Razor 1911

The Original Constellation

Razor 1911 was born on the Amiga at the Danish Gold Party in July 1987 by four Norwegians from the C64 scene; Sector 9 and Dr.No from Active Cracking Crew (ACC, both original members of Razor 1911 on the C64) and Lord Strangelove (aka Lord S) and Hypocrite from Raw Deal Inc. The group was originally based around the city of Trondheim, Norway (Sector 9, Dr.No), with a section in Aalesund, Norway established a small while later (Red Baron, Nosferatu, Bug). Thanks to Sector 9, Zeb and DiMarz for some information.

The boards WILD SIDE (sys: Analog Kid) and THE GAMESHOP (sys: Alan Cook) were affiliated with Razor, but their sysops remained independent. Likewise with the board THE P.I.T.S. (sys: Pie Man/The Humble Guys). In addition to the webpage listed under external links (the Razor 1911 Founder's site), the current (pc platform) Razor demo division can be found at http://www.razordemo.com.

The new Razor 1911

The new Razor 1911 was the source of some controversy when it was formed by Colorbird/Illusion, Lizardking and Tony/The Silents and Odeon/Phenomena in late 1993. Their only claim to the name of the old heroes was that Colorbird was once a member... The real Razor had moved to the PC, and wanted the Amiga side to die with their passing. Still, the debate toned down after a while. Famous musician Lizardking is also a member of Triton Technologies on PC, and has released several CD's. Swedish graphician PGL was never a member, this was a misunderstanding.

Although these two incarnations of Razor 1911 can be seen as two separate groups we have chosen to present them both in one single page. Notes will be made as to which constellation any information belongs.

Members

Old Razor 1911

Norway

Assassin (sysop 'EXTENSION', ex Network)

Bountyhunter

Bug (Stein Erik Giske, music)

Codex (Jo Gunnershaug, gfx music, 89-12/91)

Dr.No (Runar Jordahl, org code, 11/90)

Fort Knox (Bjorn Sovik, sysop, 11/90)

Hypocrite (founder)

Insane TTM (Stein Helge Sjaastad, org swap)

Lord Strangelove (Jon Atle Kroknes, code crack)

Maniac (Jogeir Liljedahl, music, later Spaceballs)

Red Baron (Dag Nilsen, sysop 'DIGITAL EXPRESS', new 07-11/90)

Rex (Rune Vangen, org swap, 89-11/90)

Sector 9 (Kjetil Pettersson (code org gfx, 11/90)

The Hustler (music, ex Amaze, new pre 07/92)

Sweden

Dave (code)

DiMarz (Dennis Edlund, code crack)

Fury (Anders Edlund, swap)

Mantronix (Martin Wall, music)

Sir Henry (Henry Greijer, code, 11/90)

Uncle Tom (Tomas Dahlgren, music)

Ziphoid (John Carehag, org music, 7/88-12/91)

Germany

16 Beat (music, 12/91)

Angel of Death (Guido Janthor, sysop 'HELLFIRE', 09/90-91)

Drake (Michael, gfx, 11-12/91)

Joker (sysop 'SADO CITY', ex Classic, later Interpol, 12/91)

Murdock (gfx, 11/90-12/91)

Onyx (Bernd Knochenheuer, code crack, ex Accumulators, new late '89-11/90)

Sim (Guerkan Demirci, code, 11/90-12/91)

TCM (sysop 'MAGICAL ZONE', ex Classic, later Interpol, 12/91)

Wonderboy (ex Dual Crew)

Denmark

Cat (Allan, spread, ex Warfalcons, 11/90)

Darksilver (phreak, 11/90)

Dave (David, crack train, ex Warfalcons, 11/90-12/91)

USA

Rom Kernal (Jeff, sysop 'THE PITCH', 11/90)

Rotor (sysop 'GATES OF ASGARD', ex Elevation)

Zodact (Brian C., org supply sysop 'THE CASTLE', 11/90)

Belgium

Spike (sysop 'MONKEY ISLAND')

Unknown

Alien X (trade, ex Agnostic Front)

Brain Dead (12/91)

Fashion Light (12/91)

Flash Fox (ex Utopia)

King Cobra (12/91)

Lawbreaker (ex Vanish)

Problem Child (12/91)

Tripwire (12/91)

New Razor 1911

Sweden

Deelite (music, ex Infinity, triplemember of Balance and Sunshine Productions, later Subspace, new 12/93-04/94)

Diesel8 (Mats Johansson, mainorg gfx, ex Infinity, new 12/93-10/95)

Hammer (code, 03/94-10/95)

Limbo (swap, ex Noxious, 03-06/94)

Lionheart (swap, 06/94)

