Grindcore

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Grindcore is an extreme metal genre formed in the mid 1980's from a marriage of Hardcore Punk, Crust Punk, Thrashcore and the then embryonic Death Metal genre.

Grindcore took Hardcore and Crust Punk's drive for blistering speed and short song format and Death Metal's meatier and heavier sound, as well as taking some influence from Industrial and Noise. A typical Grindcore song on average is about 30 seconds to two minutes long, and usually features downtuned and overdriven guitars and bass with fairly simple punk styled riffs alternating between lightning fast and slower groovier passages. Grindcore drumming usually consists of inhumanly fast blast beating and sometimes slower d-beats. Vocals range from Death Metal growls and grunts to high pitched shrieks, with some bands employing a more Hardcore style of shouted vocals.

Lyrically Grindcore bands usually fall into two camps, ones with political lyrics and messages of many Hardcore bands and the Gore obsessed bands that permeate Death Metal.

The first bands that usually take credit with creating the typical Grindcore sound are the United Kingdom's Napalm Death, formed in 1982, and first releasing the From Enslavement To Obliteration demo in 1986, and the full studio album Scum in 1987, the American band Regurgitation formed in 1986, and releasing the Organic Backwash demo in 1986, before changing their name to O.L.D. and recording the Old Lady Drivers album in 1988, and the United States' Genocide formed in 1985, who would record three demos in 1986, before changing their name to Repulsion and recording the Horrified studio album, which wouldn't be released until 1989 after the group had split up for the first time. Other notable early Grindcore acts include the United Kingdom's Extreme Noise Terror formed in 1985 (though they consider themselves as Hardcore punk), the United States' Terrorizer formed in 1987 featuring many members who would go on to be in other well-known and influential acts, Belgium's Agathocles formed in 1985 who dub their style of Grindcore 'Mincecore', United Kingdom's Unseen Terror formed in 1986 featuring members of Napalm Death, Italy's Cripple Bastards formed originally under the name of Grimcorpses before changing sound and name, Japan's legendary group S.O.B. formed in 1983, and others.

Some bands that must be mentioned for being highly influential to the development of Grindcore, include the Hardcore Punk of Siege, Deep Wound, Discharge, GISM, Amebix, Larm, Asocial, as well as Industrial/No Wave group Swans, and the Industrial group Throbbing Gristle.

Grindcore has also spawned many sub genres.

• Deathgrind.

Deathgrind is a genre mixing Death Metal and Grindcore. Bands that play in this style typically are heavier sounding and more technical in playing and song structure than your average Grindcore band. Deathgrind is closely related to both Goregrind and Pornogrind stylistically. Notable Deathgrind bands include the United States' Brutal Truth formed in 1990, the United States Cephalic Carnage formed in 1992, the United Kingdom's Defecation formed in 1987, Germany's Blood formed in 1986, and the United States' Righteous Pigs formed in 1987. Bands that play Deathgrind can be found on MMA under both Grindcore and Death Metal, depending on where the emphasis lies.

• Goregrind.

Goregrind is a genre mixing Death Metal and Grindcore. Bands playing in this style feature extremely violent or medical terminology for lyrics, extreme, and for artwork (often times very real pictures), a deviation from the political messages of most Hardcore bands, and many bands make use of pitch shifted or extremely low guttural vocals. The credit for the first Goregrind band goes the United Kingdom's Carcass, formed in 1985 who's debut Reek Of Putrefaction became a favourite of DJ John Peel. Other notable early Goregrind acts include Sweden's General Surgery formed in 1988, United States' Impetigo formed in 1987, and the Netherland's Last Days Of Humanity formed in 1989.

• Pornogrind.

Pornogrind is a genre mixing Death Metal and Grindcore. Bands playing in this style feature the use of porn obsessed imagery and lyrics, extremely distorted and pitch shifted vocals, and often times incorporate much slower and groovy sections within songs. Notable Pornogrind bands include the United States' Meat Shits formed in 1989, and Germany's Gut formed in 1991.

• Cybergrind.

Cybergrind is a genre mixing Electronic and Grindcore. Bands that play this style make use of synths, computers, and drum machines in addition to the usual guitars and bass, while some bands use synths, MIDI files, and drum machines exclusively. Many Cybergrind bands tend to have little to no influence or relation to metal. Japan's Catasexual Urge Motivation formed in 1992 is generally considered the first Cybergrind group with a drum machine nicknamed Cyber E.M.F. Other notable Cybergrind bands include the United States Agoraphobic Nosebleed formed in 1994, and Australia's The Berzerker formed in 1995.

