Toughguy Hardcore Has Returned

Jamie Chaos

February 23, 2012

For those of you who are woefully unaware, toughguy hardcore is the single greatest musical achievement in recorded human history. Walking on the moon pales in comparison, for instance, to the refined brutality of Hatebreed’s “Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire”, which continues to stand as a beacon of hope for those of you who are considering the possibility that there’s no hope for humanity. I could go on for an eternity listing awesome beatdown bands of the 1990’s, the wonders of wearing a jersey to a show and strangling emo kids with their white belts, and a time wherein people actually fucking hit each other at shows. I was under the impression that our time had passed, and that toughguy hardcore was deader than disco, but I was even more wrong than that guy who thought he could get fucked by a horse and live.

COLD HARD TRUTH

Skip to 2:16 for the best breakdown written in the last 15 years.

That’s fucking right- a hardcore band fronted by a guy with 17″+ arms and neck that plays shit designed specifically to accompany football hooligan riots. I actually purchased their disc off Amazon due to the fact that I can’t buy their merch here without paying a fucking arm and a leg (they’re Brits), and because it’s that fucking good. I am not shitting you- I have not been this excited about a band since the first time I heard Throwdown in the now-defunct Repo Records and learned every fucking word to the disc in a day. This shit is literally harder than trying to bang an Eritrean broad with Ron Jeremy’s cock.

Get their cd here and their EP here (you’re welcome, as that shit was hard to find) and put an instant 25 lbs on your max squat. I know half of you will download that shit online, but if you have the loot, support the fucking band.

What have we here?

MURDER DEATH KILL
The other band to which I’ve been listening nonstop is Murder Death Kill, which you almost have to love simply for the name. Just like the movie from which their name comes (Demolition Man, motherfucker. Recognize.), they are fucking brutal. Additionally, they bring back a 90s hardcore staple that’s gone unused since the Hoods and Until the End sent one of their vocalists packing- dual vocals. For the uninitiated amongst you, this phenomenon was so widespread in the mid to late 90s in hardcore that it seemed like every other fucking band had at least two, and sometimes five or six, vocalists. Yes, it was just as fucking awesome as you’re imagining. In any event, MDK brings the motherfucking ruckus, and even went so far as to title one of their discs “Fuck With Us And Find Out”. The album title is so fucking tough it would have knocked out Ivan Drago in the first 12 seconds and then gone on to rape Bridgette Nielson, Rocky, and Adrian at once.

Forgive them the godawful opening line- it gets better.

For those of you who don’t feel like watching the vid- the breakdown at the end is MDK and a bunch of fans beating the piss out of some hipster band, which apparently terrified some white belted fan of Evergreen Terrace into writing this “scathing” condemnation of alpha males and real hardcore while he champions trying to bang the wildly androgynous broad dancing onstage at the “Night to Remember” show. Buy their shit just for that.

I bought this shirt to let anyone in Alabama who didn’t already get the message know what I think of their shitty state.

Honorable Mention
HOMICIDAL
Holy balls, this is the most insane hardcore supergroup on Earth, and you’ve never fucking heard of them. Members of Bulldoze (the band that started the toughguy scene), Skarhead, and 25 Ta Life bringin’ it back ’92-style. Shit sounds like Bulldoze in a blender with Fury of Five and Madball.

Knuckle Up!
NJHC from the same label that brought us MDK. If you ever liked Shutdown in spite of their shitbox vocalist, you’ll fucking love this band. I’m not in love with the lyrics, but this shit is definitely worth blasting with your windows down at the very least.

Lastly, Hatebreed rerecorded a couple of songs from Under The Knife (fucking awesome) and two B-sides, which you can get here.

This weekend will be the follow up on the Predator series (it actually has diets in it!) which is taking forever and a fucking day to write. Until then.

Liked it? Take a second to support Jamie Chaos on Patreon!

