June 7, 1996 - Refused and Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent

Three days after my last release a new band joins my library when Refused released their second album "Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent" on June 7, 1996. But who are Refused? They are a five-piece hardcore punk band from Umeå, Sweden and although I'm not a fan of their debut album, this second album is a bit more hardcore than punk which I like. Refused consist of three original members: lead singer Dennis Lyxzen, drummer David Sandström and bassist Magnus Björklund as well as two new guitarists on this album, Kristofer Steen and Jon Brännström. Let's check out what these hardcore punk-rockers can do!

The album kicks off with "Rather Be Dead" and it's pretty slow for a hardcore punk band, but the guitars and bass sound solid and Lyxzen is just kind of talking in the verse, but he switches to a high yell/almost a scream in the chorus which sounds pretty good. This was a simple but decent little intro to Refused. Up next is "Coup D'État" and it's more like the pace I was expecting with some cool faster guitars and Lyxzen nicely yelling overtop. Bjorklund gets a chance for a short bass break and things sound pretty cool and they nicely set up a headbanging finish. Most of the songs on this album are shorter than three minutes as we roll onto track 3 "Hook, Line and Sinker". It's got a really catchy and upbeat, driving riff with some coop guitars and some great vocals from Lyxzen as well. It's a heavy jam that is hard not to headbang along to and this is my early favourite, a pretty sweet little tune! The next song is by far the longest on the album at 3:49 and it's called "Return To The Closet". They alternate between a light and dreamy verse and snapping nicely into a heavy, punk-y chorus and you can guess which part I like better. The lighter part isn't my favourite, but the heavier parts sound pretty good and Lyxzen had a couple full-on screams on this one that sound pretty great! Track 5 is "Life Support Addiction" and it's at a very fast pace with Sandstrom showing off a few nice drum fills. The guitars are super heavy and distorted on this one and I think sounds pretty good. They furiously play a couple nice verses but there are a couple breaks that just make each return to the heavy part sound even better. I love all these short bangers! Up next is "It's Not O.K..." and this one is only a minute long with the only lyrics being "it's not O.K., to pretend everything's alright". Some heavy guitars and nice yelling still make it a cool one minute tune. Track 7 is "Crusader Of Hopelessness" and it has a simpler main riff, but things still sound solid. Bjorklund plays some cool bass in the background and Lyxzen let's out a great scream at the end of the song. Up next is another sub-2-minute track titled "Worthless Is The Freedom Bought" and it has a furious punk pace and they burn through a few verses pretty quickly, and pretty nicely! Track 9 is "This Trust Will Kill Again" and it follows the same metal/punk style that I quite like; adding some heaviness to punk definitely improves it! They alternate between slow and faster riffs and both of them sound pretty good. The next track is "Beauty" and the guitars and bass sound solid but Lyxzen' vocals are just like talking at times and that I don't like as much. The rest of the song is still nice and upbeat and pretty solid. Track 11 is called "Last Minute Pointer" and they do a lot of stopping and starting that makes for a memorable and pretty cool riff that definitely stands out from the standard hardcore punk riffs. Lyxzen's yelling sounds great and this is definitely another highlight of the album. The album wraps up with it's final song "The Slayer" and I'm not sure if that's a tribute to the band or not, but they come out at a Slayer-like pace with their fastest riff yet! Everyone sounds great playing so quickly and when they shift to a more standard pace it sounds almost like a breakdown! The album ending with the sound of rain confirms the tribute (just like how Slayer's "Reign In Blood" ended) and this was a really cool way to finish off one hardcore album!

That is the end of "Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent" and I think it lived up to it's name! These 12 hardcore punk songs only last just over 30 minutes, but each one of them packs a punch and a few of them stood out above the rest. Refused blend metal and punk perfectly on this album and it's quite heavy for 1996 as well! What will this Swedish band come up with next? 

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