Interview: Congress
We were pioneers. Nobody did it back then. We were the first band who mixed straight edge with extreme metal.
In 1990s Belgium, a new breed of straight edge hardcore bands with a heavy metallised sound emerged with ferocious results both on record and in a live setting. The bands, headed up by the mighty Congress and included Liar and Regression, formed a close knit scene which was dubbed H8000 in reference to the West Flanders region of Belgium where they resided.
With the H8000 bands making waves, Congress released iconic albums like The Other Cheek, Blackened Persistence and Angry With The Sun in the 90s through to Stake Through The Heart, Resurrection and The Legacy in the 2000s and influenced a whole host along the way. Following a split for a number of years, Congress have recently returned with a new energy and Gavin Brown caught up with guitarist Joost Noyelle aka Josh Fury to get the lowdown on the return of Congress and a look back at the band’s massive legacy on metal infused hardcore.
E&D: How have your recent live shows gone, and what have some of the highlights been?
Josh: We started one year ago, and we did 15 to 20 shows. The plan was to do a club tour, and the club tour became a European tour, almost. We expected less than this. We just expected to tour Belgium, then do clubs and some festivals, but it turned out to be bigger and better than we expected. So we’re very happy with the way things are,
E&D: What have been some of the most memorable shows that you’ve played since your return?
Josh: I think Revolution Calling was one of the highlights in Holland. It was with lots of great bands, mostly American bands. Unbroken, Judge, All Out War. Some of these bands were on stage with us to watch our shows. So it was a great feeling. It was the unity hardcore feeling was back for me. Then we had l some local shows here (in Belgium) which were like it was back in 96 actually. Older people, of course, but people with their kids, and that’s great to see. Generation after generation, that’s renewing. It’s refreshing. I was happy to see people coming with their kids to watch a legendary band they grew up with.
E&D: What led to Congress coming back and playing live shows again and how does it feel to be back on stage playing those songs again?
Josh: It started with a podcast we did, over a year ago. Let’s say the beginning of 2024, we met a mutual friend that called me up, and he said, I want to do a new podcast, very H8000 based, with old bands and old friends. I was like, so who’s your first guest? And he was like, it’s gonna be you and Pierre. I was like, yeah, me and Pierre didn’t speak for 12 years because of a misunderstanding after the first reunion in 2012 but we did that podcast, and it was like, Yeah, we forgave each other, and it was la clean slate. So that was the start of the comeback for Congress. After the podcast came online, we got a call from the organiser from Imperfect. He wanted us to headline. And then after that came the call from Martin from Revolution Calling. So we started again with the original lineup and we decided to give it another year after this. It’s more professional, it’s more fun than it used to be. We’ll see what happens next year
E&D: Is there any possibility of any new Congress recordings at all it is it just strictly live at the moment?
Josh: That’s a difficult one, because I was talking to friends and bands like Length Of Time and the old generation 90s metalcore bands. Do bands like this need to do new music, because everybody’s listening to the same four old records. It’s kind of frustrating for me. I have a lot of cool ideas, but do we need to record these? Some people will say, oh, it’s okay, it’s like, 97 or something. But we prefer Black Resistance or Angry With The Sun. They always compare you to your previous records. You can refresh your sound, but you can’t make the records like they used to in the 90s. So it’s a difficult one. I’m not sure. I’m not sure if I’m gonna do it. I put the same question for Liar. We did the comeback for Liar a few years ago, and people wanted a new Liar record. I don’t think so. But who knows?
E&D: Is it a cool thing, getting a set list with material from all your albums?
Josh: It’s the first four records, actually. We split with the first lineup after 2000. UJ and Misha were out of the band. Pierre followed. So I did a few other records with another lineup, the Resurrection album, and then for The Legacy, Pierre came back. It was like the Resurrection style songs, but with Pierre singing, I thought it was the best work I ever did, because it was fresh and new, and they had a lot of different influences compared to the old stuff. But people always listen to the old shit, you know. So, the setlist is actually the four first Congress records.
