10 Recent Releases Reviving the ’80s Hardcore Brilliance

I don’t know much about Milwaukee’s Innuendo, but with track names like “Hate The State” and “Nuke This Place”, you can probably guess they’re not exactly channeling flower power. Despite the almost misleading album artwork and name in that sense, these ten tracks (all in the one-to-two-minute range) deliver pissed-off, old-school hardcore with piercing guitars and a stomping mid-paced tempo. Though they obviously draw from USHC classics, some reviewers have also noted a resemblance to European bands like Amdi Petersens Armé and Regulations with harsher vocals—something I hadn’t really considered, but I’ll admit this record definitely deserves all the praise. I’d bet it stands the test of time. With labels like RoachLeg and Unlawful Assembly backing the release, you pretty much know what to expect. I love it.

Here’s one of those records that’s so locked-in, so dead-on perfect, that there’s barely anything left to say. Bloodstains are an OG band outta California, and if you guessed the name nods to the Agent Orange classic, I think you’d be right on the money. Their sound is pure ’82 Southern California punk, played like they never left that era. Adolescents, TSOL, DI, Agent Orange, that’s the blueprint. But instead of feeling like a pale imitation, this feels like a lost gem unearthed from the vault. It’s fast, melodic, punchy, and packed with that unmistakable West Coast energy. “Combat Shock” is one of those timeless songs that begs to be listened to again and again. The production is also flawless, and no surprise—it was recorded by Jerry Adamo, the same guy who’s worked with bands like TSOL and US Bombs in the past. Every song just sounds right. Everything fits. Everything hits.

FEN FEN are from Detroit, and their sound is just as dirty, fast, and unhinged as you’d expect. While their self-titled 2022 LP leaned more into the rock’n’roll side of things, National Threat throws the gearshift into snotty ’80s hardcore with a garage punk bite. There’s a clear nod to Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables-era Dead Kennedys, but a bit tighter and stripped down to the basics. The vocals are raspy, sarcastic, and disturbed, like a modern version of Jello Biafra; and they ride perfectly over the manic tempo and bursts of scuzzed-out guitar. Fifteen tracks in twenty minutes, and not a second feels wasted. If you’re into bands like the DK, Necros, Flipper, National Threat is a fucking winner.

The Hell is a Cleveland band that first caught my ears through a YouTube upload a few years back. Now, Sorry State and Drunken Sailor Records are teaming up to release their new self-titled 5-song EP, which should give them a well-deserved attention. The record packs four fast, short, no-nonsense hardcore bangers on the A-side, then flips into a more improvisational five-minute track on the B-side. Everything is done just the way it needs to be, calling to mind some of my favorite ’80s bands like N.O.T.A. and Zero Boys. It’s the kind of record you could point to in a textbook for how to do ’80s hardcore right.

Kansas City’s Total Sham aren’t out to solve the world’s problems; they’re here to drop seething, nihilistic hardcore rage that feels like it could collapse at any second. The guitars slash and squeal, careening from fast to drunk, while the vocals twist and swirl. No sugarcoated melodies or poetic revelations here, just a wild chaotic aura that brings to mind the likes of Die Kreuzen, Necros, or Void (and maybe a bit of UK’s Disorder and Chaotic Dischord). This is the kind of record that makes you want to bang your head and wallow in misery, and sometimes that’s exactly what we need. A total blitz of distortion and fury.

I know plenty of people who’d swear that Negative Approach’s self-titled 7″ (Touch And Go, 1982) is the unbeatable apex of hardcore. Grand Scheme from Washington, DC, seems to be on that same wavelength. Their debut EP, containing seven violent tracks in just nine minutes, was released in February 2025 and carries the same howling aggression of NA, Necros, Koro and The Abused… or you can compare them to modern bands like Direct Threat, Identity Shock, Heavy Discipline if you wish. No frills, no gimmicks. Just pure USHC at its best.

