For their second full-length album Congratulations, Danish hardcore act Eyes set their sights on the state of the world while also embracing the community of the hardcore scene. 

After releasing their debut self-titled EP in 2018, first studio album Underperformer in 2020, and the remix EP Reperformer in 2021, Eyes have released their catchiest recording yet with Congratulations. Don’t let the hooks fool you though. The album’s highly urgent and relevant themes of right-wing Internet culture and social commentary pack a punch just like the riffs themselves. 

Even with the external influences omnipresent on Congratulations, Eyes have continuously been immersed within the local hardcore scene in Denmark. Unlike hotbed hardcore scenes in the U.S. and U.K., the Danish scene is small enough that it’s a familiar community at any show. Vocalist Victor Kaas calls this close-knit community one of his “favorite things in the whole world” and “severely underrated.” Explaining how bands are usually one link from each other in such a small scene, he has also noticed a positive transition in how Danish audiences have responded to live shows. 

Although they have a reputation for “being really boring and just standing around,” the audiences in Denmark after the pandemic have been more active and have brought a more noticeable energy than in previous years. Their recent sold out Congratulations release show in Copenhagen was a pivotal moment and “completely overwhelming.”

“It was fucking amazing because the whole room was just total chaos, but it wasn’t that pit where everyone gave each other evil eyes. It was all good vibes and everybody was smiling and laughing and it was such a good time.” The audience’s reaction was exactly what Eyes wanted, considering the band’s more melodic approach to songwriting was purposefully written with an enthusiastic audience in mind.

“It was a fully conscious decision. It was a lot to do with audience responses once we actually got the chance to play shows again after our lockdowns and we just saw people react to the more hooky parts of Underperformer and we just wanted more of that. It was completely selfish in that regard. It wasn’t a way to be more accessible. It wasn’t the intention of selling out you could say. It was more just we wanted people to be able to sing along because it’s a great feeling for us and a great feeling for the audience and something you can dance to and something you can mosh around to and have fun.”

Congratulations is a fun, riotous hardcore punk ride, but also delves into serious issues of modern society. The inspiration for the title track “Congratulations” came from right-wing masses spewing their thoughts on the Internet to a worldwide audience. As a hub for these perspectives, 4chan became a “really horrifying but also really fascinating” resource to dig deeper into the online world of conspiracy theories. 

The song is a sarcastic send-off to conspiracy theorists with lines like “you’re so much smarter than everyone else, don’t even listen to anyone else.” Kaas doesn’t mince words about these Internet outliers. “You must be lacking something in life or as a person to have that kind of stance and that’s why I just want to congratulate them on being fucking idiots.”

Even though Kaas consumes his fair share of American media through the Internet, Denmark provided its own inspiration. “In Denmark replacement theory is big with Facebook Boomers and during the pandemic I started seeing, you know, stuff that I’ve seen being discussed on 4chan seep into people’s public Facebook profiles with their real names and that was kind of what spurred me on to write about it.”

Politics isn’t prevalent in lot of modern hardcore, but Eyes have concocted the perfect balance of serious themes, humor, and noisy but catchy tunes.