Lizardking (Gustaf Grefberg, founder music, ex The Silents, doublemember of Triton PC, later Subspace, new 12/93-10/95)

Oden (swap)

Odeon (founder code, ex Phenomena, 03-04/94)

Prime (music, 12/93)

Psionic (code, 08/94-10/95)

Saturn (swap, 94)

Some1 (music, later C-Lous, 12/93-12/94)

Denmark

Pearl (swap, 94)

The Pride (Palle, swap, ex Movement)

Norway

Raxor (ex Kefrens)

Germany

Schwabenpower (sysop 'SNAKEBITE' EHQ, later Hoodlum, 04/93)

Unknown

D-Design (gfx music, 08/94-10/95)

Factor (code, 08/94)

Phantom (gfx, 08/94)

Subra (ex Equinox)

Group History

Old Razor 1911

1988

Swedish musician Ziphoid joins as the first non-Norwegian member. The group's first real demo is released. Swedish coder and cracker DiMarz joined from Phenomena.

1989

The group's big break in the cracking scene came after The Accumulators split up in late 1989, and they managed to persuade Onyx (Euro crack) and Zodact (USA supply sysop) to join them. Suddenly they had both originals and crackers! This lead to a steady stream of releases until April of 1991.

1990

Norwegian musician Hattrick left for No Limits in march. A shortlived cooperation with Classic was entered into in the spring of 1990. Uncle Tom contributed music to the Paradox demo "Freddy's Back", released in early June. Swedish cracker and coder DiMarz (Dennis Edlund from Eskilstuna) left the scene this year. Most of the intros to games he cracked for Razor were also coded by himself. The Norwegian members held an internal meeting in the city of Aalesund between the 16th and the 18th of november. Red Baron, Bug, Nosferatu, Iceman, Rex, Fort Knox, Doctor No and Sector9 were all in attendance. Legendary Swedish musician Uncle Tom left the scene in December, and did NOT rejoin Scoopex despite them sometimes claiming he did. His music was used in Scoopex productions beyond this date, but these were old modules Uncle Tom gave to them before leaving the scene. Their board DIGITAL EXPRESS (opened this year) was probably Norway's first elite board, and as such remains legendary on the Norwegian scene. They were also the first Norwegian team to have an american elite board (THE CASTLE).

1991

When the release flood ended in April of 1991, the leaders of the group were getting tired of the Amiga scene. Luckily the solution was near: a great PC cracker called Darwin lived close by the core members, and it was decided to close the Amiga section in favour of a new life on the PC. Only a few members remained, keeping the group alive through this year. Swedish musician Mantronix (ex Fairlight, 11/90-) left for Phenomena around the middle of the year. However, he later returned to do music for the great "Voyage" [12/91] demo. Faith changed his handle to Faddy and joined Delight late this year. The demo "Erazorhead" [10/91] was released early October, immediately followed by the departure of its authors Jawbreaker (code, 11/90-) and Pal (gfx) for Scoopex. English musician Musician Gamma joined Anarchy in October. Swedish sysop Twister (FLASHBACK) joined from Agile in December. The group's final demo "Voyage" [12/91] was a worthy swansong for a truly great group in the field of both cracking and demomaking. American sysop Jabbah (INNER SANCTUM) left sometime between October and December; the board was mentioned in "Erazorhead", but not in "Voyage".

1992

Twister (FLASHBACK) left again in January, moving this time to Vision. Around January, Swedish sysop Wico (INNER CIRCLE, ex Classic) joined, then left for Scoopex, only to leave them shortly after for Rebels! Norwegian coder Nosferatu (10/90-12/91) joined The Silents shortly after The Gathering '92 in April. Finnish trader Zephyr joined from Amaze, but didn't stay long; he left for The Silents soon after. Psimon and Shocker joined Compact Inc. late 92. Norwegian sysop Skykiller (THE MAZE, ex Fraxion) left for Adept around October. The group was officially closed down in the early days of 1992. The members that went along to the PC section were Sector9, Dr. No, Red Baron, Onyx (ex Accumulators, new late '89) and Zodact (Brian C., USA sysop 'THE CASTLE', ex Accumulators, new late '89).

1994 or 1995

Previous member Bug (Stein Erik Giske, ex Subway, re Network, 11/90-) tragically died this year, after spending some time at a mental institution.

Unsorted

Mr.T (sysop, 12/91-early '92) left.

Rascal (ex Alpha Flight) got kicked.

English coder Paradroid joined Digital.

German sysop Guru Josh (Guido Janthor, 'TECH', ex Storm) decided to leave the Amiga scene after severe disagreements with Zodact. He eventually went back to where he came from; the c64 scene! Or even had a H/P/A BBS then? :-)

Norwegian graphician Shine left the scene.

