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.
Screamo is an aggressive subgenre of emo that emerged in the early 1990s and emphasizes "willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics". San Diego-based bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow pioneered the genre in the early 1990s, and it was developed in the late 1990s mainly by bands from the East Coast of the United States such as Pg. 99, Orchid, Saetia, and I Hate Myself. Screamo is strongly influenced by hardcore punk and characterized by the use of screamed vocals. Lyrical themes usually include emotional pain, death, romance, and human rights. The term "screamo" has frequently been mistaken as referring to any music with screaming.
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.
Siege was an American hardcore punk band from Weymouth, Massachusetts. Formed in 1981, they were active in the Boston hardcore scene from 1984 to 1985, and reunited briefly in 1991. Drummer Rob Williams and guitarist Kurt Habelt led a live ensemble of reunion performances between 2016 and 2023.
Brutal Truth was an American grindcore band from New York City, formed by ex-Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, and Stormtroopers of Death bass guitarist Dan Lilker in 1990. The group disbanded in 1999, but reformed in 2006 and continued to release music until 2014.
Discharge are an English hardcore punk band formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The band is known for influencing several sub-genres of extreme music and their songs have been covered by some of the biggest names in heavy metal and other genres. The musical sub-genre of D-beat is named after Discharge and the band's distinctive drumbeat.
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.
Orchid is an American screamo and hardcore punk band from Amherst, Massachusetts. Originally active from 1997 until 2002, they released several EPs and splits as well as three studio albums. The band consists of lead vocalist Jayson Green, drummer Jeffrey Salane, guitarist Will Killingsworth, guitarist Brad Wallace and bassist Geoff Garlock.
Mathcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk and metalcore influenced by post-hardcore, extreme metal and math rock that developed during the 1990s. Bands in the genre emphasize complex and fluctuant rhythms through the use of irregular time signatures, polymeters, syncopations and tempo changes. Early mathcore lyrics were addressed from a realistic worldview and with a pessimistic, defiant, resentful or sarcastic point of view.
Exhumed is an American deathgrind band formed in San Jose, California, that is currently signed to Relapse Records. It is centered around vocalist-guitarist Matt Harvey, who is the leading force of the group, as well as the sole constant member. The band has released nine albums and eight split 7-inch singles. They were formed in 1990, went on hiatus in 2005, and reformed in 2010.
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.
Trap Them was an American hardcore punk band formed in Salem, New Hampshire in 2001. They released five studio albums and five EPs, including a split EP with Extreme Noise Terror.
Powerviolence is a chaotic and fast subgenre of hardcore punk which is closely related to thrashcore and grindcore. In contrast with grindcore, which is a "crossover" idiom containing musical aspects of heavy metal, powerviolence is just an augmentation of the most challenging qualities of hardcore punk. Like its predecessors, it is usually socio-politically charged and iconoclastic.
Canadian hardcore punk originated in the early 1980s. It was harder, faster, and heavier than the Canadian punk rock that preceded it. Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A. may have helped to popularize the term with the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore '81. Hardcore historian Steven Blush said that the term "hardcore" is also a reference to the sense of being "fed up" with the existing punk and new wave music. Blush also states that the term refers to "an extreme: the absolute most Punk." An article in Drowned in Sound argues that 1980s-era "hardcore is the true spirit of punk", because "after all the poseurs and fashionistas fucked off to the next trend of skinny pink ties with New Romantic haircuts, singing wimpy lyrics", the punk scene consisted only of people "completely dedicated to the DIY ethics". One definition of the genre is "a form of exceptionally harsh punk rock."
Magrudergrind is an American grindcore band formed in 2002. They have released numerous splits and three full-length albums. Since its inception the band has toured Europe and North America multiple times, Puerto Rico, Japan, and South East Asia, along with Exhumed, Despise You, Misery Index, Unholy Grave, Phobia, and Rotten Sound.
Abandon All Life is the second full-length studio album by American hardcore punk band Nails. The album was released on 28 March 2013 through Southern Lord Records to positive reviews with an aggregated score of 80/100 on Metacritic.
AC×DC is an American powerviolence band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 2003. The band has gone through multiple line-up changes and its current line-up consists of vocalist Sergio Amalfitano, guitarist Eddie Oropeza and bassist Ryan Corbett and drummer Jorge Luis Herrera. The band's musical style has been mainly labeled as powerviolence, as well as grindcore and hardcore punk with influences from D-beat, crust punk and death metal. The band's aesthetic has been described as "a strange blend of veganism, straight edge and Satanism."
Unsilent Death is the debut studio album by American hardcore punk band Nails, released in March 2010 by Streetcleaner Records/Six Feet Under Records. It was rereleased by Southern Lord Records.
You Will Never Be One of Us is the third studio album by American hardcore punk band Nails, released on June 17, 2016. It is the band's first album issued through Nuclear Blast Records. It is their longest release to date at 21 minutes, and features their longest song, "They Come Crawling Back", which runs for eight minutes. The record was produced by Kurt Ballou of Converge.
Nails / Full of Hell is a split EP between American powerviolence bands Nails and Full of Hell. It was released on December 2, 2016, through the indie hardcore label Closed Casket Activities. Shortly after the release, Full of Hell announced all proceeds from the album on Bandcamp for the remainder of 2016 would be donated to The Trevor Project and Planned Parenthood.
