Betercore

Reviews

Betercore Completely Out Of Control: Discography 1998-2003 LP

BETERCORE was a severely underrated Dutch band that carried the self-proclaimed “youthcrust” banner during their turn-of-the-millennium existence. I quite literally discovered this band by doing an internet search for “youth crew crust” in 2003, and immediately knew that I had stumbled on something special. BETERCORE’s sound is characterized by blastbeats interspersed with mosh breakdowns, frequent between-song samples, and melodic leads, with two vocalists that trade off, and is sonically on the slightly cleaner side of abrasive (I think they’re more “crust” aesthetically and politically, and more “youth” in terms of the breakdowns, songwriting, instrument tones, and energy brought forth). Their impassioned lyrics—which can be felt in the vocal delivery—take on society’s bullshit, as well as that of the sometimes sterile and detached-from-real-life hardcore scenes that were going when they started up, with humor and seriousness whenever the respective one fit (sample song titles include “SXE, But Not An Asshole,” “Gospelcore,” “Man You Suck,” and “Mosh Against Monarchy”). Their main output is four split 7″s and a split tour CD-R, which is compiled here in reverse chronological order, along with a history, loads of pictures and flyers, and even a quiz! Although I still regularly see their records in distros, it’s nice to have everything in one place, and I’m glad that a band this necessary yet lesser-known has seen their discography pressed to vinyl and contextualized with care. They called themselves “better ’core” for a reason, and they delivered. Let us not forget.