Time to break this American streak with RAMPAGE! from Athens, Greece. Before you lump them in with the countless other bands named Rampage, take note: they spell it all caps and exclamation mark included. Formed in early 2020, RAMPAGE! dropped a fantastic demo later that same dystopian year, including a track called “The 80s Made Me Do It!”—a title that pretty much sums up their approach. The band’s full-length LP, released in October 2023 by Greek label Χάος & Αντικομφορμισμός (Chaos & Anticonformity), delivers 12 blistering tracks of fast, furious, and… rampaging hardcore. They grab influences from every corner of USHC and crank them up to near-lethal levels. The production is top-notch, capturing the exact energy you’d expect from a band that plays in Greek squats with DIY attitude and determination. If you’re craving a current band that nails that classic American hardcore vibe with a Hellenic twist (maybe a bit of Antimob?), RAMPAGE! is your best bet.

Gainesville, Florida’s Piss Test (not to be confused with the Portland band of the same name) dropped their seven-track album Don’t Care in November 2023, and I was excited to give it a spin after they mailed me a vinyl copy. I hadn’t heard of them before, but the artwork was a breath of fresh air in a sea of skulls and d-beat clichés, and the sound is a killer blend of The Germs, The Dicks, Bikini Kill, plus a hefty dose of garage rock’n’roll. Lyrically, the title track sets the tone with lines like “I don’t care what you say about me,” celebrating individuality in spite of any external judgment and expectations. “No Man” takes even bolder feminist stance, while “Battleaxe” reclaims derogatory terms historically aimed at women. Embracing terms like “crone,” “harpy,” and “bitch,” the lyrics proudly acknowledge age and defiance, drawing parallels to iconic women like Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, and Mae West. Diving deeper into the band, I learned about frontwoman Debra Fetzer, who’s a true Gainesville punk icon. She started out in 1983 with the all-female Mutley Chix, then fronted various bands in the ’90s (including Ovarydose with Becky Hawk of Oakland’s doom legends Laudanum), and booked DIY shows at the Hardback Café before launching Piss Test during the Covid lockdowns. Now in her 60s, Debra belts out lines like “I’m a she-devil, an old bag, in it all, I revel!” in “Battleaxe” and clearly has no plans to slow down.

Baltimore’s Rabid City don’t waste any time getting to the point. Modern Problems might be a full-length on paper, but its ten tracks clock in at just fifteen minutes. It’s exactly the kind of ’80s style record that goes straight to the gut. Up-tempo, classic hardcore rhythms fly by with dual vocals that feel absolutely unhinged—think ’90s-style dueling shouts, but with their own rabid bite. Words like “noose,” “virus,” “fear,” and “rot” pop up within the lyrics, targeting ignorance, hypocrisy, and the many small capitulations people make to maintain comfort or power. There’s a well-worn “You’ve got to get mad” sample from the 1976 movie Network dropped in the opening track—I’m not gonna lie, it’s been done to death. But that aside, the record rips from start to finish. There’s even a quick instrumental tossed into the mix, and “Second Coming” sounds like a Battalion of Saints cover. Modern Problems is an urgent hardcore punk deliverty with an extra punch from the vocals. Definitely worth your time if you like it angry, nihilist, and over before you can catch your breath.

Closing things out on a high note, No More Hiding by Boston’s Ancient Filth is an absolute stunner. Released in September 2023, this record didn’t cross my radar until late 2024, but once it did, I couldn’t stop praising it. The band’s been around since at least 2010, but this LP feels like the culmination of everything great about USHC. The playing here is absurdly tight but never overproduced or sterile. The drummer’s snapping between tempo changes with ease and the scuzzy guitars are keeping the songs unpredictable and constantly invigorating. But this album is not just about speed and precision. Ancient Filth back it all up with some of the most thoughtful lyrics you’ll find on this list, tackling mental health, systemic oppression and authoritarianism without falling into clichés. “What We Do Is Sacred” stands out as an anthem for the enduring spirit of punk rock, so much that I wanted to quote the entire song below. It’s a powerful reminder of why we care about this music in the first place. Love this record.

Punk is ceremony. What we do is sacred! No dogma, no god but ourselves. The definitions are loose and evolution is key. This isn’t a costume, this is a way of life! This is our ceremonial dress. This is our coming together. Let the tribe increase. Let the ritual stay strong. The definitions are loose and evolution is key. Thank you for what you have given to me. I want to give back. Punk is ceremony. The ritual of the outcast, ritual of anger and pain. The ritual that screams from the shadow and is birthed in a rage. We shall honor that flame and it will not die. DIY punk in spirit, no dogma, till’ we die. Punk is ceremony! What we do is sacred! This is our ritual! Punk is sacred!