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Grindcore, also known as grind, is an evolution of hardcore punk, most commonly associated with death metal and crust punk. Grindcore is characterized by heavily distorted, down-tuned guitars, blastbeats, hardcore punk and crossover thrash influenced riffing, short songs, and a vocal style consisting of growls and higher-pitched vocals, often similar to those found in black metal. Lyrical concepts range from social and political issues to gore and horror.
Historical roots and influences The genre was pioneered during the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom by bands such as Napalm Death and Sore Throat, the name "grindcore" having actually being coined by Napalm Death's drummer Mick Harris, though its roots are in American hardcore punk and hardcore punk influenced heavy metal bands, such as Siege, D.R.I., Deep Wound, and Repulsion. Many of the early bands 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 punk bands in the United States had already incorporated elements of metal into their music. Many of these early bands were, and still are, obscure. For instance, the hardcore punk band Siege only released one do-it-yourself demo entitled Drop Dead, and Repulsion was posthumously exposed to the world in 1989 through the album Horrified, which was released in Europe through Carcass-owned Necrosis Records, despite having originally been recorded in 1987. Microsongs One well-known characteristic of grindcore and related genres is the "microsong;" songs lasting seconds. Clocking in at just over one second long, the Napalm Death song "You Suffer" is listed as the shortest song ever by the Guinness Book of Records, and in 2001, Guinness awarded Brutal Truth the record for "Shortest Music Video" for 1994's "Collateral Damage." However, others, such as the Cripple Bastards on their demo 94 Flashback di un 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 album entitled 5643 Song EP, an EP which contains 5643 "songs" in less than 15 minutes by way of creative multitracking and recording processes. Subgenres Grindcore bands Crucial grindcore bands include: Agathocles, Anal Cunt, Carcass, Extreme Noise Terror, Fear of God, GUT, Impetigo, Napalm Death, Nasum, S.O.B., Sore Throat, and Terrorizer. Bands that inspired and helped to define early grindcore include: Anti-Cimex, Cryptic Slaughter, Discharge, Electro Hippies, Lärm, Repulsion, and Siege. See also | ||||||||
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