Raid (band)

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Raid were a Tennessee based straight edge hardcore band that formed from the ashes of the Christian hardcore band One Way. Along with Vegan Reich, Raid pioneered the Vegan straight edge movement and the Hardline lifestyle and ideology, alongside the English band Statement.

Their music was loud, fast, metal-influenced hardcore that was as uncompromising as their political beliefs. Their lyrics strongly expressed of their stance against drugs, alcohol, abortion, sexism and racism, and for animal liberation and radical ecology. Their output started as fairly conventional hardcore punk, which gradually evolved to incorporate elements of heavy metal and they effectively became spokesmen for the Hardline movement.

In 1989, they self released a demo tape and this led to a seven-inch single called Words of War a year later through Vegan Reich's own label, Hardline Records. The band split as they moved away from the straight edge lifestyle, but not before recording one last session. The recordings were released by Hardline Records as the posthumous Above The Law LP and CD in 1994. This was later re-released in 1995 by Victory Records as the Hands off The Animals CD.