E&D: What live shows have you got coming up that you can tell us about?
Josh: We are doing a special occasion for 30 years of Blackened Persistence on Halloween this year. It’s going to be with Liar and Regression. I think for this year, that’s gonna be it. We have a few plans for next year, but I won’t say, because nothing’s 100% sure yet.
E&D: Do you hope to make it overseas to the UK and further afield in the future for shows?
Josh: Every week we have these mails from people all over the world who want to book a tour or book a festival for us. Some stuff is possible. Others, not really possible. We can talk, and if the arrangements can be made, why not? So we see what happens. I would love to get back to the UK, and I would love to go to the US, but it’s difficult. It’s not the best time to tour over there, but if we can manage it, why not? I always say what we couldn’t do in the past, maybe we can do in the future. So who knows, hopefully!
E&D: What have been some of the most memorable shows that you played in earlier days of Congress?
Josh: Well, we toured with bands like All Out War and Morning Again. We played and toured with underground bands like Kickback, Neglect, the first Ringworm tours, the first Integrity tours, all those amazing bands. We played with a lot of bands that aren’t around anymore, pioneers, cult bands. We played with Dead Kennedys. We even played with GWAR! We played a few weird shows with bands you wouldn’t expect to be on the same bill as Congress, but we pulled it off. They were great times.
E&D: Do you look back on those days with happy memories?
Josh: Yeah, of course, but like I said, we did that, and now the opportunities arise for other stuff. I would love to do more. I’m hungry for more, actually, and I can speak for the whole band. So who knows what 2026 brings? I’m thinking for next year already, we have to make plans.
E&D: Who have been the biggest influences on the sound and outlook of Congress over the years?
Josh: Well, back in the days when we started out, I listened to a lot of Cleveland hardcore and a lot of New York hardcore. So those were the triggers. And then UJ came with bands from the early wave of black metal, like Darkthrone and Burzum, then the extreme death metal. Those were influences also crust punk bands like Skitsystem and Discharge, stuff like that, political crust punk. We have influences from all over. If you look at the members of the bands, our drummer, he was into hip hop, and he listened to Biohazard and Helmet and groovy stuff, because he’s a drummer. Then Pierre, the singer. He listens to a lot of punk and crust punk. Then me and UJ, we were metal heads. UJ listens to a lot of very kvlty black and death metal bands. It was a mix from all those influences musically.
E&D: Did you always want with the music of Congress to merge the straight edge and hardcore with metal, death metal and black metal from the start?
Josh: Well, back in the early 90s, everybody in West Flanders, the H8000, was straight edge or vegetarian. We wanted to bring those ideals and this lifestyle together with our music to a bigger level. Right now, I think a few members are still living that lifestyle, but it doesn’t matter. Yeah, it was a very unique sound and a very unique lifestyle for a lot of people in the mid 90s, and I understand the hype, and they understand the influence we had, and it still is strong to this day, so I’m grateful for that.
E&D: Were you ever happy with the term edge metal to describe your music?
Josh: Yeah, why not? It was a great name. Actually, it was Edward from Good Life who came up with that. I came up with the H8000 name, and he came out with the edge metal terms. I don’t know a lot of edge metal bands these days, but there’s still a few around, of course, all over the world. We were pioneers. Nobody did it back then. We were the first band who mixed straight edge with extreme metal, definitely over here.
E&D: Can you tell us about how the whole H8000 movement started?
Josh: Well, you had the first wave of bands here in Belgium, Rise Above, Blindfold, Nations On Fire, Spirit Of Youth. They were H8000 bands, because the postal code was 8000 from the west side of Flanders. I wanted to make a difference between the first generation and the next generation. I added the H before the eight, which speaks hate, because it was hateful music, and we were hated by the rest of the world. You can call it whatever you want, but for me, it was just like a new era of hardcore for that part of Belgium.
E&D: How was the experience of revisiting those times for the Anger And Distortion Documentary?
