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Hello and thanks for reading.
Surprise, I am writing about yet another Swedish band. This week it’s MEANWHILE, from Eskilstuna. There is a ton of other killer shit out right now, namely a few other Swedish rippers that have my attention… but it’s too much for me to get into today. So, I will stick to MEANWHILE and I will keep it brief. MEANWHILE played Skullfest in Pittsburgh a few weekends ago. They were excellent. It was everything I could have hoped for really. We also played the fest, but we played the day before. It was crazy to see Kenko, the drummer of MEANWHILE, wearing one of our shirts on stage. It blew my mind, haha. It means he watched our set… I wonder if he bought it before or after we played? Cos I don’t think I played very well, even though I heard some encouraging feedback after our set. I guess he still decided to wear it after he saw us, which means he probably thought we were sick. Hell yeah. I had been seriously looking forward to seeing them, as I am a huge fan of MEANWHILE.
If I am going to talk about MEANWHILE, then I need to talk about DISCHANGE. Actually, I need to go a bit further back into Swedish hardcore history and mention NO SECURITY first. I was just gushing over Kenko, but in reality, it is Jallo Lehto who I have been a fanboy of since my teenage years. Jallo was the drummer of NO SECURITY. He also did Finn Records with another dude named Jari Juho. I don’t think that dude did bands, though. Jallo joined TOTALITÄR on drums after their first few EPs. This is where I first became aware of his existence. While he was not a founding member, I consider him just as original as the rest since he has played on like 85% of their releases, including every full-length LP. Finn Records did not have their first release until 1989, but I consider them pretty essential when it comes to Swedish hardcore. Aside from releasing a lot of TOTALITÄR, they released stuff from other notable bands like SVART PARAD, ASOCIAL, and DISFEAR. DISPENSE was another absolutely killer band they released. I think they are criminally underrated.
I think NO SECURITY is fairly underrated in the world in international hardcore. Most people have probably heard of them cos they did a split with DOOM in 1989. They formed in 1985, but their impact was really felt in the later 80s and into the 90s, where most notable Swedish bands existed in an earlier wave. They never had an LP, and they only released one proper 7" in 1988. The rest of their material was spread onto some cassettes and four different splits. I think this isn’t the greatest formula for releasing your stuff, but man, they are one of the greatest Swedish hardcore bands ever to exist if you ask me. Most of their stuff was released between 1987 and 1989, but they had a split 12" in 1990 and a split 7" in 1995.
Kenko joined the band in 1989 on guitar. I think he only appears on the ‘90s records, though. Before his time in NO SECURITY, he was playing in death metal bands. After he joined NO SECURITY, he and Jallo cooked up a new project: DISCHANGE. However, in this band, they switched instruments! DISCHANGE has such catchy and memorable riffs. I think this is an obvious symptom of the riffs being written by an insane drummer. Between 1989 and 1991, they weren’t really an active band, since it was just the two of them recording everything. It wasn’t until 1991 when they recruited a few more guys and started gigging live. They released a masterpiece entitled Seeing Feeling Bleeding in 1993. This full-length followed two split 7"s they had released the years prior. Oddly enough, on the center label of their 1991 split with E.O.W, they credit themselves as both DISCHANGE and “MEANWHILE.” This is the only place where I saw the name mentioned until they formally changed it in 1995, when they released their debut, Remaining Right: Silence, under the new name MEANWHILE. This LP is so damn good, just as good as the DISCHANGE LP in my mind.
Alongside their name change, there was an evolution in the sound of DISCHANGE/MEANWHILE. I associate DISCHANGE with a much heavier sound and meaner riffs. Although, that it is clearly still heard on MEANWHILE’s Remaining Right: Silence. I mean, it was at Sunlight Studios, haha. But on their following LP in 1996, The Road To Hell, you can hear them leaning super hard into the catchy side of things. I know they still have straight up DISCHARGE songs on each record; I just mean I can really hear this evolution in the guitar playing that makes the band shine even more. The way Kenko plays d-beat is so groovy, with Jallo’s super-catchy riffs, the combination is just too good. In 2000 Sound Pollution released their third LP, Same Shit, New Millennium. Their first two LPs were actually only available on CD originally. It wasn’t until 2008 that Feral Ward reissued both of those on vinyl, alongside their final LP, Reality or Nothing. Between 1995 and 2008, they released four LPs and four EPs. I think each of these records is legit excellent and worth listening to. While I favor their first LP a lot, their 2005 7" Ghostface Democracy is so unbelievably good. This one was interesting cos it really sounds like they turned the dial up to 11 on DISCHARGE, namely Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing. I’m sure anyone who has heard this record knows how damn good it is. But to be honest, I think the artwork is pretty bad and I understand if someone would pass it over based on the art, haha. While artwork may not be their strong suit, they certainly make up for it with what’s actually on the record.
Alright, well shit, it doesn’t seem like I talked about much of anything and I didn’t really talk about this reissue much either, haha. This reissue is brought to us by Fight For Your Mind Records, a killer label from France who first got on my radar with their TOTALITÄR release. While MEANWHILE records are not painfully hard to find if you look for them, I am happy this is back in print! For being such a big fan, I actually don’t have this record. This pressing of Same Shit, New Millennium has been remastered by Communichaos, which was something else that also got on my radar via TOTALITÄR. I remember seeing it often in the recording credits of their 2000s records. Communichaos is actually operated by Kenko, which is yet another reason I am such a fan of him and his bands. The original artwork for the LP wasn’t so bad, but it really took a turn for the worse with the reissue... haha. (I am sorry if the artist is reading this.) Don’t let the artwork fool you and check out the LP! These 19 raging, riff-heavy tracks will without a doubt have your fist pumping and head banging from start to finish. Cheers and thanks for reading.