Swedish coder Colorbird (ex Shike/Supplex) was kicked, and therefore left to join Noxious.

Frequenz (sysop, ex Amaze), together with Badcat and Edison, got arrested by the Police when they were at Fornebu, Oslo in order to collect a package with carded warez. Frequenz told them everything about CC and Visa, and 2 weeks later all the Norwegian elite-boards got busted....

Fade joined from Arise, but quickly left the scene.

Norwegian sysop IT ('CONTACT ZERO'/earlier 'HOME ALONE', ex Frogs) joined Alcatraz.

Hawat, Newmarh and Thufir joined The Special Brothers.

New Razor 1911

1994

Swedish supposed coder Boki joined in February, and was kicked in April because he was found to be a liar. He claimed he was working on a great demo, but in reality hadn't made anything at all. Norwegian duo Jason (music) and Joachim (gfx) (both ex Lemon.) were kicked because of too little contact with the rest of the group after a relatively short while, in the early parts of the year. Swedish coder Exidor (ex Infect or Medicine...) joined in April, but unfortunately left the scene soon after. Swedish coder Calypso (03/94) was kicked in may, since he promised to start coding "Memorial Songs 2", but never did. It was eventually coded by Psionic instead. Swedish sysop Fazer ('FLATLINE', 03/94) left due to a harddisk crash. An official newsfile on the Propaganda disk said he joined Delight with his board, while inside the mag itself, it said he joined Millennium. Since the news in the text file seemed a little more up to date than the stuff in the mag, I choose to believe the file. Danes Chorus (music), Sid (music) and Condor (swap, all ex Majic 12, 12/93) joined Jewels in the middle of the year. Chorus and Sid made the great soundtrack to the "We Shave Ass" [03/94] demo! Danish swapper Roscoe (ex Equinox) left mid 94, and joined Bomb! later in the year. The Danish ex-Lemon.'ers Futuremind (code), Papillion (code) and Dr.Gyble (trace) were also kicked around mid '94. Slash was allowed to join as a swapper after most of the Danish division left, taking two swappers with them (Roscoe and Condor). However, three weeks later The Pride was recruited, and they no longer needed Slash, so he was subsequently kicked also =( Finnish swapper and trader John Peel (ex Angels) joined Desire.

1995

Propaganda #5 was supposed to be released at the Virtual Conspiracy '95 party at the end of February, with new code by Hammer. Due to several circumstances, including a hard disk crash that took parts of the code to hell, the issue was never released and issue #4 became the final one ever released. Some of the articles to be released in the mag were donated by Diesel8 to other mags, like RAW, ROM and Upstream. Young swedish graphician Tony (ex The Silents, new 12/93), one of the founders of the new Razor 1911, made his last scene graphics in "Memorial Songs 2" (01/95). He was subsequently appointed to a fulltime position making graphics for Team17 in the UK. Swedish coder and editor of 'Propaganda', Colorbird (Johan Andersson) was kicked out between April and May. The rest of the group felt he was becoming increasingly intolerable and arrogant after he moved to Oslo to start working for FunCom in April. He was one of the founders of the new Razor 1911. Diesel8 became the new main organizer.

1996

Since releasing their final demo "Dalahorse" [10/95] late last year, activities pretty much ceased in Razor 1911, and we can safely declare them a dead group sometime in 1996.

Releases

Old Razor 1911

See Razor 1911/Reviews for personal reviews for these releases.

Kick-Reset (1989, ECS Intro)

Creidts

code

n/a

gfx

n/a

music

"Memorydust" by Codex.

Info

This was more of a practical joke than an intro, supposedly allowing users to choose which version of kickstart to boot with... It was nothing but a joke, of course, and its makers were reportedly highly amused by people claiming it worked :) Oh, and Codex' soundtrack is a classic...

Party Informer Intro (1988, .09, ECS Intro)

Info

Invitation intro for the Razor 1911, The Cartel, Abnormal Party in Trondheim, Norway October 1988.

Amusing IV (1988, .12, ECS Demo)

Hang Over (1989, .02, ECS Demo)

Liquid Bobs (1989, .03, ECS Demo)

Boom Boom (1989, .04, ECS Demo)

Hang over II (1989, .06, ECS Demo)

Aces High (1990, .03, ECS Demo)

The Delicate Sound of Razor 1911 (1990, .03, ECS Musicdisk)

Credits

code

n/a

gfx

n/a

music

"Poseidon" by Uncle Tom.

Info

This is music/demodisk containing a total of 10 tunes from Ziphoid, Uncle Tom, Codex and Hattrick, whereof 8 were never used anywhere else.

Psychedelia (1990, .07, ECS Demo)

Info

This may be the Razor demo released at the Bergen Party, 29.6-1.7.

