While all signs point to a neon/fun revival in the medium-to-long term, for now we are still deep in the 90s revival. With all the obvious bands like BIOHAZARD and MORBID ANGEL already played out among hardcore trendmasters, it’s time for us to start digging deeper for the Next Big Thing in 90s revivalism. Fortunately for you, I was there and I am here to help! This post is your guide to what 90s bands you should jock next– be the first kid on your block to pretend to like MORTICIAN!!!
Please note, most of these bands are very mediocre. That just it makes it that much more likely that merchswap losers will convince themselves that they are “amazing,” but I just wanted to go on record– wouldn’t want anyone out there thinking that I suggested CIANIDE was actually a decent band.
1. WEIRD/DARK/SPOOKY DEATH METAL
First up, we have DISEMBOWLMENT. I am actually surprised that the NAILS/HARMS WAY/INTEGRITY crowd hasn’t already latched onto this given that dull, repetitive industrial doom seems to be the Next Big Thing. I will be SHOCKED if this band doesn’t start getting hyped in 2015.
Just to give you an idea of how few musical choices we had back in the day, I actually listened to CANDIRU enough to convince myself that it was “pretty good.” For people who think GODFLESH is “too poppy.”
2. WEIRD METALLIC HC BANDS WHO WERE MOSTLY IGNORED
Along with MERAUDER and DARKSIDE NYC, STARKWEATHER were among the very first hc bands to go full metal. I personally couldn’t really get into them, but they deserve credit for being so far ahead of their time.
The original “hardcore kids who worshipped CROWBAR” were Reno’s FALL SILENT, way back in the mid 90s when CROWBAR were laughed at by hc kids and it was super uncool to rep them. This band is FUCKING AWESOME and if you don’t check out their whole album you are definitely missing out, hands down one of the best of their era and sadly underappreciated these days.
GRIMOCK = the original HARM’S WAY. Fucking crushing, perfect for lifting or spinkicking. Look for kids to pretend they were actually popular outside of their hometown (they definitely weren’t).
3. FAIRLY CRAPPY DEATH METAL BANDS WITH SLUDGY PARTS THAT SOUND LIKE HARM’S WAY
And up next we have the one and only MORTICIAN. Note, skip to about 2:45 to hear an actual song. This band’s incredibly irritating habit of using lame horror samples that last SEVERAL MINUTES may be an obstacle to hardcore kids. Or maybe they will think it’s cool, you never really know :/
GENERAL SURGERY were a groovy CARCASS-knockoff band from the early 90s that had an EP or two nobody cared about. With hc vocals I could totally imagine this being the next Deathwish band.
And speaking of mediocre CARCASS-knockoffs we have PUNGENT STENCH, who straight up sound like a poppier version of HARM’S WAY “Isolation.” Some really catchy groove riffs here (breakdown at 1:18). Also, I have to wonder if this CARCASS-style gore artwork will be a thing in hc soon??
To be clear, I think CIANIDE is absolutely horrible, but listen to these doomy sludgy riffs and you can easily imagine merchswap losers pretending to like them. I mean, they like BOLT THROWER so they’ll like literally anything, right??
4. DM BANDS THAT WERE ACTUALLY GOOD SO HC KIDS WILL PROBABLY NEVER LIKE THEM BUT U NEVER KNO
MALEVOLENT CREATION’s 1995 album “Eternal” is some of the moshiest 90s dm you’ll ever hear, catchy groove riffs for days that the kids could easily steal. You might be put off by their… *cough* politics though: they drop the n-bomb on this album and the singer used to wear a shirt with a Klansman on it that said “The REAL Boyz N The Hood”.
I really cannot rep DIM MAK hard enough. As you may know, they’re essentially RIPPING CORPSE with 1 different member and pretty much pick up where they left off. It’s definitely not for everyone– this band is weird. Some of the best metal/hardcore drumming I’ve ever heard (this was Dave Witte’s favorite drummer as a kid, and you can tell) and a really odd, unique style of riffing. Good luck trying to copy this, kids!
Another sick, underrated NJDM band is MORTAL DECAY. That Ocean County style of groovy death metal never gets old to my ears and these guys pioneered it. Also, the drummer did porn back in the 90s, so if you want to see his dick it’s on VHS somewhere out there.
Since the mid 90s, I have wondered why moshcore kids aren’t into HEMDALE. Crushing downtuned, doomy groove riffs for days– copy them now before goregrind becomes the next big thing!!