Jamie Chaos

I am a former all-time, all federation world record holder in raw powerlifting at 181lbs, a record I broke just to say fuck you to the internet’s “lifting” community and the powerlifting community at large. Over the last ten years I’ve written over 500 articles on strength training, nutrition, and supplementation, and continue to do so simply to fight the tide of weakness and sadness that currently pervades the scene I’ve called home for the better part of three decades. I’ve got personal trainin certs, BodyPump and BodyCombat certs, a BA in History and East Asian Studies from the University of Arizona, and MBAs from the Vienna University and University of South Carolina on my side, in addition to some sick lifts and a hell of a lot of rage. What the fuck have you got?

50 responses to “Toughguy Hardcore Has Returned”

Anonymous

February 23, 2012

Been looking for something new to blast!
1. Mark
  
  February 23, 2012
  
  World of Pain from San Diego.
Eric

February 23, 2012

More music please.
Shane Bywaters

February 23, 2012

You left out Terror. What the fuck.
Mark

February 23, 2012

terror is not a beatdown band.
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  February 23, 2012
  
  Exactly. Terror's also not a new band. Everyone knows about Terror.
slowfuse

February 23, 2012

Dillinger Escape Plan are the only good thing I listen to of the 'angry white children genre', Greg Puciato would be a good candidate for Baddest Motherfucker Ever article too.
I've been listening to old school Deftones whilst lifting lately though, so take me with a grain of salt
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  February 23, 2012
  
  I think he's out of the band, but I've actually been saving him for a "working out on the road/vacation" style blog.
slowfuse

February 23, 2012

fuckin awesome, he's dating Jenna Haze now too
Iamhere

February 23, 2012

Skip the first minute and a half if you can't stand intros
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGx8PCl_Bjw
1. drealacarte
  
  February 23, 2012
  
  Yo what the fuck is this "clean vocals on an album named after a Final Fantasy move" shit? Come on, son!
  
  When it comes to hardcore I love my shit as ignorant as possible.
  
  Trapped Under Ice, label mates of Madball and TERROR. They got serious hype with 2008's Stay Cold and lived up to it:
  
  Reality Unfolds
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCxiUemOcqc
  
  Skeleton Heads
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5iIphR3vss
  
  This is Xibalba, a bunch of Mexicans in California with a fat, low guitar tone. I've been jocking this song for like a whole week you guys. This is music that you would score a highlight reel of German suplexes to:
  
  Cold
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSQnJkvLeAk
  
  Reign Supreme is honestly kind of everything I want in a band. They always had memorable riffs and hooks, and the production on "Testing the Limits of Infinite" makes everything sound big and violent.
  
  Persevere and Overcome. When he says, "I will bow to no one!" I turn fifteen and mosh happy again:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmBu0JRbqPk
  
  Not really hardcore but FUCK Y'ALL, a band I checked out for the name but stayed for the sick jamz: Weekend Nachos. A lot of people group them as "powerviolence" but who the fuck are they.
  
  Shot in the Head
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIho8UFtLzY
  
  You're welcome, assholes.
2. Shane Bywaters
  
  February 23, 2012
  
  This guy is my new friend. Weekend Nachos makes me want to kill everyone. Trapped Under Ice rules. Also check out Cruel Hand, The Promise, Ringworm, Strife, Cro-Mags and First Blood.
  Terror still rules, fuck you guys. Just like the other bands the guys in Terror are/were in. Carry On, Buried Alive, First Blood, Nails.
3. Jamie Lewis
  
  February 23, 2012
  
  One of the Reign Supreme dudes reads this blog, actually.
  
  For my money, Apostle's their best song..
4. Iamhere
  
  February 24, 2012
  
  @Dreal Not sure what's wrong with clean vocals. Like Reign Supreme though, but Trapped under ice sounds as if it was recorded in a rape dungeon.
5. drealacarte
  
  February 24, 2012
  
  I think you're kind of missing the point. Up until recently (like the past decade) hardcore has always sounded really dirty, in production and song structure.
  