Josh: That was a long time in the making. Hans, the singer from Liar, he was trying to do a documentary. It was building up because we wanted to do one off shows with Liar, and maybe a one off show with Congress, and then one thing led to another. So Hans started the documentary and the DVD, and then after that, he did the H8000 book. All those things led up to the comeback for Congress, and actually Liar as well. It’s a very nostalgic thing, but it works. It’s cool, and if you see the influence you have all over the world for other bands and other scenes, still to this day, for the H8000 scene, it’s amazing. We did something good. All those things led up to the legendary status of H8000 and the bands. Nowadays, with the internet, it’s easy. People can pick it up from all over the world, back in the day, you had to work a lot by touring and by putting out records and fanzines.
E&D: It must make you feel proud having books and documentaries made featuring Congress and the H8000 scene and also influencing later Belgian bands like Arkangel and even Amenra, but bands all over the world that must make you feel proud.
Josh: Yeah, for sure, it makes me feel thatI did something good, and it was a very short period in life but it was very influential. If you see people from Indonesia, from Russia, even from Japan, who and they say they are influenced by us. That’s amazing. We’re not worthy!
E&D: Back in the day, Congress made a memorable appearance at Ieperfest with bassist UJ is wearing corpsepaint and a Hellhammer T-shirt. How did that go and what was the reaction to it?
Josh: Well at first it was mixed. The straight edge movement. They didn’t get it. It was something UJ wanted to do for a long time. So he did, like, maybe I can do corpsepaint. Why not? I listen to black metal! I adore black metal. So why not make the best of both worlds. Somebody had to do it. We were the first. Same story with the hockey mask, actually the most famous picture from over here. It was All Hallows Eve, and we had a show, and everybody wore ski masks. I did the hockey mask, and someone took a photograph and the rest is history. It’s on shirts everywhere. It’s on the cover of the book. If you’re lucky, it gets picked up. It goes viral.
E&D: Congress played big European festivals like Ieper hardcore fest, Dynamo and Graspop. You obviously love the intimate hardcore shows, but did you enjoy playing the big festivals as well?
Josh: Yeah, of course. I enjoy them now more than I did back in the 90s. Because now, like I said, weare professional. We have a sound guy, we have a light guy. Sometimes we have a banner, we have a merch guy, so everything runs smooth and is more professional compared to back in the day, when we arrived in the van. We didn’t have our own speakers or cabinets, we just brought our guitars. Is there a drum kit available? It was very amateurish. Now we, have our own backline and sound guy, it’s important when people see us now compared to 30 years ago, it’s like, oh man, the sound is fantastic. Oh man, the setlist is better. Oh man, everything went smoothly live. Well, we had to wait 30 years to make it like this, so I’m happy we can pull it off.
E&D: What newer Belgian hardcore bands could you recommend to us to check out?
Josh: There’s this new band called Listed, these 16/17 year old kids. They play pissed off hardcore. They are very Cro-Mags influenced. There’s a few edge metal bands like Invictus. They’re very good. Force is a band from guys from Rise And Fall and Mind War, too much to mention, every week there’s a new demo or there’s a new seven inch. People are not always listening on Spotify. They want physical stuff. They want to collect. That’s typical hardcore, people want a collection they can show off.
E&D: What was it got you into punk and hardcore ?
Josh: The first thing that got me into hardcore was skateboarding, because I bought Thrasher Magazine, and there was always the skate rock section. When I saw this with my friends. We went skating, and there was this record shop, and we got a Thrasher. We bought the records because of the covers that were on Thrasher Magazine. I bought The Accused because I bought Thrasher. It was a revelation to me. That’s one of my favourite bands, and that got me into hardcore. skateboarding. Here in Ypres, there was this venue and they put the local bands on the map, and I went, after a skate session, to this club, and I met a few friends. Those friends, I met when I was in school. I was skipping school in the afternoon sometimes, and I hung out with these guys, and they got me into more bands, like New York hardcore. straight edge bands, and then I became straight edge, became vegetarian, and that’s how the ball started rolling. It came all came together through skateboarding. I just collect skateboards now, of course, I’m 51 I prefer playing guitar and not breaking my wrists!
