It is no secret that 90s-worship is in full effect with Kids These Days. But as I’ve mentioned many times before, the difference between how the most-jocked 90s bands are seen today vs how they were seen at the time is oftentimes a little facepalmy/baffling– specifically, that the bands who Tumblr kids in 2014 think are super credible were almost universally seen as lulzy shit for posers in the 90s (or just ignored). If u want to be that kid who is into bands that were in their prime before u were a bulge in ur dad’s JNCOs then go for it, I just want u to be informed so u know what ur getting urself into (so when you tell someone my age that u like BIOHAZARD, u wont be surprised when he rolls his eyes and tries not to laugh at u).
What that said, here is your guide to what we thought about the 2014 scene’s favorite 90s hardcore bands, in the 90s!
makes me want to hide under a rock out of vicarious shame when i watch this
BIOHAZARD
The definition of entry-level, fake hardcore for mall kids who watched Headbangers Ball. They were considered a metal band (because they had long hair and played exclusively with metal bands) who used NYHC guys essentially as props in their videos.
Listening to them in the 90s was like listening to this band in 2014:
Emmure
TYPE O NEGATIVE
Eentry-level mall metal for fat girls with low self-esteem who drape their bulk in lulzy gothic clothes. The idea of anyone in the hardcore scene listening to them would be baffling and laughable. And as for Carnivore, do you think anybody in the 90s hardcore scene had any fucking clue who they were?! lol 90s hardcore kids barely knew who Morbid Angel was let alone a much more obscure band like Carnivore.
Listening to them in the 90s was like listening to this band in 2014:
Motionless In White
nothing says “Real Hardcore” like a downtempo gothic cover of a big 80s pop song!
LIFE OF AGONY
They were usually referred to as a “gothic hard rock” band. They were not seen as having ANY ties to the hardcore scene. They did not play with hardcore bands.
Listening to them in the 90s was like listening to this band in 2014:
Lacuna Coil
all 17 ppl at this show are STOKED
DISEMBODIED
The 75 or so people in the US who were aware of Disembodied’s existence in the 90s thought they were a great band, but basically nobody gave a shit about them until like 2012 (as the members of the band can confirm I’m sure). Saw them open for Overcast in 1998 and maybe 15 people watched them– and that was probably their biggest tour.
Listening to them in the 90s was like listening to this band in 2014:
Feign/Demolisher/Rooks/some other sweet, super-heavy band that nobody gives two fucks about
NEW FOUND GLORY
In the 90s, it was totally unacceptable for hardcore kids to like pop-punk. Maaaaaaybe if u had a particularly advanced personal brand that incorporated being a really zany person who does unexpected things u could admit to liking Screeching Weasel as a “guilty pleasure,” but that’s about it. You certainly were not allowed to think that pop-punk was “real music” or anything like that.
So when Chad quit Shai Hulud to do NFG, everybody laughed and called him a poser and most of all, they called him an idiot for investing his time in his stupid pop-punk side project that was never going to go anywhere.
Listening to them in the 90s was like listening to this band in 2014:
I See Stars
H20
I personally thought “FTTW” was a great record and listened to it all the time, but as I said above it was not OK to mix hardcore and pop-punk. H20 were able to get a little bit of begrudging respect due to their ties to highly-respected bands like Madball (and Toby was in the original lineup of Skarhead) but if you were to say that you were a big fan of H20 in 1998 at a hardcore show, the reaction would be kind of like that “horrified face” emoji where it looks like McCauley Culkin on the cover of “Home Alone.”
Listening to them in the 90s was like listening to this band in 2014:
The Wonder Years albums with breakdowns and songs about Kool-Aid
the only good Bane song
BANE/IN MY EYES/TEN YARD FIGHT
Same dorks liked them then as they do now: people who think the world revolves around collecting Star Wars dolls and crappy hardcore 7″s (that you pretend are “amazing”).
Listening to them in the 90s was like listening to this band in 2014:
Bane/In My Eyes/Ten Yard Fight
no caption needed…
FLOORPUNCH
Outside of the braindead bubble that is the tri-state area, nobody really cared about this band other than being kind of bummed at what dicks they were. One time the singer punched Duncan from BY THE GRACE OF GOD in the face and called him a faggot (not sure why but I think it had to do with “disrespecting hardcore” or whatever). With that in mind, most people were not that stoked on this band at the time, for obvious reasons.
Listening to them in the 90s was like listening to this band in 2014:
Skrewdriver
TR00 90s STEEZ