudes rocked the shit. Also, their homemade peanut butter cups were delicious.
Chokehold “Instilled” 7”
These angry Canadians embodied everything that made ‘90s hardcore so ‘90s hardcore: unapologetic anger, militant veganism, simplistic political worldviews, and questionable musicianship. Their 30-minute long pauses during live shows in an attempt to tune their guitars and never getting it quite right is the stuff of legends.
Merauder “Master Killer”
Meruader rode that line between hardcore and thrash crossover to perfection. It’s the soundtrack to getting a bloody nose from a roundhouse kick to the face at a CBGB matinee show because you tried to impress some girls by going into the pit (or so I heard from a buddy of mine, definitely not a thing that happened to me personally that I still lie awake at night thinking about).
Bloodlet “Shell” 7”
When I was younger I once played Bloodlet for a girlfriend and she said it sounded like a “bad Korn ripoff.” Well obviously her musical tastes were as bad as my judgment of character in dating partners. I’ve heard Bloodlet described as “evil core” which is a little cringey but I guess it’s accurate.
Swing Kids Self-Titled 7”
San Diego area supergroup of sorts that had members of Unbroken and The Locust. They successfully mixed in some free jazz elements and also covered Joy Division which were both things a lot of bands were trying to do at the time but typically with disastrous results. They get style points all around except for that wedding invitation font they used for their logo.
Sick Of It All “Scratch The Surface”
SOIA were already New York Hardcore legends by 1994 but reached a much larger audience with their first major label release “Scratch The Surface” which had a slightly less serious vibe than their previous releases and was actually a pretty fun listen. It probably didn’t hurt either that the video for “Step Down” was featured on an episode of “Beavis and Butthead” that was played ad nauseam in every college dorm room.
Mouthpiece “What Was Said”
These New Jersey edge warrior heartthrobs continued both the sound and aesthetics of their predecessors Chain Of Strength in their clean-cut hairdos and vintage varsity jackets. Mouthpiece asked the question What Remains while Strife’s question was What Will Remain? Now that it is three decades later I honestly still don’t know what it is that remains other than a blank empty void of nothingness and a receding hariline.
Downset Self-Titled
These guys were probably pretty sick of being compared to Rage Against The Machine by 1994 which might explain why they included a lyrical bitch slap about Zach de la Rocha in “Anger”. They later overdubbed the song to remove those parts of the lyrics for some reason and it sounds like an edited-for-TV movie. Remember the TV version of “Die Hard 2” when Bruce Willis says “Yippee Ki-yay MISTER FALCON”? It’s like that.
Orange 9mm Self-Titled EP
Chaka Malik’s not quite singing yet not quite rapping style fits even better with the grooviness on this record than in his previous band Burn. They re-recorded three of these songs when they got scooped up by EastWest Records in the frenzy of major labels looking for their next big alt-rock hit but unfortunately never quite found that mainstream audience. Chaka has since become an anti-vaxxer loonie bird though so maybe it’s not such a bad thing.
Outspoken “The Current”
Mike Hartsfeld’s husky vocals made it so Outspoken kind of sounds like if Henry Rollins fronted a straight edge band (Have Heart would continue this a decade later.) Their output was hit or miss on the quality but things all came together for them on what would be their final release in 1994. Hartsfeld also ran New Age Records which I always like to picture all the crystal bedazzled hippie moms who got duped by the name of that label and bought this album because the cover looked like some kind of guided Zen meditation CD.
Snapcase “Lookinglasself”
Okay so I think this actually came out in ‘93 but whatever, it’s close enough, and coming up with 30 hardcore albums from 1994 was harder than I thought it would be. Snapcase’s first full-length and (spicy old man hot take incoming) I think it’s their best. Those DOO-DEE-DEE-DEE-DI-DEE riffs just get stuck in my head. This was a huge album that everyone was listening to in nineteen-ninety thr… I mean four.
Avail “Dixie”
If you didn’t wear a backpack with that “Avail ‘Attempt To Regress’” patch on it you might as well not even bothered to go to a show in 1994. Speaking of shows, Avail at this time period had some of the best, most energetic shows that live in infamy to this day. I think every song on this album is about either living in Richmond VA or leaving Richmond VA and wishing you could go back to Richmond VA.
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