• Noisecore.

Noisecore is a genre mixing Hardcore, Noise Rock, and early Grindcore. Bands that play this style of Hardcore/Grindcore usually eschew any form of song structure, in favour of rapid blast beats or fast random playing with riff-less guitar and bass noise, and indecipherable vocal growls and shrieks. Many Noisecore songs don't even hit the 30 second mark, being short blasts and explosions of chaotic sound. Notable Noisecore bands include Australia's Seven Minutes Of Nausea formed in 1985, United States Anal Cunt formed in 1988, United Kingdom's Sore Throat formed in 1987, Switzerland's Fear Of God formed in 1988, and Japan's The Gerogerigegege formed in 1985. Bands that play Noisecore can be found on MMA under both Grindcore and Hardcore, depending on which style is ascendant.

• Fastcore/Thrashcore.

Thrashcore is a genre of Hardcore and early Grindcore. Bands that play in this style of Hardcore/Grindcore are discernible for making use of shorter song structures, faster tempos, and blast beating, more than regular Hardcore bands, and for this Thrashcore can be considered a forerunner to Grindcore and Powerviolence, As many early Grindcore bands took influence from early D.R.I., Deep Wound, and Septic Death. While many Thrashcore artists are labelled as Hardcore here on MMA, some can be considered closer to Grindcore, these bands include Japan's S.O.B. formed in 1983, and the United States' Siege formed in 1981, and Britain's Atavistic formed in 1985. Bands that play Thrashcore can be found on MMA under both Grindcore and Hardcore, depending on where the emphasis rests.

• Powerviolence.

Powerviolence is a genre of Hardcore and early Grindcore. Bands that play in this style are distinguishable from Grindcore and Hardcore for extremely short song lengths with often and sudden tempo changes, and shouted Hardcore vocals. Powerviolence bands draw on early Thrashcore, Hardcore, and Grindcore for inspiration, such as Scum era Napalm Death, Siege, Deep Wound, Cryptic Slaughter, and early D.R.I. Notable Powerviolence bands include the United States' Infest formed in 1986, the United States' Plutocracy formed in 1988, the United States' Hellnation formed in 1988, the United States' Capitalist Casualties formed in 1987, Germany's Yacopsae formed in 1990, and the United States' Man Is The Bastard formed in 1990. Bands that play Powerviolence can be found on MMA under both Grindcore and Hardcore, depending on which is closer to the band's sound.

Sub-genre collaborators (+ child sub-genres):
  • Vim Fuego (leader)

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grindcore Music Reviews

REPULSE On a Cartrip in Sweden

Demo · 1988 · Grindcore
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
UMUR
"On a Cartrip in Sweden" is the first demo recording by Finnish grindcore act Repulse. The demo was independently released in November 1988. It´s the only release under the Repulse monicker before their name change to Xysma.

The demo features 10 tracks and a total playing time of 7:27 minutes (several versions exist with varying number of tracks), so obviously all songs are pretty short brutal grindcore compositions. Simple, hardcore punk influenced, fast-paced, aggressive, and abrasive. This is noisy and obnoxious material but there´s actually some decent musicianship found here and although all tracks more or less sound the same, the band also understand how to write and effectful grindcore tune.

Although this was obviously recorded live in the studio with no overdubs, Repulse have managed to get a pretty decent sound quality out of those primitive conditions, and upon conclusion "On a Cartrip in Sweden" is a pretty good first release by Repulse. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

ASSÜCK Misery Index

Album · 1997 · Grindcore
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SilentScream213
What is there to say about this 15-minute album by Assück? It’s manic, ripping Deathgrind embodying a sense of hopeless chaos. Despite the tiny track lengths in a very flat genre, the band does well at giving each song a little dash of uniqueness to separate them from each other. This makes the short run of 15 tracks feel much more distinguished. Even with that, the album is perfectly consistent front to back.

The riffs are quite good among the genre. Unfortunately, it does suffer from the traditional Grindcore problem of “too chaotic/noisy to really make much out.” The drumming here is a big problem for me. Don’t get me wrong, the drummer is clearly incredible, able to hit insanely fast blast beating while maintaining accuracy. The problem is, there is just too much all out blast beating, and it’s too loud. The guitars get buried, it’s difficult to make things out. I know this is what Grindcore is all about, but that’s one reason I’m just not a fan of the genre.

