Sweden’s ALARM! have never sounded interested in nostalgia. Featuring veterans from bands like Victims and Outlast, the band’s newly released LP, Failure By Design, pushes even harder into raw, aggressive hardcore punk while staying rooted in the same DIY spirit that has carried its members through decades of underground music.
“We thought it through a lot more and planned and shaped it as an album,” guitarist Gareth Smith tells No Echo of the new record. “The first LP was just a bunch of songs that we threw together as we were trying to work out what we wanted to do as a band. This second record was a lot more focused.”
That focus translated directly into the sound itself. “We definitely wanted to make it harder hitting than the first one,” Smith explains. “We upped the tempo overall on this record.” The shift is obvious from the first track.
Where their 2024 eponymous debut LP captured the band finding its footing, Failure By Design lands with more purpose. This time, ALARM! demoed relentlessly and wrote with future records already on the horizon. “We mapped out from the beginning what we wanted as an LP,” Smith says, “whilst we also wrote a wider range of songs with the intention early on being that we’d go into the studio and record songs for several releases.”
For the first time, vocalist Henrik was part of the writing from day one. Smith sees that as a key reason the album hits harder. “I think he’s a great lyricist,” Smith says. “His English is top notch — I can say that as a Brit.”
Speaking of lyrics, Failure By Design focuses heavily on “the pressures of performative society and conformity,” as Smith puts it, while also exploring themes of alienation, ego, and modern social expectations. “Selling your persona to strangers rather than caring and looking out for the people close to you,” Smith says.
Musically, ALARM! continue existing somewhere between hardcore and punk without fully belonging to either world. Smith actually seems proud of that ambiguity. “I feel, as we did with Victims, that we managed once again, without really intending to, to nestle somewhere between the punk and hardcore scenes,” he says. “Which is kinda where I want to be.”
The influences behind the album reflect that balance. Smith cites everything from newer Swedish bands like Xiao and Bulls Shitt to the classics: “There is always Black Flag and Totalitär somewhere in the back of my mind when I’m writing riffs,” he says.
Even after decades in hardcore, Smith still sounds genuinely energized by discovering newer bands. He specifically shouts out Kriegshög, Xiao, Bombardement, Dry Socket, Retsu, and Kotthi Tuhoa as recent favorites. “The Dry Socket show was one of the best things I’ve seen in quite a while,” Smith says. “Kriegshög last year in Stockholm was also an experience I never thought I’d have.”
That enthusiasm also extends toward younger hardcore kids currently building their own scenes. One of the more reflective moments in the interview comes when Smith talks about watching teenage straight edge bands Akimbo and Suitcase Nukes recently. “It was so heartwarming to see them being supported by all their friends kicking off in the mosh pit whilst us older guys hung back happily nodding along,” Smith says. “It feels like yesterday that that was us in the mosh pit.”
He pauses for a second before adding: “They probably couldn’t give a shit about us old guys hanging at the back, as it should be.”
ALARM! also continue staying active live, recently playing DIY hardcore festivals in Poland, touring Spain and the Basque region alongside Enchastre, and preparing for upcoming appearances in Croatia, Budapest, Germany, Holland, and Stockholm. Split 7” releases with Hard Pass and Life Abuse are already recorded and waiting for release.
Despite all of it, Smith still seems amused by the idea of trying to define where ALARM! fit within hardcore culture at this stage in life. "It's funny with the scene thing. I feel, as we did with Victims, that we managed once again, without really intendig to, to nestle somewhere between the punk and the hardcore scenes," the guitarist says.
"I like the idea that we're doing our own thing. As much as I love Totalitär, I wouldn't want to start a band with the pure intention of just sounding like them," Smith explains. "There are lots of young bands starting up now, I saw a couple of bands recently, Akimbo, and Suitcase Nukes, they must be about 15-16 years old. Proper full on straight edge, and it was so heart warming to see them being supported by all their friends kicking off in the mosh pit whilst us older guys hung back happily nodding along."
Recalling a recent conversation with ALARM! bassist Jon after practice, Smith asked if he ever thought about whether their band belonged to a specific scene. Jon said, "‘Scene? We’re almost 50! Who fucking cares?'" Smith laughs. “And I think that’s kind of nice.”
***
Failure By Design is available on vinyl via De:Nihil Records.
ALARM! on social media: Instagram
Tagged: alarm
