Based in Germany, René Schuh is a fellow hardcore lifer. You might know his musings on the subject from his Forced Narrative Zine, which can be found on Instagram.
For his debut No Echo piece, René compiled a list of some essential European hardcore records from the 2000s decade. You love to see it!
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Drift, Stalkin´Like Killers (2001, Alveran Records)
Drift from Viersen, North Rhine-Westphalia (yeah, that´s in Germany, don´t Google it) were way ahead of their time. Stone-cold metallic hardcore with a mean flow, advanced Proberaummosh, fight music - a lot of bands nowadays are aiming at this sound. Bulky, chugging, with a few melodic flourishes.
Marcel Stroeter´s vocals were the icing on the cake: a guttural mean bark. Some Europeans say, this is one of the hardest records ever from that era and region. They´re certainly not wrong.
Europeans love Integrity – so they say. Drift loved them too. So there is a hidden cover of "Die Hard" on this (their sole full-length) and Ché Snelting (Born From Pain) is dropping some guest vocals on another track. Europeans: happy.
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Born From Pain, Sands of Time (2003, Street Justice Records/GSR)
Oostelijke Mijnstreek unit Born From Pain were a force a nature when they started. Vicious mosh, pummeling breakdowns, speed, heavily influenced by that one band from Connecticut. Late '90s0era metallic frenzy on steroids (producer Tue Madsen made sure of that).
Relentless touring, a driving work ethos and a support of up-and-coming European bands made Born From Pain one of the most important hardcore bands in all of Europe – whether you liked them or not. This is why they became Europäische Hatebreed (with less life-hack stadium mosh incorporated). Their second record is still a destruction unit.
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Dead Stop, Done With You (2004, Complete Control Records)
Mean, fast, aggressive, punchy hardcore. My-hardcore-still-spells-punk kinda hardcore. Meaning: no metal flirtations at all.
Dead Stop (from Belgium!) did not waste a single second on their dead-end stompy debut. Poison Idea on speed, anti-Youth Crew, snotty glory. Short songs, short text, good times.
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Rise and Fall, Into Oblivion (2005, Reflections Records/Deathwish Inc.)
Rise and Fall (again, from Belgium!) brought them all together: the desperate kids with a knack for American Nightmare, the ex-H8000 Clevo worshippers, the Converge heads, the moshers.
Back in their punkmetal heyday, Rise And Fall were the one European band you had too see live. Cranked-up amps, fury, and some Integrity by the way of Entombed riffing nobody could ignore. The Deathwish days.
A band that never ever tainted their legacy. Hell yeah: they even got meaner when they incorporated some leftfield ideas and noise influences into their already pummeling frenzy later in the day.
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Zero Mentality, In Fear of Forever (2005, GSR)
Dominik Stammen (who played in Drift before and later in Born From Pain) deserves an award for his epic riff ideas. Zero Mentality from the German Ruhrpott Area (Glück auf!) certainly carried some Cro-Mags, Merauder, and a mean, groovy NYHC stomp in their DNA.
But it was Stammen´s epic metal flirtations that make Zero Mentality´s debut record a timeless one. It is catchy, hook-laden (some German singing too), powerful. For some moment in time ZM were the prime German hardcore band (alongside Black Friday 29), performing epic live shows in spades.
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Justice, Justice (2005, Complete Control Records/Lockin´Out)
That rocky, kinetic Lockin'`Out sound. Vintage hardcore, colorful covers, comic mosh. You really could tell that Justice (again: Belgium) had some fun doing what they did best. Their live shows being some sweaty pile-on affairs.
Justice were a power-rock band at their very core. Youth Crew gone rock 'n 'roll with fist-pumping solos, a snotty vocal delivery and all. It is a sound that got a little lost along the way, which is a shame as I might add. Still loving the Fugazi riff rip-off in "Outside Looking In," though. Some cool adlibs too.
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Dirty Money, No Escaping This (2007, Dead And Gone)
A demo, an EP, a split with Trapped Under Ice - that’s it? While the world (well, parts of it) might know Graham Sayles as “that bloke from High Vis," he came out swinging a while earlier to deliver some British ‘ardcore. The thrashy, stompy, no-frills New York kind.
Dirty Money did not reinvent the wheel, but Sayles’ snarling British working-class vigor made them stand out in European hardcore. Plus, they had Dan Mills from Cold World on the demo intro track and that was a match made in heaven.
The lads could still move a crowd by playing “Intro/Dirty Money” alone - just search the internet.
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Tagged: 2000s hardcore week, born from pain, drift, justice, rise and fall
