Music Style Old School Hardcore

Musical Influences Hardcore, Punk, Metal, Punkrock

Similar Artists Nations On Fire, Gorilla Biscuits, Shutdown, Raised Fist, Spermbirds, Chain Of Strength, Intensity

Artist History The history of Victims Of Society started somewhere in summer of 1992, when Pea (Bart Van Eyken) and his classmate Jim decided to piss on society some more and to start a band to do so. Jim was playing the guitar at the time and Pea was going to take care of the vocals. First things first, they needed to find some more people to join them in the band, so Jim introduced Pea to his friend Web (Wesley Vanmal) who also abused strings. Now they had 2 guitar players and a singer. They still didn't have a bass player or a drummer but they started rehearsing anyway at Jim's parent's garage under the name Terrible Noise. They went to many punk gigs all over Belgium so they thought it wouldn't be difficult to find some other people who would be interested to make some noise together with them. Actually it didn't take long at all because in the same city they bumped into a drummer, Bakkie Twix (Dieter De Backer). They met him at a bar on the night the legendary Spermbirds played in town. This new wave kid dressed in black turned into an animal when behind his drums and so he was welcomed into the band, too bad for Jim's neighbors though. Because Jim wasn't that good at guitar playing he put the guitar aside and picked up the mic instead. They were heading for what you can call a band with Jim for the screams, Web on guitar, Dieter on drums and Pea..... Well Pea, nothing to do anymore because Jim was going to scream, he decided to buy a bass guitar. So, there you have it. The 4 members got rid off the name Terrible Noise and from now on liked to call themselves Victims Of Society. After 3 months of rehearsing the four had 15 fast HC/punk songs ready to let loose on some unsuspecting punks, local noise-lovers and random victims. So it was somewhere in autumn that they shocked their hometown Heist o/d Berg with their first gig at the youth club. They got a lot of good feedback and started to play many clubs in the region. After some time, the four felt they should strengthen the Victims-sound, so they started looking for an extra guitar player. Months of rehearsing and playing passed by and finally somewhere in 1994 Helze (Davy Helsen) joined the band. Victims Of Society was evolving and they were getting more and more gigs. Together with their friends/bands END OF ERNIE and FUNERAL DRESS they thrashed many clubs and squats all over Belgium, also getting an infamous reputation in Holland. Through the years they played with several punk legends, e.g. UK SUBS, ENGLISH DOGS, VARUKERS, CHAOS UK, TOTAL CHAOS, PETER & THE TEST TUBE BABIES, LAST YEARS YOUTH, … 4 years after the start-up Victims of Society decided to record a demo "Screams from the gutter", a killer tape recorded at STUDIO 195 in Holland including 10 fast melodic HC/punk songs. Right after the release of this demo Pea left the band. He was going to bang the bass and express his musical talents in one of Belgium's most respected punk rock bands, VOID SECTION. Victims Of Society almost immediately found a replacement, Toon (Toon Severijns) who was playing the bass in another local oldschool band called UP TO NOW. This new line up inspired them to start playing a bit of a different kind of music as they did before. They shifted towards a sound influenced by bands like Minor Threat, Gorilla Biscuits, Chain Of Strength, Nations On Fire… Victims Of Society started to get labeled as an OLD SCHOOL band. Still playing the good old punk gigs, they also got to play more and more HC-shows. By distributing the demo Victims Of Society got good response from both press and record companies. In fact it was Lost And Found and I Scream records who contacted the band to release some material. At that time Lost And Found was still one of the leading European hardcore labels, nothing wrong with their reputation (yet), so it was convenient to sign a contract with them. Winter 1997 saw the release of their debut MCD "WAY OF LIFE" on L&F, containing the remastered tracks of the demo. Consequently the band got some nice gigs and they had the opportunity to play supporting bands such as RAW POWER, RACIAL ABUSE (Cameran), TOE TO TOE, NRA, 59 TIMES THE PAIN, DEVIATE, NO FUN AT ALL, … Summer of 1998 and Victims Of Society visit Studio 195 for the second time to record a full CD. After some bad experiences with L&F Victims Of Society decide not to deal with any record company anymore and to release the next CD on DAYBREAK RECORDS, set up and run by Victims drummer Bakkie. The 15 old school tracks on "SCREAMING ALONE" are a bit different from the earlier released tracks. They choose to bring a more brutal and technical sound, less straightforward than their punk-outings but much loved by the old school HC fans. The release party of this CD was given at JH SOJO, followed with a small tour in Spain together with fellow band PN. After the tour they continued playing in clubs all over Belgium and Holland, including supports for AGNOSTIC FRONT, BATTERY, MURPHY'S LAW, RATOS DE PORAO, THE NEIGHBOURS, IMBALANCE, OIL… Victims of Society were asked to add songs to several compilation cd's. Because of the good international response Victims Of Society were able to do some tours in the UK, Germany and for the second time Spain. After these tours the band had some internal difficulties. They decided to take a short break. In 2001 they pick up the instruments again and reformed the band. Web, who at that time was also playing in the metal band Panchrysia, decided not to take part of Victims of Society anymore. Hakkie (Hans Van Keilegom, ex UP TO NOW) joined the band and replaced Web on guitar. They started to make some new songs and finished off previously written songs. Their first show with the new line up was at the yearly FUNTIME festival at JH SOJO, serving as a try out for the new songs. The months after, Victims Of Society focuses on giving them a final touch. February 2002, Victims Of Society sign a contract with Funtime Records, run by long-time band supporter and PN frontman Jokke. They record 9 totally straightforward old school hardcore songs and a special cover of Spermbirds' Playboy Subscriber. "GLASGOW KISS" was released at end of April and both national and international press gave some good comments and reviews.. What follows is a very busy period for the band… Helze (guitar) is running a bar and this seems to clash with the need to put all the energy and time in the band necessary to play gigs regularly and go on tour. These are both things that the band definitely wants to do, certainly after the intense efforts of drummer Dieter and FUNTIME Label-owner Johan to get Victims Of Society back in full force. For a 4-day tour in Germany Victims Of Society had to replace Helze because it was impossible for him to do this. They started to rehearse with another guitar player known as "den Ives" (Steven Ivens, former member of NOT THAT STRAIGHT). The intention was to play some gigs with Steven on a temporary basis. They played some shows supporting ENSIGN, REACHING FORWARD, CELEBRITY ROAST, MDC... with Steven playing the guitar. After an intense period of playing gigs all over, Victims Of Society start writing new songs. They are going strong again and they want it to keep it that way. Sadly, Davy's lack of time is becoming an increasing problem for the band so they had to take the tough decision to go along without him. Steven was asked to join the band and he did so. Summer 2002, Victims Of Society is rehearsing intensely and have got some new stuff ready and in the making. They keep working on new songs and intend to record a new CD end of 2002. Among the upcoming things for Victims Of Society this year is a tour in France/Spain, lots of gigs all around Belgium and smashing up your local club… Check em out!!!

