Basque Country

Bizkaia, Guipuzkoa and Alaba

“First of all I would like to say that the person who did the first report about the basque scene did really good work and I am going to add some other information to give another point of view to it and also I will write something about the northern basque country scene, which really is located on the south of France.

I live in a small town near the border where the scene is non-existent, although the scene is growing up here, more and more international bands who are touring Europe stop here now and it is great for the scene.


Normally if there is a hardcore concert in the region of Gipuzkoa, it can take place in two places. The first one is Mogambo, a concert place located in San Sebastian which has a quite active calendar during the year and the other one is a squat located in Zarautz called Putzuzulo, both of them work always in a DIY way. However a lot of concerts are also organized by different squats (here called normally Gaztetxe).


In Bilbao the scene has taken an amazing direction since last year, where a group of kids called Fekal Criu Chous have started to organize concerts with international bands like Another Breath, Cruel Hand, Anchor... before it was quite impossible to see these bands here and always also supporting the local scene. These concerts take place in Bilbao or in the cities near to it.


In northern basque country the scene is not really active but sometimes it is possible to enjoy a good concert in Baiona (a city located next to Biarritz) in a small bar called Kixkil, but sadly it is not really often.

Now I would like to mention some bands that are working nowadays and they were not described on the other report.

Thanks to Losers: An amazing fast melodic hardcore band from Astigarraga with members from Bisai, Dreza, Neutral Kick.... They have just recorded their first LP.


Forus: A really great fast technical melodic hardcore band from Baiona.


Antifun Krieg: An old school hardcore band with female vocals.


No Komply: A really young technical melodic hardcore band from Zalla.


Tres41: A good hardcore band.

Critikers: Simply a great melodic hardcore band.


Keep Digging: With members from Geriatric youth, good old school hardcore.


Ezinean: A nice melodic hardcore band that sings in basque.”

Basque Country - Bizkaia, Guipuzkoa and Alaba

I must point out that most hardcore bands that are active today wouldn't even exist if it hadn't been for hardcore's predecessor, a brand of punk rock called "rock radikal vasco".

These are the pioneers of the spanish punk scene in the 80s among others...

Eskorbuto


RIP

Cicatriz


MCD

La Polla


Vomito

Kortatu

*Before I start throwing names you should know that the Basque Country is divided into 3 areas: Bizkaia, Guipuzkoa and Alaba, and their capitals: Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vitoria (class dismissed hehe)

Now, truth be told since then, punk rock bands have populated the underground, but there's always been shortage of real hardcore (of any school). That being said, the scene is most alive in Bilbao and its surroundings with the B8 Crew.



The San Sebastian area (where I'm from) however is known for a proliferation of crust, powerviolence and grindcore bands (there's a lot of powerviolence bands in the small town of Zarautz for example).

Vitoria saw the birth of one of the most influencial bands in the history of metal and hardcore in this country: Soziedad Alkoholika (they are crap now, but their first two albums are amazing).


Bottom line is there aren't tons of true hardcore bands in the basque territory, but here's a quick list (not all of them remain active, some disbanded years ago):

- Crickbat (Bizkaia - old school hxc)


- J.A.N. (Bizkaia - fast hardcore)

- Justa Venganza (Bizkaia - tough guy hxc)


- Justice Department (Bizkaia - Vegan metalcore)


- Zartako (Bizkaia - Antifascist hardcore)

- Fourscore (Alaba - hardcore)


- Nous (Guipuzkoa - old school haxc)

- Antihero (Guipuzkoa - powerviolence)

- Erantzun (Guipuzkoa - fastcore)


- Goddammit (Guipuzkoa - fast hardcore)

- Kobory (Guipuzkoa - dirty crustcore/grind)

- Anosognosia (Guipuzkoa - grindcore)

- Ira et Decessus (Guipuzkoa - fastcore/powerviolence)

- Hell Division (Guipuzkoa - D-Beat)

- Squassamento (Guipuzkoa - fastcore)


- Metralleta (Guipuzkoa - powerviolence)

- Txixaparrazta (Guipuzkoa - fastcore)

- Adrenalized (Guipuzkoa - melodic hxc)

- Materia (Guipuzkoa - metal hxc)

That's all I can think of for now. As you can see, not much proper hxc, kinda sad. I'm sure there's more and some I know have probably slipped my mind, but it's a good start.