Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. Grindcore is considered a more noise-filled style of hardcore punk while using hardcore's trademark characteristics such as heavily distorted, down-tuned guitars, grinding overdriven bass, high-speed tempo, blast beats, and vocals which consist of growls and high-pitched shrieks. Early groups like Napalm Death are credited with laying the groundwork for the style. It is most prevalent today in North America and Europe, with popular contributors such as Brutal Truth and Nasum. Lyrical themes range from a primary focus on social and political concerns, to gory subject matter and black humor.
Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically-charged lyrics."
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group since December 1986, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent of the band's career since 1992's Utopia Banished, although, from 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado as the replacement of one-time guitarist Bill Steer; following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece rather than replace him.
Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by thrash metal, melodic death metal, grindcore, industrial metal, power metal and black metal bands, as well as tribute albums. It also distributes and promotes two post-hardcore/metalcore labels, SharpTone Records, focused on American scene, and Arising Empire, focused more on European bands.
Lookout Records was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California and later in Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having released Operation Ivy’s only album, Energy, and Green Day's first two albums, 39/Smooth and Kerplunk.
A-F Records is an American independent record label founded by punk rock band Anti-Flag and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was created to help expose more political punk bands to a larger audience. The label's offices were damaged when a September 2004 flood hit Pittsburgh. Although employees saved much of the equipment and inventory, A-F Records dropped Inhuman, Tabula Rasa, and Virus Nine in the wake of the flood for financial reasons.
Man's Ruin Records was an independent record label, owned and founded by San Francisco Bay Area artist Frank Kozik. After the 1994 release of Man's Ruin's first record, entitled Experimental Audio Research (EAR): Delta 6, Kozik worked with artists who he wanted to release; he also designed all of the sleeve art for the releases. The catalog of Man's Ruin is vast, including relatively famous bands such as The Hellacopters, Nebula, Kyuss, High on Fire, Entombed, Turbonegro, 13eaver, Queens of the Stone Age, and the Sex Pistols, to less known bands such as FuckEmos, Soulpreacher, Angelrot, and Los Cowslingers. The last record released was by Begotten, and the label was officially gone by 2002.
Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists.
Hydra Head Records is an independent record label that specializes in extreme metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner in 1993. It has another imprint, Hydra Head Noise Industries, which specializes in experimental and noise music.
Noise Records is a German heavy metal record label founded in 1983 by German music industry personality Karl-Ulrich Walterbach as an expansion of his company Modern Music Records. It was sold to the Sanctuary Records Group in 2001 and ceased any activity in 2007 due to the bankruptcy of Sanctuary. The Noise catalogue was consequently acquired by Universal Music Group later on. In April 2016, BMG Rights Management, which had acquired Sanctuary Records in 2013, announced that it would revive the Noise Records label.
Mordam Records was a California record distribution company for independent record labels. It was founded in San Francisco in 1983 as an independent punk distribution company by Ruth Schwartz. Mordam was the exclusive distributor for dozens of punk rock and independent record labels throughout the 1980s and 90s, gaining a reputation as one of the few "distros" that paid their labels on time.
Fear, Emptiness, Despair is the fifth studio album by British grindcore band Napalm Death, released on 31 May 1994. Napalm Death's inclusion on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack brought significant exposure to the band and this album, alongside the fact that the band's label Earache had formed a partnership with Columbia Records which allowed the album to disseminate to a wider audience. RAW magazine listed Fear, Emptiness, Despair as one of the essential album of the 1990s.
Clickpop Records is an independent record label in Bellingham, Washington that releases music predominantly from the Pacific Northwest. Bands who have achieved this goal to some degree include Idiot Pilot and The Trucks who have gained a nationwide audience and have been featured on the cable TV program The L Word.
Scatterbox is an American punk rock band from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, United States. Formed in 2000, the current lineup includes Tom White (vocals), Scott Rozell (drums), Mark Cogburn (guitar), and Ryan White (bass). They currently are signed with Blackhouse Records of Spokane, Washington. Scatterbox has released Five full-length albums, and three EP's, one of which was a split release with the now-defunct Spokane, Washington band, American Zero.
New Red Archives is an independent record label based in California's San Francisco Bay Area, mainly home to punk rock bands. Started in 1987, the label began by releasing punk and hardcore punk records on coloured vinyl. Starting in summer 1990 after a re-location from Brooklyn, the label was based out of Hollywood. In 1996 The label signed an exclusive distribution deal with Dutch East India Trading. By 1998 the label had moved to San Francisco. Starting in the early 2000s the label released CDs as well as vinyl, through the distribution company Lumberjack Mordam Music Group.
Dirtnap Records is an independent record label specializing in punk rock. It was founded by Ken Cheppaikode while he was living in Seattle, Washington, in 1999. He bought Green Noise record store in Portland, Oregon, in 2005 and then ran the label from there.
Collection of Splits 2002–2004 is a compilation album by Canadian grindcore band Fuck the Facts. It was released in the spring of 2006 on Great White North Records.
Fuck the Facts is a Canadian Juno-nominated, Canadian grindcore band from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, formed in 1998. They began in the late nineties as a solo recording project constructed by musician Topon Das. After many early recordings, including split tapes with groups from around the world, Fuck the Facts began developing a name in the underground with fans of grind. In 2001, the first full-length CD-R, Discoing the Dead, was recorded. The same year, Das would assemble a full band to continue with the project. The band has since coined the terms "bastardized grindcore" and "mullet-core" to describe their sound.
Seeland Records is an independent record label created by Negativland in 1979 to release their own recordings. It is a reference to the song "Seeland" by the band Neu!, who also gave Negativland the basis for their name, Sea-Land Corporation, a freight company, and the micro-nation of Sealand, which in early history was home to radio pirates.
Dukatalon is an Israeli doom/sludge metal trio, formed in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2007. The band recorded and self-released their debut album Saved By Fear in 2009, which was re-released in 2010, once the band was signed to Relapse Records.
