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.
The Locust is an American hardcore punk band from San Diego, California, known for their mix of grindcore aggression and new wave experimentation.
Siege is 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. Guitarist Kurt Habelt and drummer Rob Williams reformed the band in 2016.
Agoraphobic Nosebleed is an American grindcore band formed in 1994 in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. 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. Agoraphobic Nosebleed is one of the most well-known drum-machine grindcore bands, and has influenced many drum-machine grindcore bands.
Dystopia was an American crust punk band that formed in Orange County, California in 1991. They were popular in both the heavy metal and crust punk scenes, due in large part to the band's bleak, misanthropic imagery. Dystopia's lyrics often dealt with human emotions and social or political issues such as environmentalism, racial equality, substance abuse, and animal rights. Their music utilized the slow, heavy sound of sludge metal whilst including more up-beat elements drawing from crust punk, grindcore, and noise rock.
Doom are an English hardcore punk band from Birmingham whose first lineup were together from 1987 to 1990. Despite its short existence, the band is considered pivotal in the rise of crust punk, a punk rock style that fuses extreme metal with anarcho-punk. They recorded for Peaceville Records and are cited as an early precursor to grindcore. Doom were also a favourite of BBC Radio DJ John Peel.
Hellnation was an extreme hardcore punk band from Covington, Kentucky, active from 1988 to 2010.
Man Is the Bastard was an American hardcore punk band based in Claremont, California. The band existed from 1990 to 1997, releasing mostly vinyl splits, extended plays, and albums on obscure labels from around the world. By 1997, the group ended and members all went on to do other projects, such as the noise group Bastard Noise, which originally started out as a Man Is the Bastard side project. They are typically seen as part of the 1990s powerviolence movement.
Sore Throat were a British Crust punk band, formed in Huddersfield, England in 1987. They are known for being one of the earliest exponents of the grindcore subgenre known as "noisecore", as well as for launching the careers of several prominent members of the British heavy metal community.
Dog Faced Hermans were a post-punk band that formed in Scotland in the mid 1980s and remained active through the mid 1990s. They emerged from the UK anarcho-punk scene with a guitar/bass/drums line-up, but also incorporated trumpet and other instruments not commonly found in punk music at that time. Their composition style incorporated many genres of music outside of rock, including folk, jazz, ambient and noise music with often unorthodox instrumentation.
Bastard Noise is an American noise band founded in 1991 by musicians Eric Wood, Henry Barnes, and W. T. Nelson. The project started as a type of sister band to the trio's previous group Man Is The Bastard. While Man Is the Bastard broke-up in late 1997, the Bastard Noise project continued and acts as Wood's current project.
Crossed Out was a powerviolence band from Encinitas, California, operative from early 1990 until late 1993. The group is consider to be a very important band that helped define powerviolence with a style that incorporated political lyrics, blast beats, and quick tempos. They have been named as the "dark lords of powerviolence" by Beau Beasley of Insect Warfare.
The Locust is the debut studio album by American grindcore band The Locust.
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.
Concrete Sox are a British crust punk band. They are largely seen as an early crossover thrash band who incorporated many thrash metal-like riffs in the style of their earlier recordings.
Disorder are an English street punk band that formed in the Bristol area of England in 1980, and has existed with varying line-ups. They are aligned with politically charged punk bands.
Powerviolence is an extremely dissonant 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.
Loma Prieta is an American hardcore punk band that formed in 2005. The group is based in San Francisco, California and derived their name from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Most of the group's early material was released on their own record label named Discos Huelga. Loma Prieta has toured the US, Mexico, Canada, Europe and Japan. They share members with Punch. Their often dark and emotionally charged music blends a range of styles, most prominently screamo and powerviolence.
Despise You are an American powerviolence band from Inglewood, California, formed in 1994. The group is noted for helping influencing the powerviolence movement and for their bleak lyrics about topics such as gang violence, misanthropy, and self-hate. The band was known for being mysterious during their initial run; they often used pseudonyms in their liner notes and they never played live shows until their reformation in 2007. They have been described as "the angriest band in the world" by some.
Capitalist Casualties are an American powerviolence / hardcore band. They formed in Rohnert Park, CA around 1986 and had their first concert in 1987 in Santa Rosa, California They have released multiple records, including many splits with other powerviolence / hardcore bands, and have toured nationally and internationally.
