Code 13

Code 13 is a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based hardcore band formed by ex-members of the defunct band Destroy, including Havoc Records founder Felix Havoc.

Formation and History

In the words of member Felix Havoc:

After Destroy broke up I hooked up with Tattoo Shane and Trevor Trend and began jamming with a series of drummers. We put up an ad at Extreme Noise and attracted Criminal Shane on drums. Code 13 was an attempt on my part to move past the grind and metal influence on Destroy back to a more old school hardcore sound. Still, Code 13 is not a retro-80's band by any respect, although the 80's influence is there, many of our songs clock in at speeds undreamed of in '82.

Code 13's music is hard for me to describe because we mix several different styles. I'm not saying we're particularly original or groundbreaking, but our music was far from generic as well. Simply put, we didn't all listen to just one style of music so our playing wasn't rigidly influenced by one style either. We mixed sing-a-long 80's hardcore like early 7 Seconds and Youth Brigade with fast-core like Dropdead and a touch of early DRI, straight edge hardcore, Swedish HC/ Japanese Thrash, 80's anarcho-punk and some grind/power violence for a fast and powerful punk sound. Lyrically I'd have to say the individual versus society and issues of social control predominate.

The name Code 13 comes from the police radio code for "officer down" and as you can guess our lyrics were heavily anti-police and authority. For a while four out of five of our shows were broken up by the man, but hardcore survives on the underground and so did we. At the time I felt like the hardcore/punk scene was too complacent and needed some really radical thrashing punk to bring band the anger and energy. I went out of my way to write radical, aggressive lyrics to go with the music. We stirred up no small controversy, posing with automatic weapons and singing about shooting cops. One anarchist squat in Paris actually wouldn't let us play because we were "too militant", I knew we were doing something right then.

All of the group's albums to date have been on the Havoc Records label.

Discography

EPs

• "Doomed Society" - 1995, Havoc Records
• "They Made a Wasteland and Called It Peace" - 1995, Havoc Records
• "A Part of America Died Today" - 1998, Havoc Records

Splits

• "Code 13/DS 13" - 2000, Havoc Records

CDs

• "Complete Discography 1994-2000" - 2000, Havoc Records

External links

• Code 13 on Havoc Records