Group Members Toon Dieter Hans Steven Jim

Albums Way Of Life (MCD), Screaming Alone (CD), GLASGOW KISS (MCD)

Press Reviews Victims Of Society - Glasgow Kiss (CD) Funtime Records Straight outta Belgium comes Victims Of Sociecty, bringing ya old school hardcore in the veins of Gorilla Biscuits, Shutdown and Nations On Fire. These guys have been around for ages, well actually for about ten years, and that's what surprised me. Cause I've heard about these guys before. I've got some material lying around and still when I received the CD I got the feeling that this was a "new" band. But any way, V.O.S. does a good job in my opinion. Only thing I think that can be a problem is the vocals, not for me cause I like them. but these are the kind of vocals that you love or hate. There is nothing in between. But if you like high pitched vocals like Brother's Keeper and Shutdown and like Old School HC than you'll like this CD for sure. Rating: 7.6 Duncan My Own Way http://www.mow-zine.com/music/vos.htm Hardcore E-Zine "They drew first blood..." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VICTIMS OF SOCIETY "Glasgow Kiss" (Funtime Records) Das belgische Quintett werden einige von Euch noch von ihrer "a way of life" Eskapade kennen, die sie Mitte der Neunziger auf Lost and Found rausgebracht haben. Mittlerweile ist ein halbes Jahrzehnt verstrichen, das zwischenzeitlich für Daybreak Records (das Label des Drummers) aufgenommene "Screaming Alone" Album ging sang- und klanglos in der Flut belgischer HC-Platten unter. Grund genug also, für das dritte Album die Ärmel noch höher zu krempeln. "Glasgow Kiss" zeigt schon im schnellen Opener, daß die Belgier gekommen sind, um die wütende Axt zu schwingen. Im weitesten Sinne bleiben die Gesellschaftsopfer auch heute noch ihrem wilden Oldschool Hardcore treu, einzig die Qualität und Treffsicherheit, mit der sie Tempiwechsel einstreuen, hat sich zum Guten verbessert. Nur selten rutscht die Geschwindigkeit der Songs unter die eines Presslufthammers, dann aber (zum Beispiel beim jazzigen Intro des Spermbirds-Klassikers "Playboy Subscriber") fällt es positiv auf. Blieben die "üblichen" Kritikpunkte, die ich einem Album dieser Klasse ankreiden möchte: Der eintönige, schrille Gesang ist absolute Geschmackssache (Nervfaktor steigt proportional zur Albumlänge) und Texte, die an mangelhafte Englischkenntnissen seiner Schreiber scheitern. Drehen wir den Spieß also nocheinmal positiv hin und sagen: Der gute Wille ist erkennbar und wer Hunger auf Youth Crew spürt, wird satt bedient. von: Mirko Gläser http://www.11pm.de/reviews/victimsofsociety_glasgow.php -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Het Belgische Victims Of Society heeft volgens mijn bescheiden mening nooit de herkenning gekregen die het verdienen. Na een tijdje van het toneel verdwenen te zijn laten de jongens weer van zich horen. De primitieve old school van deze formatie staat na al die jaren nog steeds garant voor heel wat vuurwerk. Het lijkt er wel op dat de band niet is weggeweest. Zanger Jim is met zijn apart stemgeluid de voornaamste smaakmaker binnen de groep en de tien nummers op dit kleinood smaken naar meer. Liefhebbers van snelle old school hardcore, in de stijl van Slapshot, neem je tijd om naar dit album te luisteren. Het loont de moeite! (RE) GOUD (6/7) (mindview 90, juni 2002) www.mindview.be -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wat me als eerste opvalt op deze nieuwe CD van Victims Of Society is dat de zang me niet meer irriteert. Op de vorige cd van deze band was het de zanger die met zijn schreeuwerige, schelle stemgeluid de muziek vrij