Before Refused went on to write one of the best and most eclectic hardcore albums of all time, they first had to make one of the best hardcore albums of all time without other genres coming into play.

'Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent' did just that. It's a 30-minute heavy hitting hardcore mind-fuck. Using heavy, fast, technical and often palm muted riffs, Refused both showed their talent as instrumentalists in hardcore music and also showed that they could right some absolutely rocking tunes.

The intro "Rather Be Dead" is a 3-minute barrage of angry, angst ridden simple guitar work and shout along lyrics. It is the only commercial song on the album, possibly because it's the only song on the album that's very easy to consume.

The next track "Coup d'Etat" is a fantastically heavy and off-putting, classic hardcore song. With a fast paced riff that almost dances around you with its velocity and simple complexity that actually makes you want to dance. Whereas "Hook, Line and Sinker" is a look into the bands darker sound with it's off-putting riff and lyrics that really make you shudder. It was this song that began fast little licks in the middle of riffs, a principle used in almost all hardcore music now days.

The amazing thing about this record is that, as a whole album, you can just sit and listen and believe you've got the band in your room with you, making this exciting and brutal music, which is still very straightforward, and in places soothing.

It was also this album where Lyxzen's lyrics excelled for the first time. Until now, they had been pre-mature, still needing adjustments in places; in this record he hit the spot perfectly with what he could do. It's this record Lyxzen would look back and say was the one that made him from a good songwriter, to a great songwriter.

This songwriting skill is illustrated in the technical, heavy drum lead beats of "Life Support Addiction" where Lyxzen manages to portray people's addictions into their own wall of superficiality they create around them. Lyrics like "We breed upon culture sickness and we made this rule into our own. Silently sedated, our minds fly out the window. Our emotions suffocate. Suppress the essence of living…" demonstrate this. You can almost believe that he's at a protest of some sort with his liberating lyrics. It's debate-able that "Crusader of Hopelessness" is in fact Lyxzen experimenting lyrically with how he could very well write speeches for those who resist, as the lyrics almost are a speech, mysteriously appropriate.

It's the dark end to the album however that is the most moving here. Penultimate "Last Minute Pointer" sounds like it may as well be in a horror movie. Its, no shit, scary riffs and creepy fills issue it full of passion, almost reminding you of "Tannhauser/Derive" from 'The Shape'… only a year later. And with the finale, "The Slayer," an extremely fast-paced punk song, it's all over.