Protest and Survive

"DISCHARE and BLITZ nothwithstanding, England is hardly the first place one thinks of when talking killer early hardcore."

Unfortunately this statement from the liner notes of the first Killed By Hardcore comp is pretty true. With a few exceptions, most early UK hardcore bands are lumped in with street punk and written off by hardcore punk folks, which is a shame since the UK produced some seminal hardcore. Despite their diminished reputation, early British hardcore acts were a primary influence on Scandinavian punk, and later, on the Japanese sound.

Hailing from the same part of England that spawned GBH and Dead Wretched, the Varukers were easily one of the strongest political hardcore acts in the UK or anywhere else. They also were one of the first bands to take the Discharge formula for fast agressive punk and run with it full speed. The earliest two EPs, on the Inferno label, are catchy hardcore with a hint of melody. Afterwards, they signed to Bristol's Riot City where they put out a couple more EPs and the "Bloodsuckers" LP before honing in on a new, ultra thrash sound with the devastating "Another Religion, Another War" 12." They continued the attack on the next few records, which are also great, but "Another Religion..." is undoubtedly the most blistering record of their career.

Here's a clip from the classic documentary, UK/DK, featuring some of the biggest acts of the era including the Exploited, Blitz, Disorder, and Chaos UK: