Guitarist Ivar Bjørnson was just 17 years old when his extreme metal band Enslaved toured the U.S. for the first time. He and bassist Grutle Kjellson formed the band as teenagers in 1991, and by 1994 they’d released two albums. Their unique approach to Norwegian metal caught the attention of hardcore icon Peter Steele, who allegedly had a copy of their second album, Frost.

At the time, Steele’s thrash metal band Carnivore had reunited. They played several reunion shows through the mid-90s and had a few lineup changes until Steele’s death in 2010. But in 1994, Enslaved’s tour manager was allegedly friends with Steele, and put Bjørnson in contact.

“[Steele] was really nice, super friendly,” Bjørnson recalled in an October 2026 interview with Metal Hammer. “Some weeks later came the offer: ‘If you want to hang out for another month after the tour, you can support Carnivore.’ I was like, ‘Umm, I think I need to go back to high school.’”

Ivar Bjørnson Regrets Not Taking Peter Steele Up On his Offer to Support Carnivore

Declining an offer to support Peter Steele’s band on tour sounds like sacrilege for a metal musician. While Ivar Bjørnson recognized the unfortunate lost opportunity, he also admitted that 17-year-old him had a point. Being a teenager on tour in a foreign country was a pretty good reason to decline.

When asked if he regretted the decision, Bjørnson immediately said yes. “Then again,” he added, “I was 17, so we were barely allowed to go on tour in the first place! And we’d already stayed two weeks longer than we were supposed to.”

Bjørnson continued, “We made up a story that we were staying with a friend in Dallas, but we actually spent two weeks touring Mexico. I didn’t tell my mum about it until I was 26.”

That 1994 U.S. tour had a few other interesting experiences for the teenage Bjørnson and Kjellson. Beyond the offer from Peter Steele and secretly touring Mexico, they also found themselves in a wickedly uncomfortable van. They often had to resort to underage drinking just to fall asleep. They would frequently drink vodka as a way to lull themselves to sleep in the horrible van. However, that ritual backfired when the van broke down one night.

“Our van broke down while we were driving through the Bronx, so we were told to stay in the van at the garage,” Bjørnson recalled. “When we broke down, we were already quite far into our nightly ritual of getting dozy. At some point, it was like, ‘Where’s Grutle?’ He was running around, with no t-shirt, screaming, ‘I’m Santa Claus!’ Some of the other guys had to go get him.”

Photo by Per Ole Hagen/Redferns

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In 1981, Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat coined the term straight edge. It became a movement within the hardcore punk community, abstaining from the use of drugs and alcohol. This movement vehemently rejected the use of drugs and alcohol, citing a silent class war that was destroying ghetto neighborhoods. With this movement catching on, the hardcore punk community rehabilitated countless hardcore fans throughout the decade.

Straight edge hardcore carried over into the 90s but slightly dissipated towards the end of the decade. Due to this, there was a full straight edge revival in the 2000s. These 3 hardcore punk bands were at the forefront of the revival of straight edge in the 2000s.

Have Heart

One of the main bands to introduce straight edge to a new generation was Have Heart. Fronted by Patrick Flynn, they were a primary fixture in the Boston hardcore scene. Formed in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 2002, Have Heart released their first EP in 2004, What Counts. With this EP release, the band helped usher in a new era of youth crew hardcore. Additionally, they contributed to the straight edge revival with songs such as “Something More Than Ink”.

They became hardcore icons with their 2006 debut album, The Things We Carry. Their track “Armed With A Mind” became a straight edge anthem. For their sophomore release in 2008, the band transitioned into a post-hardcore sound while carrying over their straight edge ideals. Songs To Scream At The Sun was the band’s final release before their legendary final show on National Edge Day, October 17, 2009. Patrick Flynn and drummer Shawn Costa are now members of the post-hardcore band Fiddlehead, which also features members of Basement.

Champion

Formed in 1999, Champion was also signed to Bridge 9 Records, much like Have Heart later on. Members of Champion were in other hardcore punk bands hailing from Seattle, Washington, in the late 90s and early 2000s. These included Betrayed, fronted by Champion guitarist Aram Arslanian. Champion released only one studio album, three EPs, and a compilation album before disbanding in 2006. Their only album, Promises Kept, became a defining and foundational straight edge album in 2004.

Their final show was filmed, recorded, and released in 2007 as a DVD/CD combo. This last live performance film will give you a special glimpse into the straight edge movement in Seattle in the mid-2000s.

Carry On

While Champion emerged from the northern Pacific coast, bands like Carry On emerged in Southern California to help continue the straight edge movement. Formed in 1997, the band released a string of EPs in the late 90s and early 200s. In 2001, they released their only studio release, A Life Less Plagued. It was the first album released by Bridge 9 Records, which became a massively influential hardcore punk label in the 2000s. Members of Carry On went on to form or join bands such as Stand & Fight, Betrayed, Terror, Go It Alone, Internal Affairs, and Piece By Piece.

Photo by Ian Dickson/Redferns

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