Umeå hardcore

Umeå is a city in northern Sweden. During the last years of the 1980s, the influence of bands such as Final Exit, Step Forward and Refused led to the growth of Umeå's hardcore scene. Also significant were the number of straight edge groups.

The Umeå scene

Hardcore and straight edge merged in Umeå. During this time local record companies emerged (e.g. Umeå Hardcore Records) and the hardcore-bands soon became popular live acts.

Interest for this music, which challenged established norms and was treated as political was enormous. This interest could be explained with the economic crisis and high unemployment rate in Sweden at that time.

In the early 90s a new wave of punk, metal and alternative rock swept across the world. Nirvana's "Nevermind" (1991), Metallica's "Black album" (1991), Rage Against the Machine's self-titled album (1992) received recognition across the world, but at the local rock scene in Umeå, hardcore was still prominent.

Umeå in the world and the world in Umeå

Several of Umeå's hardcore bands were noticed on the international scene, and many toured in Europe and in the USA. The international interest for the Umeå scene resulted in more and more hardcore bands from other countries coming to see Umeå as a key player in the genre. An example is how the New York band Biohazard, at the time seen as a leading band within the genre, choose to start their 1997 European tour in Umeå. Billy Graziadei of Biohazard explained:

:"Umeå is the hardcore capital of Europe. We love the place. I think the bands in Umeå believe in what they sing more than in any other place in the world. And then I'm not just thinking about the Straight Edge bands like Refused, Doughnuts and Final Exit. There is an honesty in the music here that is known in the whole world. They know what they want."

Distinctive of the Umeå scene and Swedish hardcore

Vegan culture, such as Doughnuts who used to sport a bass drum with the word "Vegan Revolution" printed across its front, is distinctive of the Umeå scene. It is similar with the straight edge movement which has grown rapidly in Umeå ever since the hardcore scene emerged.

Some who took the political to be as or more important than the music in the vibrant scene decided to take their awareness of animal rights issues more seriously than just music listenership. Many joined or formed protest groups, and some turned to the animal rights movement. In a series of actions which ranged from firebombings of meat-industry facilities and property to death threats aimed at university employees involved in animal testing, the radical activists brought a lot of media attention to the scene.

External links

* [http://www.umeahardcore.com Umeå Hardcore web site]

Sources (in Swedish)

*http://www.musik.uu.se/ssm/stmonline/vol_3/tsandgren/