ontoegankelijk maakte. Op deze cd is de zang echter een stuk beter en dat maakt de band een stuk sterker. Op deze CD vind je olschool hardcore met nog steeds schreeuwerige zang. Kwalitatief is het echter allemaal een stuk beter en interessanter dan in het verleden. De band neemt met 'Glasgow Kiss' dan ook op een sterke manier revanche! Rick Verbeek (79) (Upmagazine #4, juli 2002) www.upmagazine.nl -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Victims Of Society Glasgow Kiss Funtime records Victims Of Society is zo'n bandje dat al jaren bezig is, de leden slepen zelfs als echte die-hards nog steeds die naam met zich mee die ze voor zichzelf verzonnen hadden toen ze 15 waren. Maar ze zijn al lang geen 15 meer en hoewel ze niet echt van stijl veranderd zijn, zijn ze godverdomme sterk geëvolueerd. Victims Of Society spelen genadeloos fijne oldschool hardcore die vetter is dan Maradona's onderkin en tegelijkertijd strakker dan Britney Spears' bilspleet. Ander gezegd, 'Glasgow Kiss' is een lekkere plaat. De sound doet me sterk denken aan By The Grace Of God, Spermbirds en de door ondergetekende onlangs ontdekte I Defy. En ja hoor, dat betekent dat we te maken hebben met fucking hardcore! Vette cd. RifRaf, juli 2002 (dg) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "DISC OF THE WEEK" bij http://www.flexyourhead.net/!!! VICTIMS OF SOCIETY glasgow kiss [Funtime Records] It isn't often that a band or record comes through Flex Your Headquarters that totally floors us from the first note. Belgium's Victim of Society and their new album, glasgow kiss, did just that. Floored us - totally. From the word go! these kids blast forth with a nonstop, high-energy barrage of solid hardcore that knocked us on our asses. Glasgow kiss is everything a hardcore record should be: raw, fast, and hard. The fact that they throw down and pay tribute to one of my favorite hardcore bands of all time only sweetens the deal. Victims of Society get bonus punk points for covering "Playboy Subscriber" by Germany's Spermbirds. The song rages - the fact that these kids are able to do it justice is evidence of their purity of direction and true hardcore spirit. ...excuse me while I pick myself off the floor again... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some albums are so good that time seems to fly by while listening to them. I thought I had that experience with Glasgow Kiss until I realised that the album was actually really very short indeed. But apart from that, this is a really good piece of old school hardcore that doesn't sound fake at all. Indeed, this band started out already 10 years ago, and even released an EP on the (back then) cult label Lost and Found Records. Time's gone by, there has been one more release on Daybreak Records, until they finally released this mini-CD on the Belgian Funtime Records. This doesn't sound like fun at all though, but rather like a really angry mob screaming their madness in your face. In comparison to a lot of NYHC bands that have a tough guy vocal style, you get here the high pitched screamo vocals that fit very well the short length of the featured pieces. Only the hidden bonus track Playboy Subscriber is a little bit longer and shows the band's roots as it is a Spermbirds coverversion. OK, the Spermbirds were a lot more melodic and accessible than VOS, but anybody who likes mad screaming true old school hardcore will enjoy these nearly 18 minutes of anger. 8 points for a cool trip into the past, when HC was more about attitude than fashion.

Location Heist op den Berg, Antwerpen - Belgium

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