  To me, hardcore never really was and never really will be a technical display of musicianship. My own experience with it has been–to get a little gay–cathartic; before I started lifting or training to fight I went to shows because it was an outlet for all this pent up teenage shit. You could climb up on stage and share the microphone with like four guys (no homo) and just yell into it. You could throw people around and get into fights and then just slap hands and smile right after and it was fine.
  
  What you posted was like the opposite of that. It makes me feel like I'm in Morrowind, but in a shitty, virginal way. I feel the judgmental eyes of metal dudes who are like, "No solos? Not music," and they can say "djent" with a straight face. I heard him start crooning and it's as if someone put on a Drake record. Seriously though it's cool if you like it but it's not really 'tough guy' or 'hardcore.'
6. Iamhere
  
  February 24, 2012
  
  Ah, I didn't intend to post it as an example of hardcore, which I suppose was kind of retarded considering the article. Just thought the music sounded appealingly raw. I Don't know what djent is, and if it's another godforsaken sub-genre I don't want to.
7. Jamie Lewis
  
  February 25, 2012
  
  @Dreal- American Hardcore and NYHC are both on Netflix now.
  
  Djent, by the way, is the subgenre spawned by Meshuggah for shit with odd timings. Some of it's fucking awesome (like Psyopus http://youtu.be/h4HgEkgF34E and http://youtu.be/yl4Q25Ks6Qs) and some of it is nothing more than Berkely School of Music fuckos dicking about with extra distortion while engaging in the style of masturbation known as "progressive rock".
Walter J White

February 23, 2012

I need a new band. I've found my self relistening to tool after becoming bored of lamb of god etc. Hatebreed aren't great.
Thanos

February 23, 2012

Tank from Cold Hard Truth is a demon come to life when they play.
Friendly chaps and saw some of their first mainland shows. Shit was good.

Europe has a lot of more bands that bring it, but stay hidden under the American Radar for some reason.

Check out Knuckledust & other LBU bands on the Rucktion labal. They have some heavy shit going on.

for instance:
Bun Dem Out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDUqlmUdzK4

Six Ft Ditch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0OdgZhh6Z4

Prowler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRPV9okvfy8&feature=related

Belgian Pride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTJmYgM44uQ&feature=related

And you gonna love this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJUk1d-UpMs NASTY!

2 shows I play at this weekend, shit will be off the hook!
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  February 23, 2012
  
  No TRC? You side with the SFD guys, eh? Hahaha.
  
  You have to love Prowler just because they cover Clubber Lang.
Thanos

February 23, 2012

Forgot to add:

outcast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmR38fjmq0c
Blobb

February 23, 2012

Jamie, why don't you start a band?
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  February 23, 2012
  
  Trust me- if there were a scene here worth a shit, I would. I've done backups and vocals for a bunch of one-off and unknown bands in AZ and PA over the years and love that shit. I was thinking I was getting a little long in the tooth for hardcore, but fuck, if Bulldoze is back at it, why the fuck not, right?
2. Alexandro
  
  February 24, 2012
  
  Jamie and long in the tooth in the same sentence? That is some ironic shit right there.
Mark

February 23, 2012

I tour with bands so I feel like I have a lot of insight into this.

Harm's Way

Steel Nation

Stigmata

Bitter End

All Out War

All of those are better and infinitely more ignorant than what has been previously posted.
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  February 23, 2012
  
  All Out War's first couple of discs were the shit.
  
  Stigmata still exists? Jesus. Are they touring with Doughnuts, Snapcase, and Bloodlet?
2. Mark
  
  February 23, 2012
  
  I was actually really surprised but I love the most recent All Out War cd as well "Into The Killing Fields."
  
  I wish Stigmata still exists. I grew up in western MA and now live in Albany so I would love to see them play again.
  
