“Heavy music with a message and aesthetic that transcend the genre.” Idles, Quicksand, Cult Of Luna, Touche Amore and more to honour departing hardcore legends Refused with The Shape Of Punk To Come Obliterated tribute album

Refused
(Image credit: Burning Heart)

Idles, Quicksand, Fucked Up, Cult Of Luna, Gel and Touché Amoré are among the artists paying tribute to out-going hardcore punk legends Refused on a special re-make of the Swedish band's 1998 masterpiece The Shape Of Punk To Come

The 12-song album will be released as part of a special limited edition 25th anniversary edition of the ground-breaking and hugely influential record, which will be released via Epitaph Records on November 8 on five vinyl LPs.

The records will feature instrumental demos, live recordings, rehearsal tapes and more. Only 2000 copies of this special edition will be available worldwide: it can be pre-ordered here.

The tracklist for The Shape of Punk to Come (25th Anniversary Edition) is:

Side A

1. Worms of the Senses / Faculties of the Skull
2. Liberation Frequency
3. The Deadly Rhythm

Side B

1. Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine
2. Bruitist Pome #5
3. New Noise

Side C

1. The Refused Party Program
2. Protest Song ’68
3. Refused Are Fucking Dead

Side D

1. The Shape of Punk to Come
2. Tannhäuser / Derivè
3. The Apollo Programme Was a Hoax

Side E

1. Summer Holidays (instrumental demo)
2. Refused Are Fucking Dead (instrumental demo)
3. The Shape Of Punk To Come (instrumental demo)
4. Tannhauser Derive (instrumental demo)

Side F

1. New Noise (Straight Edge As Fuck compilation)
2. Worms of the Senses (rehearsal tape)
3. The Deadly Rhythm (rehearsal tape)
4. Blind Date (rehearsal tape)
5. New Noise (live)

The Shape Of Punk To Come Obliterated: A chimerical bombination in 12 bursts

Side A

1. Gel - Worms Of The Senses / Faculties Of The Skull 
2. Quicksand - The Liberation Frequency 
3. Brutus - The Deadly Rhythm
4. Snapcase - Summer Holidays Vs. Punkroutine 

Side B

1. Idles - New Noise (remix)
2. Ho99o9 - New Noise 
3. Fucked Up - Refused Party Program 
4. Zulu - Protest Song ’68 
5. Cold Cave - Refused Are Fucking Dead 

Side C

1. IGORR - The Shape Of Punk To Come 
2. Cult Of Luna - Tannhäuser / Derive 
3. Touche Amore - The Apollo Programme Was A Hoax 

Side D

Etching 


Quicksand frontman Walter Schreifels says, “I’m honoured that Quicksand was asked to be on this compilation. Liberation Frequency and The Shape Of Punk To Come are monuments to heavy music with a message and aesthetic that transcend the genre.”


The iconic punk band have also announced a farewell US tour, titled 'Refused Are Fucking Dead... And This Time They Really Mean It'.

The announcement comes just three months after frontman Dennis Lyxzén suffered a "massive heart attack" in his hotel room ahead of a scheduled show in Stockholm.

Speaking about the band's reformation and upcoming break-up, drummer David Sandström says, “We gave it several shots between 2012 and 2024. We all have different takes on how it went and what the legacy of the reformed band will be, but personally I felt we couldn’t quite agree on what we were supposed to do musically, and we were still struggling with that when the pandemic hit. Kristofer felt that he’d done what he wanted to do and left the band in august of 2020 and although there was a delayed effect to the death blow, a death blow it was.

“So in the beginning of this year we started making plans to have one last big hurrah, to make the end of the band a fun, generous, indulgent affair. And that’s how it felt after the first show, it’s the best we’ve ever sounded and we were really enjoying ourselves, tossing in old songs we haven’t played since the nineties and even a Misfits cover. And then disaster struck.

“I visited Dennis in the hospital the day after he was admitted and true to form he was not happy about the hospital gown he was forced to wear. Hooked up to all these machines, unshaven with tousled hair, I swear the first thing he said was: (pointing to the gown) “I mean, this is not great”. I guess they don’t let you wear suits or Negative Approach t-shirts in the hospital.
 
“So on to the good news: Dennis is doing great. He’s one of the healthiest dudes I know, he can’t sit still, exercises a lot and it follows that his recuperation would be swift. He’s gotten excellent care and his doctor has run all the physical tests on him and they all indicate he’s making a full recovery. Needless to say, he’s itching to get back on tour to play shows and he even suggested we should keep preliminary dates set up for the late fall and winter, but we decided to postpone those shows and instead start up in the spring. So yeah, that’s where we’re at.

“We’re coming to the US in March/April 2025 and we’re looking at what else we can do with the rest of the year, all we know is that we want to finish back home in Sweden at the end of the year. Let us know if there are songs you want us to play and we’ll give them a shot. Hope to see you out there.”

'Refused Are Fucking Dead... And This Time They Really Mean It' North American tour dates 2025

Mar 21: Brooklyn Brooklyn Paramount, NY
Mar 23: Toronto History, Canada
Mar 25: Chicago Salt Shed, IL
Mar 27: San Francisco The Warfield, CA
Mar 28: Los Angeles Shrine Expo Hall, CA
Mar 29: Del Mar The Sound, CA
Mar 30: Phoenix Marquee Theatre, AZ

Apr 01: Denver Ogden Theatre, CO
Apr 02: Salt Lake City Union Event Center, UT
Apr 04: Boise Knitting Factory, ID
Apr 05: Seattle The Showbox, WA
Apr 07: Vancouver Vogue Theatre, Canada
Apr 08: Portland Revolution Hall, OR
Apr 10: Sacramento Ace of Spades, CA

Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.