Vertical Insanity (1990, .08, ECS File)

Credits

code

Doctor No

gfx

Sector 9

music

"Spell Amelioration" by Uncle Tom

Info

This _is_ a legendary demo, that spawned many imitations and caused quite a stir for its innovative effects. We will review this demo as soon as we can find the shelf space to hook up an old a500, since this is NOT the world's most compatible beast ;)

Habitual Novelty or Look, No Bitplanes! (1990, 07.10, ECS File)

Credits

code

Nosferatu

gfx

Sector 9

music

Bug/Maniacs of Noise (Maniacs of Noise format)

Info

3rd at the No Limits & Imp-666 Amiga Conference '90. Seeing as I can't actually watch this demo, it's gonna be slightly hard to review it... The great music was made especially for the demo by Bug, who was a full member of MON at the time.

The Best of 88-90 (1990, .10, ECS Collection)

Info

Contains all their best stuff from 88-90.

Fourth Dimension #5 (1991, 30.01, ECS Multifile Diskmag)

Info

Cooperation with Cryptoburners, see there for information.

Erazorhead (1991, 05.10, ECS Multifile Demo)

Credits

code

Jawbreaker

gfx

n/a

music

"The Anvil Chorus" by Mantronix (Protracker MOD format)

Info

Jawbreaker's last RZR production before joining Scoopex.

Voyage (1991, 27.12, ECS Trackmo)

Credits

code

Sim

gfx

Drake, Murdock

music

"Undersea" by Codex, "Overload" by Tip & Mantronix/Phenomena

Info

3rd in The Party '91 demo competition.

New Razor 1911

See Razor 1911/Reviews for personal reviews for these releases.

We Shave Ass (1994, 05.03, ECS 1MB File)

Credits

code

Colorbird, Hammer, Odeon

gfx

Diesel, Tony (picture)

music

"Killing Floor2.1" by Chorus & Sid (main), "Dawning" by Deelite (end)

Quite Unusual (1994, 03.04, AGA File)

Credits

code

Colorbird

gfx

Danny/Spaceballs (title), Diesel (font)

music

"L.K's Doskpop" by Lizardking (Protracker MOD format)

Info

6th in The Gathering '94 demo competition.

Chaosmaze (1994, 03.04, ECS 40k Intro)

Credits

code

Odeon, Hammer

gfx

Diesel

music

"No Limitations" by Deelite (Protracker MOD format)

Info

7th in The Gathering '94 40k intro competition.

Propaganda #4 (1994, 05.06, ECS Multifile diskmag)

Credits

code

Colorbird, Hammer

gfx

Danny/Spaceballs (loadpicture), Diesel (panel)

music

Deelite

editors

Colorbird, Diesel

Falu Red Color (1994, 06.08, ECS 40k Intro)

Credits

code

Psionic

gfx

D-Design

music

Lizardking

Info

2nd in the Assembly '94 40k intro competition.

Sourcemetery (1994, 06.08, ECS 40k Intro)

Credits

code

Factor

gfx

Diesel, Phantom (logo)

music

"Brilliance.chip" by Some1 (Trackerpacker 3 format)

Info

6th in the Assembly '94 40k intro competition.

Falu Red Color II. beta (1994, 28.12, AGA 40k Intro)

Credits

code

Psionic

gfx

D-Design

music

"Shivan Dragon" by Lizardking (Trackerpacker 3 format)

Info

16th in The Party '94 40k intro competition.

I Shot Kurt Cobain (1994, 28.12, AGA 40k Intro)

Credits

code

Colorbird

gfx

Pgl/Gods, Diesel (font)

music

"Naeh!" by Some1 (Protracker MOD format)

Info

Split 19th in The Party '94 40k intro competition.

Memorial Songs II (1995, .01, AGA Multifile Musicdisk, 2 disks)

Credits

code

Psionic

gfx

Tony, Diesel(8) (additional)

music

Lizardking

Dalahorse (1995, 08.10, AGA 2MB Multifile, 4 disks)

Credits

code

Hammer, Psionic

gfx

D-Design, Diesel8

music

Lizardking & D-Design, Lizardking & Mantronix

Info

Winner of the Party Remedy '95 demo competition!

External Links

• The old Razor 1911 web site (now defunct)
• The new Razor 1911 web site (seems to be inaccessible at the time of writing)

BBS's

• PURGATORY WHQ (USA, 12/91)
• HANGAR 18 (USA, 12/91)
• CITY WAREZ (Norway, 06/94)

Music in the UnExoticA collection

The following demos in the UnExoticA collection were created by Razor 1911.

Demo	Year	Party
Habitual Novelty	1990	No Limits & Imp-666 Amiga Conference '90
Voyage	1991	The Party '91