Germany - Berlin

I live in Germany's capital, Berlin. Since it's a huge city, we have a big scene here. As in all the places with a really big scene there is not really a strong unity between all of them. It's more diverse, I'd say.

I think you can seperate the scenes here by the kids who grew up with 90's and maybe even 80's hardcore and the new kids, who came into the scene through metalcore and especially that new deathcore thing in the last couple of years, which is really hyped up among the youngsters. In between those different scenes the kids stick together as it seems.

The older generation definately does. They put on shows, they help out each other and that's where the attitude is at. The youngsters mostly don't really care about the underground scene and its contents and values, I guess. They just go to see the big shows and tours or whatever the fuck is cool.

All the big tours like Never Say Die, Hell on Earth or Thrash and Burn are coming through Berlin, the same goes for most of the regular and smaller tours. Well...it's a huge city, so we're definately spoiled when it comes to this.

Lately the diy scene has been growing again, so through the last two or three years it seems like more squat shows take place again. Those are mostly promoted by kids with a strong left winged background, so you can be sure you will always find info and flyers about political activism, antifascism, veganism and stuff like that at those shows.

In Berlin and eastern Germany in general the hardcore scene is strongly active against right winged people and nazi scum. If some of those people show up at shows and get recognized, they literally are in serious trouble. Most promoters have lists with photos and names of known right wing people at the doors, and everyone is sharing this information with each other to keep them away from the scene. It's working out pretty well, I'd say...but it's getting harder and harder to recognize people from the right wing scene, since they totally fit in with the hardcore dresscode nowadays.

A really great venue perfectly represents the scene and the hardcore and punk attitude to me. It's called The Cassiopeia and everyone working there and putting on shows is just great. The Cassiopeia started with putting on really small hardcore shows, but they were able to establish the venue and now even some of the bigger tours are coming through this venue and they promote a lot of shows lately. So it definately is a place, where the older and younger hardcore kids and generations come together to see shows.

Bands that represent our scene pretty well are:

FINAL PRAYER
Hardcore in the vein of hatebreed with a strong socio-political background and sophisticated lyrics. They play a lot of shows all over Germany and some abroad and also get to tour every once in a while. In 2009 they've been on the road with Walls of Jericho for example. (GSR RECORDS)

WAR FROM A HARLOTS MOUTH
Often mistaken as a deathcore band those dudes are mostly inspired by bands like Coalesce, Botch or the Dillinger Escape Plan. Older farts than you would think ;) They have a strong hardcore background as well and their lyrics deal with social and political things. They might be the most famous export of the Berlin hardcore scene, as they played countless smaller and bigger EU tours and even tours through the US, Russia and so on. (LIFEFORCE RECORDS)

MAKE IT COUNT RIP
This band just broke up unfortunately. They played positive and powerful oldschool hardcore, released several splits and a full length record before disbanding. Same social sphere as Final Prayer and WFAHM, they are all friends and even toured Germany all together once under the banner "Berlin Angst" in 2008. (GSR RECORDS)

PREDICT RIP
Another band that just disbanded. Their sound has been inspired by the swedish 90's hardcore scene...bands like Section 8, Abhinanda and Breach for example. Very good band.

THE OCEAN
I guess I don't really have to introduce these guys. I would call their music post metal. The main brain of the band lives in Berlin, the rest is a collective from all over Europe. Their old singer is now in WFAHM. (METALBLADE RECORDS)

FALSE FRIEND
Nice punk band with some hardcore influence, pretty melodic and fast forward. Good guys...

HENRY FONDA
Those guys play powerviolence, they've been around for a while now. Strong diy-ethic.

CRUEL EYES
Heavy hardcore that reminds me of bands like Integrity at times.

SLEEVE
Young band, inspired by stuff like the Dillinger Escape Plan. Those guys released some ep's and demo cd's / free downloads and are recording something new at the moment, as far as I know.

FAT MANS WAR FACE
This band is playing deathcore. Good dudes, no hipsters. They have a decent following of younger kids in Berlin lately.

So that's what's coming to my mind about the scene in Berlin. As mentioned, we really have loads of shows here and are spoiled as hell. Sometimes it seems that it's not good for the scene, especially for the youngsters...they lose their interest and move on to the next cool thing, but the core of the scene sticks together and continues to contribute to the hardcore and punk scene as it seems. All in all it's pretty cool I'd say...

peace.
simon