The vocals are great here as well, but the lyrics are almost ridiculously hopeless word salad. Sounds like someone looked through a thesaurus for every somewhat complex word of or relating to “pessimism.” They don’t make much discernable sense.

CARNAGE The Day Man Lost

Demo · 1989 · Grindcore
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UMUR
"The Day Man Lost..." is the first demo release by Swedish death metal/grindcore act Carnage. The demo was independently released in January 1989. Carnage formed in 1988 under the Global Carnage monicker, but soon changed their name to Carnage. This early trio incarnation of the band features guitarist Michael Amott, drummer Jeppe Larsson, and vocalist/bassist Johan Liiva. Amott would subsequently go on to extreme metal stardom with first Carcass and then Arch Enemy, while Liiva would play in many different bands after Carnage. Among them the early incarnation of Arch Enemy, but also acts like Furbowl and Hearse, so Carnage was arguably one of the seminal acts on the early Swedish death metal scene. Not just because of the later success of some of the members but also because Carnage´s debut album "Dark Recollections" (November 1990, Necrosis Records) is one of the earliest Swedish death metal releases.

On "The Day Man Lost..." Carnage don´t really play death metal though, but instead a strongly Carcass influenced grindcore style. Fast blasting, murky, and featuring juicy unintelligible growling vocals. 3 tracks and a total playing time of 4:36 minutes and that´s it...it´s worth noting that none of the tracks from this demo made it unto "Dark Recollections".

The sound quality is decent enough considering that this is a late 80s grindcore demo, and compared to the sound quality on "Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment" (1987) and "Reek of Putrefaction" (1988), which are probably the two Carcass releases Carnage were influenced by at this point, "The Day Man Lost..." is actually pretty decent sounding. It´s obvious that Carnage hadn´t found their own sound at this point, but on the other hand the quality of the material, the performances, and the sound production are all of a decent quality and a 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating isn´t all wrong.

KILL DIVISION Thoughts and Prayers

EP · 2023 · Deathgrind
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UMUR
"Thoughts and Prayers" is an EP release by US death metal/deathgrind act Kill Division. The EP was released through Redefining Darkness Records in June 2023. It´s the successor to the band´s debut full-length studio album "Peace Through Tyranny" (September 2022, Redefining Darkness Records). Kill Division got quite a bit of attention when it was learned that the band consists of drummer Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth, Aborted, Soilwork...etc.), guitarist Gus Ríos (Create a Kill, Gruesome...etc.), bassist Jeramie Kling (Ex Deo, Ribspreader, Dritt Skit. etc.), and lead vocalist Kyle Symons (Upon Infliction, HatePlow, Malevolent Creation...etc.), who are all seasoned death metal/deathgrind scene veterans, but the quality of "Peace Through Tyranny" did speak for itself too.

"Thoughts and Prayers" features four tracks and a total playing time of 8:58 minutes. The opening title track is a new original track, which was not featured on "Peace Through Tyranny", but the remaining tracks are covers of Suicidal Tendencies, Slayer, and Minor Threat. All done in deathgrinding Kill Division style. It´s the right way to do covers, giving them your own spin and not staying too true to the originals. I´m especially fond of "Memories of Tomorrow" (the Suicidal Tendencies cover).

"Thoughts and Prayers" is well produced, featuring a powerful, raw, and brutal sounding production job, which suits the material well. Upon conclusion it´s a nice follow-up release to "Peace Through Tyranny", and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

KILL DIVISION Barely Alive

Single · 2022 · Deathgrind
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UMUR
"Barely Alive" is a one-track digital single release by US death metal/deathgrind act Kill Division. The single was released through Redefining Darkness Records in August 2022 and it´s the second single released to promote the forthcoming release of Kill Division´s debut full-length studio album "Peace Through Tyranny" (September 2022, Redefining Darkness Records). "Barely Alive" appears as track number 11 on "Peace Through Tyranny".

Listening to the material on "Peace Through Tyranny" it soon becomes apparent that Kill Division are highly influenced by Terrorizer (and to a lesser extent an artists like Misery Index), and the link to Terrorizer becomes even more apparent as "Barely Alive" is a Terrorizer cover. If you didn´t know it you wouldn´t really notice it though, as it seamlessly blends in with the remaining material featured on "Peace Through Tyranny". High quality deathgrind, which may not be groundbreaking, but is solid and well performed. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

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