Refused came togehter in the deep forests in northern Sweden, sprung from the group "Step Forward". The summer of '93 they did their debut with the cd "This is the new deal" on Burning Heart Records. At the same time the band signed on Startrec and began to record their first album.
November '93 they stepped into Sunlight Studios together with Thomas Skogberg. Out came a more metal-oriented sound with roots of hardcore. February 1994 they released "Pump the Brakes" cds. In March the same year they released their first album "This just might be the truth". Which the media gave a lot of god reviews. But most of the media circulated more around the Straight Edge thing than the music.
In April '94 they took off for a real tour, the Adrenaline-tour which is a classic today. The last week in July '94 Refused started to record a new mini-cd at Sunlight Studios to be sure to get that metal/hardcore sound. And in the beginning of Septermber 1994 their first tour through Europe began. Together with the americans in 108 it was a promising and memorable tour. It took them to Germany, Denmark, Czeckrepublic, Poland, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands. In October they released "Everlasting", a seventrack cd, on Startrec. Januari- 95 Refused were nominated for a grammy. And "This just might be the truth" is released in Germany where it sells over any expectations. The last days in April 1995 they released a split with Randy where the bands make covers on each others songs. "Everlasting" is released in Europe and they continue their touring. First a promo-tour together with Earth Crisis and then a five week long tour together with Snapcase.
In December 1995 they entered the doors to Tonteknik Studio and in the beginning of February "Songs to fan the flames of discontent" hit the Swedish homes. Their second album was even better than the first, and with the song "Rather be dead" they sweeped the feet of the people.
During 1996 and 1997 they were touring through the world. And later on they decided to go back to Burning Heart Records. In 1997 they were nominated as one of the best swedish live-acts by swedish national radio. They didn't win, but if the kids would have had their full say... they would have won!
And we now know they are back to rock. Stronger than ever and with their third album "The shape of punk to come" they're showing us what hardcore punk is supposed to be. They have spent months in the studio. Tonteknik, together with Eskil Lövstrom, came out with the best record ever. They deliver revolutionary songs with intellectual beats that goes deep and gets their point across from every direction. They are innovaters and creators of the new noise and they refuse to stay at a stand still. Together with No Fun At All, Liberator and The Hives, they spent a month out in Europe on the "Sued(e)palooza" tour, in march '98, which went very well. Touring is their middle name, February spent in Sweden, May in UK and Ireland, playing at the Dynamofestival on the way home. June and July making some festivalgigs in Scandinavia. And finally their latest release "The Shape Of Punk To Come" was released on Burning Heart America. A chimerical bombanation in 12 bursts, is one of there best...and I highly recommend you get if you don't already.