Burning Fight

Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics, Spirit, and Sound by Brian Peterson is an extensive oral history of one of hardcore’s most transformative decades.

Drawing on commentary from roughly 150 people involved in the 1990s hardcore scene, the book looks beyond the music itself to the ideas and communities that defined the era. Through long-form interviews and oral histories, Peterson explores straight edge, politics, vegetarianism, animal rights, spirituality, DIY culture, and the changing sound of hardcore.

Featured bands include 108, Avail, Burn, Cave In, Coalesce, Deadguy, Disembodied, Earth Crisis, Inside Out, Integrity, Los Crudos, Mouthpiece, Shelter, Spitboy, Strife, Swing Kids, Texas Is the Reason, Trial, Unbroken, Undertow, Vegan Reich and many more.

Originally published in 2009, Burning Fight documents a period when hardcore became a vehicle not only for music, but for political, ethical and spiritual debate. It remains an essential reference for anyone interested in the history of ’90s hardcore, straight edge, DIY punk culture, Revelation Records, and the scenes that shaped modern underground music.