Cowcore
Cowcore
Cowcore is a genre of experimental metal which began in the early to mid-1990's in Glasgow, Scotland. Born in the tape-trading and DIY recording scene, Cowcore was an underground phenomenon which went on to influence many bands in the following years with it's mix of metal, freeform jazz and noise. Live shows were rare due to the level of volume and violence which was commonplace during the early days - Bootlegs of many of these gigs were made but are, as yet, unavailable.
History
By 1996, Cowcore had come to dominate the tape-trade and basement party scenes with most bands being barred from conventional venues such as the Cathouse and Glasgow Barfly for acts of public masturbation, fire starting and (allegedly) showing execution videos during their performances. Gag Reflex and The Sidney Divine Fanclub were both arrested for indecent exposure and assaulting a police officer on the Renfrew Ferry during a performance of 'Monkey Fuck' which signalled the beginning of the end of the Cowcore scene.
End Of The Genre
In February 1997, Understand David and Dirty Orange played their last show at St John Bosco's Church Hall and announced that they were splitting. At the end of the performance equipment was smashed, tapes were burned and the bands were charged with arson, endangering the public and abusive & threatening behaviour. No local venues would allow gigs, no one would allow bands to play in their homes and Cowcore seemed to fade away with little or no fanfare. By mid-97, the West Coast scene was silent and the East Coast crews from Edinburgh fared no better after 'Anus Podger' were jailed for heroin possession.
Influence
Various underground magazines who supported Cowcore during it's existence pointed out similarities between the Cowcore sound and the genre which became known as math metal. It has been suggested that math metal is the equivalent of Cowcore-lite since it takes away much of the complexity and brutality of Cowcore itself while still remaining unintelligible to the outsider.
Comeback
During 2008, members of various Cowcore bands got together to consider restarting some of the acts and bringing Cowcore into the present day. Myspace profiles were set up, Bovine Intervention Records was restarted after Danny was released from prison, but it was decided that a false start had been made and that some of the original members would be needed to make it happen. Certain members of the original groups claimed it had been a joke, some even going so far as to claim it was their idea in the first place although Gag Reflex are universally acknowledged to be the originators of the sound.
In early 2009, founder members of Understand David returned from the USA and it was announced that Bovine Intervention Records would be releasing new albums from many of the original acts in the upcoming year and also developing it's own netlabel. The label also announced that it would be opening it's own studios for old and new Cowcore bands and that physical releases would be made available in the future.
Downfall
On the 10th of August 2010, Cowcore was outlawed throughout the European Union and the US. Over the following days, everyone involved in this scene decided to quit, for fear of legal action taken against them. On the 18th of August, Cowcore officially ended for good. R.I.P.
