Onward

Reviews

Onward / SYF Foundation – The Dawn of Norwegian Straight Edge split LP

SYF stands for SIGHT YOUTH FEDERATION, and what they give us here is a demo recording. The music is classic straightedge in the style of bands like YOUTH OF TODAY and SSD. The music sounds pretty good, especially if you’re a fan of YOUTH OF TODAY. Hardcore with some hooks and power. ONWARD is similar but without much of an SSD type of sound, and maybe a bit of 7 SECONDS and CHAIN OF STRENGTH to go along with the big YOUTH OF TODAY influence. This is a good document of the Norwegian straightedge scene starting near the very beginning.

Onward In a Different Place LP

Peter Amdam, a cornerstone of the youth crew scene in Norway and guitarist of ONWARD, died in 2016, and this vinyl reissue of ONWARD’s 1993 CD-only release is a tribute to his memory, with new cover art and a big insert with reminiscences alongside band photos. Sonically, ONWARD is contemplative, melodic youth crew not unlike CHAIN OF STRENGTH. Members went on to form SPORTSWEAR, whose over-the-top adherence to the youth crew aesthetic bordered on parody. You probably know already if you need this or not. It’s Euro youth crew—it’s not going to make any new fans, but if you’ve been missing this from your life, you’re probably stoked to see it get the vinyl treatment.