Hardcore punk in the United Kingdom
Hardcore punk in the United Kingdom (often abbreviated as UKHC)[1] began in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the second wave of punk rock in the country. The scene produced many successful and influential hardcore punk bands throughout the 1980s such as Discharge, GBH and the Exploited and led to the pioneering of genres such as grindcore, street punk, crust punk and D-beat.
In the 2000s, the genre saw a revived interest, leading to the success of hardcore groups including Gallows, Send More Paramedics and Dead Swans, metalcore groups like Bring Me the Horizon, Architects and Bullet for My Valentine and post-hardcore groups such as Fightstar, ¡Forward, Russia! and Funeral for a Friend. This interested carried on into the 2010s, when Malevolence, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes and Higher Power gained prominence.
1990s[edit]
Voorhees were a prominent hardcore band in 1990s hardcore. Formed in 1991 by members of UK straight edge bands Steadfast and False Face, they released three full-length albums, recorded a Peel session for BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel and would go on to be cited as an influence by bands and musicians such as Kill Your Idols[38] and Chubby Charles.[39]
The largest sect of UK hardcore in the 1990s was emotional hardcore.[40] According to a 1994 article by Vice, "the main group" in the scene was Fabric. Formed in London in 1992 by former members of Long Cold Stare and Ordinary Eye, the band released two albums before their breakup. Other groups from this period included Understand, Dead Wrong and Bob Tilton.[41]
A second wave of UK straight edge began in the mid-1990s. Mostly based around Subjugation and Sure Hand Records, this wave saw members of many of the first wave bands form new bands and begin to embrace influences from heavy metal.[33] The main location for this scene was the 1 in 12 Club, an anarchist club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, as groups like Unborn, Slavearc, Vengeance of Gaia and Withdrawn performed there frequently.[38]
In 1996, a hardcore scene in London began around the informal collective "London Black-Up", which include bands like Knuckledust, Ninebar and Bun Dem Out. Bands in this scene often incorporated elements of grime, hip hip and metal into their sounds and was based around venues such as the Camden Underworld, New Cross Inn and the Dome in Tufnell Park.[42]
2020s[edit]
In the early 2020s, Chubby and the Gang from west London gained mainstream attention,[98] the band was formed out of multiple NWOBHC bands, namely Arms Race, Gutter Knife and Vile Spirit.[99] Additionally, Static Dress from Leeds emerged as one of the frontrunners of the scene metalcore revival.[100]
South East England[edit]
Southampton and Brighton in South East England have cultivated some of the most prominent bands in hardcore, punk and metalcore. In Brighton: Poison Girls were one of the most prominent and influential groups in the late-1970s and early-1980s anarcho-punk scene.[119] Dead Swans played a large part in the 2000s hardcore scene,[120] with NME listing their album Sleepwalkers as one of "the best hardcore albums of all time".[61] Architects were a frontrunner of the late-2000s British metalcore scene.[69]
In Southampton: Bury Tomorrow have gained significant attention since debuting in the late-2000s. Metal Hammer described them as "a formidable force in the metalcore realm today".[121] Our Time Down Here began as a fast hardcore band.[122] On their 2012 second album, they pursued a more melodic, horror-influenced style, which would go on to influence a wave of Southampton horror punk groups, that included Creeper and Miss Vincent.[123]