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 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.
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 as replacement for guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.
Daniel Adam Lilker is an American musician best known as a bass player, but also guitarist, pianist, drummer and vocalist. He was the bassist for the thrash metal band Nuclear Assault and was a founding member of Anthrax with Scott Ian. Lilker was then playing rhythm guitar and recorded bass guitar and co-wrote on their first album, Fistful of Metal. He also founded Nuclear Assault, grindcore band Brutal Truth and crossover band Stormtroopers of Death with Scott Ian and Charlie Benante, and Billy Milano. He also plays bass with Exit-13, Malformed Earthborn, The Ravenous, Overlord Exterminator, Venomous Concept, Crucifist, Nokturnal Hellstorm, Nunfuckritual and Extra Hot Sauce. During his tenure with Anthrax, Lilker played bass by fingerpicking, but since forming Nuclear Assault, he has mostly been using a pick.
Agoraphobic Nosebleed is an American grindcore band. Its line-up has changed often over the years, with guitarist and drum programmer Scott Hull being the only continuous member. The current line-up includes vocalist Jay Randall, and Richard Johnson of Enemy Soil and Drugs of Faith, along with John Jarvis of Pig Destroyer and Fulgora on bass guitar.
Extreme Noise Terror are a British extreme metal band formed in Ipswich, England in 1985 and one of the earliest and most influential crust bands. Noted for one of the earliest uses of dual vocalists in hardcore, and for recording a number of sessions for BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, the band started as crust punks and helped characterise the early, archetypal grindcore sound with highly political lyrics, fast guitars and tempos, and often very short songs.
Pig Destroyer is an American grindcore band formed in 1997 in Alexandria, Virginia. The band was formed by vocalist J.R. Hayes, guitarist Scott Hull, and drummer John Evans. Throughout the band's earlier history, they were a three-piece group until sampler Blake Harrison joined in 2006; notably, they had no bassist until the inclusion of John Jarvis in 2013 and went through two drummers prior to that, with the role currently held by Adam Jarvis. Pig Destroyer is one of the most well-known grindcore bands due to Hayes's poetic lyrics; Hull's incorporation of thrash, punk, and doom influences in songwriting; and technical drum work.
Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing early grindcore and death metal records between the late 1980s and mid-1990s. Its roster has since diversified into more mainstream guitar music, working with bands such as Rival Sons, the Temperance Movement, Blackberry Smoke, Scarlet Rebels and the White Buffalo. The company also hosted the 'Earache Express' stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2017 and 'The Earache Factory' at Boomtown 2018. The label's logo is a homage to Thrasher magazine, as Pearson was a skateboard culture enthusiast.
Shane Thomas Embury is a British musician, who is widely known as bassist and primary songwriter of the grindcore and death metal band Napalm Death since 1987—the longest-serving member of the band.
Venomous Concept is an American hardcore punk band formed by Kevin Sharp of Brutal Truth and Shane Embury of Napalm Death in 2004. Sharp and Embury were joined by Danny Herrera and Buzz Osborne, who was later replaced by Danny Lilker. They have released three albums: Retroactive Abortion (2004), Poisoned Apple (2008), and Kick Me Silly VCIII (2016). They have also released two split albums: one with Japanese grindcore band 324 (2006), and the other with Australian extreme metal band Blood Duster (2008). The band's name is a play on Poison Idea, in the style of name-mangling Japanese hardcore acts.
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.
Sounds of the Animal Kingdom is a studio album by grindcore band Brutal Truth. This album features a more varied style than previous albums, displaying the band's typical grindcore and death metal sound fused with elements of doom metal, stoner rock, crust punk, experimental rock, and elements of other genres.
Lock Up is an English grindcore supergroup.
Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses is the debut full-length album by American grindcore band Brutal Truth, released in September 1992 via Earache Records.
Need to Control is the second studio album by American grindcore band Brutal Truth, released on October 25, 1994 through Earache.
Cripple Bastards is a grindcore band from Asti, Italy. They were formed in 1988 in order to keep their area on the hardcore punk map as most of the other bands around them were breaking up.
Exit-13 was an American grindcore band from Millersville, Pennsylvania. The band were formed in 1989 by Relapse Records founder and co-owner Bill Yurkiewicz (vocals), guitarist Steve O'Donnell and bassist Joel DiPietro. Their early recordings, including the Disembowelling Party, The Unrequited Love of Chicken Soup and Eat More Crust demos, their debut full-length Green Is Good (1990) and the EPs The Unrequited Love of Chicken Soup (1990) and Spare the Wrench, Surrender the Earth (1991) featured a line-up of Yurkiewicz, O'Donnell and DiPietro, with drum duties being shared between Bill Schaeffer and Pat McCahan.
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.
Antigama is a Polish grindcore band. The band formed in 2000. Antigama has released eight albums, four EPs, and several split records.
Evolution Through Revolution is the fifth studio album by grindcore band Brutal Truth. This was the band's first album since 1997, recorded after an eight-year hiatus. Evolution Through Revolution was released on April 14, 2009. It sold around 1000 copies in its first week, and debuted at No. 65 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart.
End Time is the sixth and final studio album by grindcore band Brutal Truth. It was released on September 27, 2011, by Relapse Records on CD, LP, and as a deluxe CD box set, which includes "six bonus tracks, a 20-page booklet, six custom art flats, a marijuana-scented disc card, and more".
