I like it here.

An interesting debate came up recently on the CHC forums, which I lurk but never post anything myself, regarding whether the local hardcore scene was some sort of unified movement or just a social club. By and large, I find it to be the latter, but I hold no judgment on that being a negative thing. Humans are naturally social creatures. Earlier in our history we were tribal-based; people adhered to groups of whatever their ethnic background was. But as humans dispersed and culture diffused, these disparate groups began to intermingle and form new entities. Thus it has ever been. Today's America, in its mindless pursuit of monoculturalism, has allowed for groups of more extreme-minded individuals to gather in its opposition. And so countless stubborn, conflicting viewpoints emerge over subjects that require logic and integrity.

The weird thing I've picked up on in hardcore is the potential for some sort of pointed, united movement to form from it, but the pitfalls that accompany such a formation (groupthink, close-mindedness, lack of empathy for others not of the group, etc.) are so disdained by those who would be members, that it's not likely to become such an organization. Of course, there are the subsets of crews within the scene (FSU, skins, whatever), but constitute a much smaller presence than in previous days. These groups are based on a certain exclusivity and a seemingly natural volatility. It seems most of the people in hardcore at large, aren't interested in a stricter scene of old where only crews could mosh (and you'd get a beatdown for stepping onto the dance floor). Like I said, it's a social club, but one with individuals more willing to stand up for their viewpoints and fight them out if necessary, still under the loose banner of "hardcore".

The views and ideas amongst us are so wildly different though. The music is about all that's communally agreed upon, but still, not everyone is going to like every band. That's what keeps the scene social and not...something more. Some people drink, some to ridiculous excess, some abstain all drugs (except for caffeine for whatever reason, definitely a drug), some don't eat meat or consume any animal products and write really angry songs about it. I'll just say, I completely respect anyone's decision on what they do or don't put into their body, but I don't think you promote any sort of "positive message" by NOT doing something. Some bands write almost exclusively about what they don't do, and I feel that then lacks a complete message. But it's not really my business to judge how you feel on a certain topic; that's your business, and if you can't make those words resonate with the music at a particular frequency, then I'm moshing to it, simple as that. Remember, friends, it's not about what we take into ourselves, it's what we put out into the world.



I remember that show being bogged down in controversy over a piece of paper that turned friends against one another. But I also remember none of that shit mattering during this 10 minutes of sheer ignorant moshing from the crowd and the ear-shattering set by the band. I really like how Evan's chain can be heard rattling through the wall of abrasive noise. I was ready for someone to lose some teeth, get a concussion, or have their jaw broken by 20 pounds of steel to the cranial area. Somewhere along the lines all this violence translated into solidifying the bonds of friendship. Most people would see this as insanity, idiocy, hateful or all three. To me, it was fun, and somehow meaningful. Words hardly do justice to the sensation of being at a show where both artist and audience go to great personal risk for a few minutes of enjoyment. Moreso, to find purpose in a country that has devalued so much throughout our lives. Once you start understanding the big picture of lies and delusion that constantly bombard us in ways both latent and innocuous, you start understanding the extremes that certain forms of art embrace, all the while stripping away the bullshit we've built in order achieve the illusion of comfort. It has always been the point of hardcore and metal music to try to find a real voice in a world beset everywhere by deceit. The music has to be loud, harsh, fast, invasive, dissonant, cacophonous, and unappealing to the masses, who seek to shun out the harsher aspects of reality. We can't shy away from the inimicable nature of our existence, we have embrace it and all the suffering with it, and that just can't be expressed in the context of social norms. How could there be any question about these genres of music and their logical evolutions in a world gone so neurotic, so fixated on bullshit idealism, a world where frauds have all the power and social respect, even though so much of their disingenuous nature is omnipresent? We've all been swept up and consumed by overbearing and insidious social institutions without context to their place within our own natural order. We're a part of the madness, and this is how we make sense of it.

Even though this show happened back in March, I still watch this periodically and am reminded of the that indescribable feeling of triumphant defiance against all those who would oppose, those who maintain the delusion of ideals and feelings over reality.