Grindcore:
The genre got started in the mid-1980s on opposite side of the Atlantic. In Michigan, Repulsion combined blast beasts with a distinct fuzzy bass tone. In England, the early lineups of Napalm Death began playing ultra-fast and short songs with an acidic political edge. The genre, which has spawned sub-genres including goregrind and cybergrind, is now entrenched in underground metal and has produced some of metal’s most iconoclastic and experimental music.
Musical Style:
Vocal Style:
Grindcore Pioneers:
Napalm Death is the key band in the grind genre. Opening albums Scum (featuring the famous one-second song “You Suffer”) and From Enslavement to Obliteration are grind benchmarks. Napalm Death favored a death metal approach in the 1990s but returned to their roots in 2000 and have since produced albums that match their earlier work, including the recent albums Smear Campaign and Time Waits for No Slave.
Brutal Truth
Brutal Truth pushed grind to a higher musical level in the 1990s. Initially formed by S.O.D. and Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker, the band took grind music down an unexpected path beginning with Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses and Need to Control. The band broke up in 1999 but began playing together several years ago and recently issued their comeback album Evolution Through Revolution.
Repulsion
Repulsion initially formed in Flint, Michigan in 1985 and has only recorded roughly one album’s worth of material. Their sole record Horrified was highly influential to metal, particularly the band’s blast beats, violent lyrics and unabashedly primitive sound. Repulsion has played concerts in recent years but recorded no new material.
Recommended Grindcore Albums:
Napalm Death - From Enslavement to Obliteration
Repulsion - Horrified
Pig Destroyer - Prowler in the Yard
Brutal Truth - Sounds of the Animal Kingdom
Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Altered States of America
Nasum - Human 2.0
Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless
A.C. - 40 More Reasons To Hate Us
Carcass - Reek of Putrefaction
