Charles Bronson was a hardcore / power-violence band from Dekalb, Illinois who were active for a good chunk of the 90s. They released a pretty extensive amount of content including a 12", a demo tape, two 7"s, split 7"s with Ice Nine, Quill, Unanswered and Spazz, a cassette compilation and a discography on cassette/12"/CD. They also appeared on countless compilations during their active years. The band is often associated with the straight edge scene, however only half the band members were actually straight edge.
Aptly named after the American action movie star, Charles Bronson was known for their use of film and TV samples in their music to drive home the political commentary they were trying to get across. Charles Bronson has an impossibly fast and heavy sound filled to the brim with chaotic instrumentals and abrasive screams, making them one of my favourite power-violence bands. I'm a huge fan of film/TV samples in any kind of music, however Charles Bronson really uses this to their advantage. The band was politically motivated in its lyrical content, and they carefully chose the perfect samples to amplify their messages. They also cleverly use a self-referencing sample of Gary Oldman's character in True Romance in which he says "Y'know what we got here? Motherfuckin' Charlie Bronson."
The band is often compared to other power-violence of the 90s such as Spazz, Despise You, Dropdead, etc but something about Charles Bronson stands out to me. I honestly never got into that much power-violence, I tend to stick to the punk, hardcore and emocore, but Charles Bronson is just too good not to be into. Something about their energy and passion for what they did is contagious and just fills you with a need to move. I'd recommend them to not only fans of power-violence, but really fans of any kind of punk or hardcore because there just such a staple in my mind.
Note: I recently picked up a few of their 7"s so I will update the scans for those when I am able. Also note that the compilations I put scans of is not an inclusive list of the compilations Charles Bronson appeared on as they did not all have relevant scans available. For a complete list, check Discogs.
Youth Attack! 12" 1997 (Coalition Records, Lengua Armada Discos, Homegrown, No Label Records, Grind Today Records)
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