Gothenburg, Sweden-based straight-edge hardcore unit Modern Guilt have announced the forthcoming release of their debut album, Mind the Trap. Containing 10 tracks of unrelenting, fast, old-school hardcore, the release will be a joint effort between Dropping Bombs Records (U.S.), Refuse Records (EU), and Quarantined & Monument Records (Sweden).
Mind the Trap was recorded live to capture the band’s clarity and aggression. Mixed by Per Stålberg at Welfare Sounds Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden, and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege in Portland, Oregon. Lyrically, Modern Guilt stays rooted in straight edge, political awareness, and personal responsibility, but above all, the message is PMA.
I spoke with vocalist Peter Bader to learn more about the album, his take on the political strife at home and in America, and the hardcore community in Gothenburg.
How did you come to the conclusion that recording live was the route you wanted to take in the polished digital age?
This time we got around to writing everything together and actually practicing a few times before tracking the songs… so we thought it would be fun to try to capture the energy more in the moment. We felt that the previous recordings, which were tracked step by step and across different locations, didn’t fully capture the band's energy and vibe.
What we are trying to do is more about the feeling of nailing a super-tight and polished recording. Per, Mattias, and Thomas are all skilled enough to deliver a live session. I lay down the vocals afterwards anyway, so for me it doesn’t add complexity to the process.
Tell us about the lyrics to the song “Mighty.”
It’s basically built around the line, “What makes you so high and mighty?” It felt like a fair question we all should ask our elected leaders, global and local, who, unfortunately, quite successfully restrict, oppress, and aim to control us more now than we’ve seen in a long time.
They lie, manipulate media, and dictate whose life matters and who is expendable, usually mainly white lives matter. Our freedom of speech, our right to our sexuality, and even our basic right to live free are slowly being taken away. Not that this is anything new, but the level of insanity and how we can follow everything in real time and still not care enough to do anything about it is next level.
We see what’s happening in the U.S. with ICE going as far as killing people and kidnapping children, and we see similar tendencies emerging in Europe as well. The sad part is that too many people are coming to accept that this is the new normal. What we see is a step-by-step dismantling of democracy, not even happening by force, but people are willingly giving it up, which is mind-blowing.
Did your writing process differ this time around, compared to other releases?
The biggest difference is that previous releases were mainly written by me over time, so stuff I didn’t do anything with for years finally got tracked. This time, everyone contributed, and we put everything together in the practice space, broadened our influences, and brought the best of each of us into the songs. It’s harder and heavier in every way compared to the demo and EP. The songwriting is sort of a blend of early-’80s East Coast Hardcore and late-’80s/early-’90s West Coast Hardcore.
How did you link up with Dropping Bombs?
Our drummer Mattias and Eric from Dropping Bombs know each other via a mutual friend, Steve from Hollow Earth, amazing person who sadly passed a few years back. When we released the track ”Mind the Trap” a few weeks ago Eric heard it and thought it was cool enough to fit his label.
It was quite late in the process as the album release date is March 14th but we agreed to pull together a limited U.S. release. Eric was super cool so we worked things out really quickly. Limited center label and special U.S. cover color. It turned out super cool! We are thrilled to be one of the bombs about to drop!
What is the band up to after the release of the record?
We got a bunch of shows in Sweden and Europe lined up. First one is the release show in Gothenburg - "Mini Fest" with a bunch of great bands - Speedway, Feels Like Heaven, Subject to Change (reunion), Outstand, Manic Ride, Modern Love, and Ceaseless on the day of the release.
What is going on hardcore wise in Gothenburg right now? I remember Waste being an awesome band from a few years back, but outside of Modern Guilt, I’m out of the loop.
Gothenburg is really popping at the moment. A lot of kids at the shows and amazing bands! To name a few: Bulls Shitt - great LP on Rebirth last year, they've played FYA two times and a bunch of shows in the states. Sidestep, members of Waste as you mentioned. There’s a bunch of great young bands like Ceaseless and Spitball, just dropped their first demo.
On the other end some scenester bands like Unjustified Violence - early '80s vibes with slight Oi! influences and Fredag den 13e brutal hardcore drawing more from Skitsystem and original Swedish Hardcore.
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Mind the Trap will be out March 14th and is up for pre-order now via Dropping Bombs (U.S.), Refuse Records (EU), and Quarantined & Monument Records (Sweden).
Umeå Hardcore Playlist
Tagged: modern guilt
