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Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme form of hardcore punk and heavy metal, related to death metal, but historically formed by combining elements of Hardcore Punk and early thrash metal (which predated the advent of death metal).
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Historical roots and influences
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The genre was pioneered during the early 1980s in the United Kingdom and Netherlands by bands such as Sore Throat, Napalm Death and Larm; and in the United States by proto-grindcore and hardcore punk bands such as Siege, DRI, Deep Wound and Repulsion.
Many of the early bands, such as Napalm Death, DRI, and Siege were seen by their contemporaries as part of the anarcho-punk and hardcore punk scenes. As many anarcho-punk and peace punk bands in England and hardcore in the United States had already incorporated elements of heavy metal into their music.
Many of these early bands were, and still are, obscure. For instance, the hardcore punk band Siege only released a DIY demo entitled Drop Dead, and Repulsion was posthumously exposed to the world in 1989 through the album Horrified which was released in Europe by Necrosis Records, a label owned by members of the band Carcass.
Many consider the first true grindcore band to be British band Napalm Death. The genre was given its name by Napalm Death's drummer Mick Harris. Since then, the grind sound has evolved but is still recognisable for its intense blast-beat drumming, grinding guitars (hence the name), brutal grunted vocals, and very short songs (the Napalm Death song "You Suffer" is listed as the shortest song ever by the Guinness Book of Records, clocking in at fractionally over 1 second long; however, others such as the Cripple Bastards on their demo 94 Flashback di Massacro, and Agoraphobic Nosebleed on their 3" cd/10" lp Altered States of America have taken this aesthetic to even greater extremes). American grindcore band Anal Cunt, a project of Seth Putnam, has recorded an EP called 5643 Song EP which, amazingly, contains 5643 songs in less than 15 minutes.
SubgenresEdit
Grindcore has proven somewhat difficult to categorise. Some fans and musicians have a firm concept of genre and subgenre, but others reject such categorisation as limiting or useless. There is often significant crossover from one category to another, and often the influence of non-metal music is present.
GenresEdit
- Political Grindcore: This subgenre is known for having politically aware lyrics, and is sometimes associated with the crust punk and peace punk movement. Of all the subgenres of grindcore, this one remains the most musically similar to the earliest grindcore bands. Examples include Nasum and Napalm Death.
- Power violence is the form of grindcore which maintains the closest ties to punk rock.
- Goregrind: This subgenre started with the band Carcass, and is most notable for having gore obsessed lyrics, more of a "groove", and pitchshifted vocals. Of all the subgenres this one currently has the most (relative) commercial success.
- Cybergrind: Cybergrind is a form of grindcore that, aside from the instruments used by ordinary grindcore, uses computer generated sounds, samples and/or drum machines and other synthetic instruments. Examples include Agoraphobic Nosebleed,50 Ways To Kill Me, Gigantic Brain .
Other minor genresEdit
- Modern Death/Grind: Death metal with heavy grindcore influences, or vice versa.
- Noisecore: Noisy and blur-like grindcore, for example Anal Cunt, Gore Beyond Necropsy and Sore Throat.
- Pornogrind: same as goregrind, but with sexually explicit lyrics. For example Cock And Ball Torture.
