10 Milestone ’90s Hardcore Bands from Norway (aka Erik Anarchy Remembers the ’90s)

This band is too good to miss! The first time “my” band Modern Love did a cover song, it was one by these brilliant West Coast-sounding punk rockers. Our drummer Even Skår (Death Is Not Glamorous, Damage Control, Kids Like Us, etc.) played guitar. They put out a demo in the late ’90s and a 10-inch as The Mile Markers before changing their name due to the similarity with the American band Milemarker. As Union Policy, they released one 7-inch—no less brilliant than their earlier recordings. It was entitled I.O.U., just like some of the members’ next band.

There are two gigs in my whole life I regret not going to: one is Unbroken (with Battery) in 1994, the other was Shelter with Onward in 1993. That ended up being Onward’s last show ever with Torgny Amdam on vocals, but we had no idea at the time. They were the OG Norway Vege X Edge originators, on Crucial Response, and their first 7-inch even had some hip-hop style scratching on it! Luckily, I got to see their second incarnation with Trond ZM on vocals—many, many, many times! Last year, their final LP, These Words Still Pray, was immortalized in Fredrik Bakkemo’s (Smart Patrol Records) book in the series Norwegian Album Classics.

These pioneers of the Blitz (Oslo squat) scene started in the ’80s but were really a force to be reckoned with in the ’90s. Singer Katja Benneche Osvold’s stage presence is mesmerizing. The musicianship and creativity of the Andreassen brothers are just beyond. You can sense some Washington DC vibes, but they also covered The Beatles, Tracy Chapman, and The Dicks. I’d say there is no band in the world that sounds like them. Ever.

The first time I ever experienced hardcore live was at our local city hall, during a benefit for an environmental youth organization. Mi (whose members went on to form Kolokol) and Washington Disease played. The band name hinted not only at their stance against the political establishment of western capitalism but also at their love for classic DC hardcore. Their 12-song seven-inch, No Need To Care, released on their own X-Cluded Music in 1993, was something else. The year after, they did a split with Wasteaway. Drummer Truls Berg is currently thrashing with Uaar. Their singer, Andre Bjørnsrud, is the sickest frontman I’ve ever seen in the European hardcore scene. He was also in Ambition and Insurance Risk.

This band includes members from Bannlyst, Svart Framtid, Kafka Prosess, etc., and, just like Life… But How Live It?, they are ’80s Blitz squat veterans. On their 1990 album Seein’ Red, they have an anti-straight edge song, “X-song.” When they played their last show in 1996, we were a bunch of very clean-cut-looking edge kids with Xs on our hands, up front, shouting for that particular song—all in good humor. Their bass player, Per Arne Haugen, took a large gulp of his beer, grinned at us, and said: “Nah. We don’t think you’re that bad.” So Much Love!

Some may know them as a rock’n’roll entertainment band (or maybe that’s just in Norway?), but have you heard their first record? In their early days, they were a part of the hardcore scene and had members of Onward and Contention. The MCD on Sobermind Records (1994) is a real treasure and one of my all-time favorite records. Super emotional and melodic songs with a strong early Lifetime vibe and hints of Attaining the Supreme-era Shelter, featuring Torgny Amdam as a singing drummer. Perfection!

The first band I ever sang for, Lavmål, played a cover of the first song from their EP on HeartFirst Records. This was in 1993, only a year after Angst’s release. Along with their label mates Kort Prosess, they were carrying on the torch of the ’80s sound (Svart Framtid, Bannlyst, etc.), and they did it well. They also released a flexi (included in the Norwegian magazine Rock Furore) and a split with Japanese band Idora (also on HeartFirst). Their guitar player now runs a pizza place in Oslo, which, according to friends of mine, has great vegan pizza.

Local heroes of the Grenland scene, where I grew up. Truls and André picked up where their old band, Washington Disease, left off—still straight edge with a strong political stance against greed and nationalism, but adding some mosh parts on the demo (1994). A couple of years later, they slowed it down, dug deeper into metalcore, and released a split CD with Lash Out, featuring a beautiful song with Gry Holmern on guest vocals and a strong vegetarian message.

This is HARD core. “Arne will never surrender,” as someone famously shouted about their singer Arne Haabeth. They’re so legendary that their album was never released, but in the small town of Kongsberg, about 20 kids knew every word of it and went nuts when they played. They only had a split 7-inch on Stormstrike Records with Lash Out, with whom they even had a hilarious Blur/Oasis-style “beef.” They were sort of a Norwegian Integrity. Four songs from the album were posthumously released by Borderline Records.

Life… But How To Live It?, So Much Hate, and Stengte Dører were the “3 great ones” of the late ’80s/early ’90s Blitz punk hardcore scene, touring relentlessly and delivering forceful hardcore with a creative touch. Their singer, Hasse Brinch, soldiers on in Knuste Ruter today, even after a stroke a few years ago. He is a true legend and a true friend, and we had the pleasure of playing at the release party for his poetry book Bruddstykker.

You can also check out some live videos of the bands mentioned above.

• Stengte Dører – Live @ Blitz squat 1989
• Life… But How To Live It? – Live @ Blitz squat 1989
• Stengte Dører – Live in Molde 1991
• Life… But How To Live It? – “Return of the Coneheads” (Live 1991)
• Life… But How To Live It? – “Norwegian Wood” (Live 1991 NRK U)
• Washington Disease – Live from Bootleg TV circa 1992
• So Much Hate – Live in Hamburg 1992
• So Much Hate – Live in Störtebeker 1993
• Life… But How To Live It? – Live in Mannheim, JUZ 1993
• Contention – Live @ Tilflukt, Kongsberg 1998
• Amulet – Live in Norway 1999
• Onward – Live @ Elm Street, Oslo (2011 Reunion)