West Side Horizons: A Turning Point In Hardcore

30 years ago in Inglewood, California, Despise You made their debut release, sparking a surge of new bands in the 90s powerviolence scene. Tracks on that release were rereleased on their album ‘West Side Horizons’ in 1999. This is a compilation album that consists of multiple 7” records of splits and EPs they released.
Despise You was started by guitarist Phil Vera and vocalist Chris Elder in 1994. The original lineup consisted of them, Lulu Hernandez on bass and vocals, and Rob Alaniz on drums. Through 1995 and 1996, they recorded these splits and EPs. These were released by a few different labels, such as Elder’s Pessimiser Records. ‘West Side Horizons’ has a very raw sound due to recording with cheap equipment. This helps convey the raw emotion within their songs.
The members come from rough backgrounds, surrounded by gang violence and being raised in poverty. As many hardcore bands do, Despise You uses their music as an outlet. ‘West Side Horizons’ displays dark themes, overwhelming you with anger and hopelessness, so it gives you a view of the lives of the people in this band.
With low, grinding guitars, bone-rattling bass, drums that sound like a machine gun, and painful, livid vocals, this album has a huge sound that fills you with energy and rage that’s hard to find in other music. The song ‘No more…Feelings’ is a great example of this. The bass is so fast it’s unintelligible, and as soon as the rest of the band comes in, there’s an immediate adrenaline rush. The song then slows down abruptly, and the breakdown leaves you feeling almost nihilistic but with a burning rage.
Most of their songs run under a minute long with a few in the two-minute area; short songs are a defining part of the powerviolence genre. The west coast powerviolence scene was booming in the 90s. Bands like Infest and Spazz established a pretty standard sound within the genre.
Despise You takes the standard elements of power violence but executes them in their own, unique, and powerful way.
From the death metal influenced tremolos of songs like ‘Lagrimas’ and ‘Been Lead’ to the high energy punk beats of ‘Culpa Mia’ and ‘Hand Me Down Existencia’ to the sludgy riffs of ‘09/13/1991’ and ‘Thirty-One Days of Rain’ these songs display diversity throughout their sound that’s ultimately unique to them.
West Side Horizons has a wide range of influences that make it stand out from the albums of other bands of their scene. Since their debut 30 years ago, Despise You has inspired many modern powerviolence bands. These bands have made this darker and heavier sound more prevalent.
‘West Side Horizons’ is a life-changing album for me. Its influence is huge in the hardcore scene, bringing a revolutionary sound to the genre. Since their debut 30 years ago, they’ve impacted hardcore in huge ways. They have a loyal following to this day, with many bands taking influence from them and covering their songs. A band in Fargo called Chronic Wasting Disease covered their song, ‘No More… Feelings’
Not only is this album’s influence huge, but the raw emotions you feel from listening to it are intoxicating. West Side Horizons changed the genre of powerviolence, introducing their own unique take on the sound and reshaping the genre.
They also introduced a new sound regarding the theme’s they cover. Even for someone not typically emotionally influenced by music, West Side Horizons can make them clench their fist and grind their teeth with rage. This album doesn’t only fill you with powerful emotions, there’s passion in their songs that you can’t find anywhere else.