Though the inclusion of a song called "Refused Are Fucking Dead" may have hinted at what was to come in hindsight, few expected the Swedish punk rock group to disband so quickly after the release of its monumental recording, The Shape of Punk to Come. That 1998 album was a loud, audacious and flawlessly executed statement that instantly entered the band into the musical discussion, even amongst listeners who weren't usually appreciators of hardcore punk. Huge-sounding guitars, breakneck eruptions, anarchic lyrics, electronic flourishes and Dennis Lyxzen's relentless vocal attack all added up to a band that seemed to be on the verge of transcending the scene from which it came--until it suddenly broke-up after a miserable tour experience to support the album. Lyxzen immediately went on to start the marginally successful group The (International) Noise Conspiracy, but rumors of a Refused reunion circulated for over a decade, until 2012, when the band announced an appearance at the Coachella Music Festival.