  Last weekend I went and saw 100 Demons with Bruce singing a few of the songs off "In the Eyes of the Lord" seeing that again was amazing. Death Threat and Palehorse played too.
Unknown

February 23, 2012

Holy shit, I was just checking. It seems that GAT-ROT is still around. They were practically the soundtrack of my teen years.
http://www.myspace.com/gatrot

-Ramon
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  February 25, 2012
  
  Those guys are good people. They had an amazing song on their last disc called Where Will You Go that was nothing but circlepit and breakdown parts. It was fucking amazing, and they totally made the scene in Tucson in the late 90s. The band fell apart around 2006 because Reuben was playing a shitload of indoor soccer or something.
2. Unknown
  
  February 25, 2012
  
  It must be more than 10 years now, but I managed to get them booked for a gig in my small town southeast of Tucson. Of course the gods didn't allow it, and shit got rained out. They kick ass live though, and going to Tucson to see them was worth it.
  
  -Ramon
Thanos

February 24, 2012

@Jamie: as Wisdom in Chains said it: 'I don't follow scene politics'.

TRC, an amazing band, but I thought the latest song wouldn't really be what you were looking for. It's called: london's greatest love story. Bold move by them & amazing song. Sets are always a blast.

SFD: friendly chaps who actually have more manners than some American bands.

Both good bands and I've seen them on more then one occasion.
1. Jamie Lewis
  
  February 25, 2012
  
  You're behind the times, man. London's Greatest Love Story was off their last album. The new one's got a redone Define Cocky and H.A.T.E.R.S on it. http://youtu.be/M_CV4JqSRgI
2. Thanos
  
  February 25, 2012
  
  Haha, yeah. I'm getting behind.
  I didn't know they redone define cocky. They used to have 5 singers. Crazy times.
  
  LBU area & Rucktion has put out a number of amazing bands. Check out Flawless Victory.
Thanos

February 24, 2012

Also, the new tough guy scene doesn't seem to be what it once was.

Figures like Stikman (who still does dope bands & singalongs) & Kevone. You don't find 'em like that anymore.

Most guys in a toughguy bands these days are actually pretty fucking wel-off.
Rant

February 24, 2012

None of the music above does much for me. The one track that ALWAYS gets me roused before a session is this –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuz94ZIPfJk

I defy ANYONE to not want to pull harder after hearing this, it's fucking hardcore.
Blobb

February 25, 2012

Best training music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvEnkoSBPmY
bobby knuckles

February 26, 2012

Nothing beats Mindsnare!

Australian Hardcore at it's best!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjFiKm_64Q8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe3ZkYFsp14

I remember reading somewhere that it takes an average of 9.7 American hardcore fans to beat 1 member of Mindsnare in a street fight……pretty sure it's science.
1. bobby knuckles
  
  February 26, 2012
  
  Same goes for Samsara!
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxeXaI77ZxQ
  
  Listen and break shit!
Obadiah

February 26, 2012

Jamie, if you were a woman I would WRECK your pussy while listening to Cold Hard Truth.
1. Dray
  
  February 26, 2012
  
  dude, what the fuck
Rant

February 27, 2012

Yeah dude, NOBODY takes Dray's job away from him!
Anonymous

February 27, 2012

all a bunch of prancing faggy shite compared to this brain hammering goodness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXTue8zRtlk&feature=related
Dan

March 3, 2012

Never thought I'd see the day when LBU bands were getting repped on a lifting blog. Fucking awesome.

Other thoroughly nice UK shit from the past decade : On Thin Ice, Seconds Out, Broken Oath, Eviscerate AD, xCanaanx, Special Move.

Also, if we're talking tough guy, we can't be forgetting this… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ml7p_aycXQ
Only Death Is Real

March 11, 2012

tough guy hardcore… the taco bell of extreme music. If you're in Alabama some good bands are Grave Ritual, Ectovoid and Legion who are a bit closer to the nu-metal pretending to be hardcore genre. Man listen to some fucking Autopsy, Asphyx, Hail of Bullets, shit! Shit listen to some fucking Wolfbrigade, that shit is hard as fuck. The emo-centric man crying and simplistic tard riffs don't do it for me, Death Metal is just better man, shit you should know that.
chris

December 25, 2012

Knuckle up fucking sucks dude. Embarrassing
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