Heresy | |
---|---|
Origin | Nottingham, England |
Genres | |
Years active | 1985–1989 |
Labels | Earache, In Your Face, Lost & Found, Boss Tuneage |
Members | Malcolm "Reevsy" Reeves Kalvin Piper Steve Charlesworth John March Mitch Dickinson Stephen "Baz" Ballam |
Heresy were a hardcore punk band from Nottingham, England, formed in 1985 and active until late 1989. They released three albums and recorded three sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. [2]
The band was formed by Reevsy (guitar, vocals), Kalvin "Kalv" Piper (bass), and Steve Charlesworth (drums), the first two having previously been in the Stoke-on-Trent band Plasmid. [3] Their first release was the 1986 6-track flexi-disc Never Healed - the first release on Earache Records, which was followed by a split LP with Concrete Sox. They then added a singer, who was soon replaced by Concrete Sox drummer John March. Reevsy left the band to be replaced by Mitch Dickinson from Unseen Terror on guitar. The band toured through Europe with this line-up. [3]
In 1988, Mitch left the band, to be replaced by Baz from Ripcord, the new line-up recording the Face Up to It LP. The band's final album, 1989's 13 Rocking Anthems, was compiled from their last two Peel Sessions. The band split up in late 1988. [3] Members Steve and Kalv formed Meatfly, and now play in UK hardcore band Geriatric Unit.
Heresy's early material merged influences from English hardcore punk groups like Discharge and American extreme metal bands like Metallica and Slayer. A fusion which led to them being categorised as crust punk. By the time their founding vocalist Malcolm Reeves was replaced by Kalvin Piper, they had stripped away the metal influence, for a thrashcore sound influenced by Boston hardcore, early-Dirty Rotten Imbeciles and Siege. [1] An article for Alternative Press described how "no band before them, harnessed the hormonal force of American hardcore and spiked it with metal-tipped UK82 punk". [4] Simon Czerwinskyj, in an article for Bandcamp Daily, described the band as "proto-grind crust maniacs". [5]
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 the replacement of one-time guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.
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The Varukers are a British punk rock band formed in 1979 by vocalist Anthony "Rat" Martin. They produced their most influential recordings in the early 1980s. The band play in D-beat, the musical style of Discharge. Also like Discharge, the Varukers' lyrics carry an anarchist political ideology.
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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.
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.
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Digby Pearson, also known as "Dig", is an English musician, producer and businessman. He is the founder of independent record label Earache Records.
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Unseen Terror was a British extreme metal band formed by Mitch Dickinson (Heresy) and Shane Embury, and played extreme metal with a technical edge along with elements of hardcore punk. Their most notable feat took place in March 1988, when they recorded tracks for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 program.
The Stupids are an English hardcore punk band formed in the 1980s by Tom Withers.
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