This is a music feature from Loudersound offering a beginner's guide to 1990s hardcore, arguing the decade is often overlooked between the genre's 1980s "golden age" and its 2000s commercial breakthroughs, despite producing several landmark releases. The piece highlights records that, while less famous than works by Black Flag or Minor Threat, shaped hardcore's evolution during this transitional era.

The guide spotlights four key releases: Earth Crisis's Firestorm EP (1993), a four-track, 15-minute record credited with fusing metal influences into hardcore and fuelling the modern straight-edge movement through its militant lyrics; Sick Of It All's Scratch the Surface (1994), notable as one of the first "pure" hardcore albums signed to a major label, featuring the iconic track Step Down; CIV's Set Your Goals (1995), a melodic youth-crew-influenced debut that helped seed the later melodic hardcore boom; and Hatebreed's Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire, which became Victory Records' best-selling debut and pushed hardcore to mainstream audiences via tours with Slayer and Slipknot. The article appears to reference a fifth entry that is cut off in the provided text.