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, shouts and high-pitched shrieks. Early groups such as England's 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.
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since Utopia Banished (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera and lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway has remained consistent through most of the band's career. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado and Mitch Harris as replacements for guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.
Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. The label released the work of American punk rock, thrash metal and new wave music bands. Caroline had a number of subsidiary labels, including Astralwerks, Gyroscope, Caroline Blue Plate, Beat the World, Scamp and Passenger. In 2013, the brand was relaunched by Universal Music via the Capitol Music Group.
Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. 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 post-hardcore/metalcore labels SharpTone Records; another post-hardcore/metalcore label, Arising Empire, was in Nuclear Blast portfolio until its acquirement by Kontor New Media in 2020.
Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million.
Scum is the debut studio album by English grindcore band Napalm Death, released on 1 July 1987 by Earache Records. The two sides of the record were recorded by two different lineups in sessions separated by about a year; the only musician in both incarnations was drummer Mick Harris. The two sides are very different, and the two taken together serve to bridge stylistic elements of heavy metal and punk rock. While the songs on the A-side are influenced heavily by hardcore punk and anarcho-punk, the vocals and lower-tuned electric guitars on the B-side anticipate subsequent developments in extreme metal. Loudwire put it in the list of the best 10 metal albums of 1987.
Doghouse Records is an American record label currently based in New York City. The company was founded by Dirk Hemsath in late 1987 while living in Toledo, Ohio, in order to release the recordings of his hardcore band, Majority of One. The label originally specialized in midwest emo and melodic hardcore, though it eventually incorporated punk rock, pop punk, indie rock and alternative rock artists.
A-F Records was an American independent record label founded by punk rock band Anti-Flag – namely the band's drummer Pat Thetic, their rhythm guitarist Chris Head, and their lead vocalist Justin Sane – and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was created to help expose more political punk bands to a larger audience.
Crust punk is a subgenre of punk rock influenced by the English punk scene as well as extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills. The term "crust" was coined by Hellbastard on their 1986 Ripper Crust demo.
Profane Existence is a Minneapolis-based anarcho-punk collective. Established in 1989, the collective publishes a nationally known zine, as well as releasing and distributing anarcho-punk, crust, and grindcore music, and printing and publishing pamphlets and literature. Stacy Thompson describes the collective as "the largest, longest-lasting, and most influential collective in Anarcho-Punk so far." The collective folded in 1998, although its distribution arm, then called Blackened Distribution, continued operating. It restarted in 2000. "Making punk a threat again" is the group's slogan.
Blood Duster was an Australian grindcore/stoner rock band from Melbourne. Their name came from the song "Blood Duster" by John Zorn, from the 1989 album Naked City.
Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby Township, 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 was an independent record label specializing in extreme metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner in 1993. It had another imprint, Hydra Head Noise Industries, which specialized in experimental and noise music. Turner announced he was winding the label down in 2012. In 2020, the label removed its catalog from Spotify and returned its album rights back to several artists.
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.
Scatterbox is an American punk rock band from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Formed in 2000, the current lineup includes Tom White (vocals), Scott Rozell (drums), Mark Cogburn (guitar), Ryan White (bass), and Sean Nicol (guitar). They are currently signed with Blackhouse Records of Spokane, Washington. Scatterbox has released five full-length albums, and three EPs, one of which was a split release with the now-defunct Spokane, Washington band, American Zero.
New Red Archives is an American 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.
Fuck the Facts is a Canadian Juno-nominated, grindcore band from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, formed in 1998. They began as the solo recording project of musician Topon Das. Their earliest recording was in January 1997; they began using the name Fuck the Facts in 1998. 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.
