Precursors The early grindcore scene relied on an international network of
tape trading and
DIY production. The most widely acknowledged precursors of the grindcore sound are
Siege and
Repulsion, an early
death metal outfit. Siege, from
Weymouth, Massachusetts, were influenced by classic
American hardcore (
Minor Threat,
Black Flag,
Void) and by
British groups like
Discharge,
Venom, and
Motörhead. Siege's goal was maximum velocity: "We would listen to the fastest punk and hardcore bands we could find and say, 'Okay, we're gonna deliberately write something that is faster than them, drummer Robert Williams recalled. Repulsion is sometimes credited with inventing the classic grind
blast beat (played at 190
bpm), as well as its distinctive bass tone.
Kevin Sharp of
Brutal Truth declares that "
Horrified was and still is the defining core of what grind became; a perfect mix of hardcore punk with metallic gore, speed and distortion." Writer Freddy Alva credited
NYC Mayhem as a notable precursor, calling them "arguably one of the fastest bands on the planet back [in the mid 1980s]". Other groups in the British grindcore scene, such as
Heresy and
Unseen Terror, have emphasized the influence of American
hardcore punk, including
Septic Death, as well as Swedish
D-beat.
Sore Throat cites Discharge,
Disorder, and a variety of European D-beat and thrash metal groups, including
Hellhammer, and American hardcore groups, such as
Poison Idea and D.R.I.
Japanese hardcore, particularly
GISM, is also mentioned by a number of originators of the style. Other key groups cited by current and former members of Napalm Death as formative influences include Discharge,
Amebix,
Throbbing Gristle, and the aforementioned Dirty Rotten Imbeciles.
Post-punk, such as
Killing Joke and
Joy Division, was also cited as an influence on early Napalm Death.
British grindcore Grindcore, as such, was developed during the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom by
Napalm Death, a group who emerged from the
anarcho-punk scene in Birmingham, England. While their first recordings were in the vein of
Crass, The group began to take on increasing elements of
thrashcore,
post-punk, and
power electronics, and began describing their sound as "Siege with
Celtic Frost riffs". The group also went through many changes in personnel. A major shift in style took place after
Mick Harris became the group's drummer. Pearson, however, said that grindcore "wasn't just about the speed of [the] drums, blast beats, etc." He claimed that "it actually was coined to describe the guitars – heavy, downtuned, bleak, harsh riffing guitars [that] 'grind', so that's what the genre was described as, by the musicians who were its innovators [and] proponents." While abrasive, grindcore achieved a measure of mainstream visibility.
New Musical Express featured Napalm Death on their cover in 1988, declaring them "the fastest band in the world." As James Hoare, deputy editor of
Terrorizer, writes: Napalm Death's seismic impact inspired other British grindcore groups in the 1980s, among them
Extreme Noise Terror, Extreme Noise Terror, from Ipswich, formed in 1984. With the goal of becoming "the most extreme hardcore punk band of all time," the group took Mick Harris from Napalm Death in 1987. Ian Glasper describes the group as "pissed-off hateful noise with its roots somewhere between early Discharge and Disorder, with [vocalists] Dean [Jones] and Phil [Vane] pushing their trademark vocal extremity to its absolute limit." Carcass released
Reek of Putrefaction in 1988, which
John Peel declared his favorite album of the year despite its very poor production. The band's focus on gore and anatomical decay, lyrically and in sleeve artwork, inspired the
goregrind subgenre. were inspired by crust punk as well as industrial music. Some listeners, such as Digby Pearson, considered them to be simply an in-joke or parody of grindcore. In the subsequent decade, two pioneers of the style became increasingly commercially viable. According to
Nielsen Soundscan, Napalm Death sold 367,654 units between May 1991 and November 2003, while Carcass sold 220,374 units in the same period. The inclusion of Napalm Death's "
Twist the Knife (Slowly)" on the
Mortal Kombat soundtrack brought the band much greater visibility, as the compilation scored a Top 10 position in the
Billboard 200 chart and went
platinum in less than a year. The originators of the style have expressed some ambivalence regarding the subsequent popularity of grindcore. Pete Hurley, the guitarist of Extreme Noise Terror, declared that he had no interest in being remembered as a pioneer of this style: "
grindcore was a legendarily stupid term coined by a hyperactive kid from the West Midlands, and it had nothing to do with us whatsoever. ENT were, are, and – I suspect – always will be a hardcore punk band... not a grindcore band, a stenchcore band, a trampcore band, or any other sub-sub-sub-core genre-defining term you can come up with."
Lee Dorrian of Napalm Death indicated that "Unfortunately, I think the same thing happened to grindcore, if you want to call it that, as happened to punk rock – all the great original bands were just plagiarised by a billion other bands who just copied their style identically, making it no longer original and no longer extreme."
North American grindcore of Anal Cunt at Relapse Festival, 1993 Journalist Kevin Stewart-Panko argues that the American grindcore of the 1990s borrowed from three sources: British grindcore, the American precursors, and
death metal. As early Napalm Death albums were not widely distributed in the United States, American groups tended to take inspiration from later works, such as
Harmony Corruption. Pig Destroyer is inspired by thrash metal, such as Dark Angel and
Slayer, the
sludge metal of the
Melvins, and grindcore practiced by Brutal Truth, while Agoraphobic Nosebleed takes cues from
thrashcore and
powerviolence, like D.R.I. and
Crossed Out.
The Locust, from San Diego, also take inspiration from powerviolence (Crossed Out,
Dropdead), first-wave
screamo (Angel Hair), obscure
experimental rock (
Art Bears,
Renaldo and the Loaf), and death metal. The Locust were sometimes described as "
hipster grind" because of their fan base and fashion choices. all of which featured sexually provocative and violent lyrics, as well as the heavy distortion and fluctuating tempo that distinguished the genre. Frontwoman
Courtney Love stated that she wanted to capture the distinguishing elements of grindcore while incorporating more pop-based melodic structure, although the band distanced themselves from the style in their later releases.
Soilent Green,
Cephalic Carnage,
Impetigo, and
Circle of Dead Children.
Fuck the Facts, a Canadian group, practice classic grindcore, characterized by the "metronome-precision drumming and riffing [that] abound, as well as vocal screams and growls" by
AllMusic reviewer Greg Prato.
Continental European grindcore European groups, such as
Agathocles, from Belgium, Filthy Christians, who signed to Earache Records in 1989, introduced the style in Sweden, D.D.T. & Fear of Dog were pioneering grind & noise in Serbia since mid-end of '80,
Extreme Smoke 57 in Slovenia at the early beginning of the '90, while
Cripple Bastards established Italian grindcore. became a popular group, addressing political topics from a personal perspective. Anders Jakobson, their drummer, reported that "It was all these different types of people who enjoyed what we were doing. [...] We made grindcore a bit easier to listen to at the expense of the diehard grindcore fans who thought that we were, well, not
sellouts, but not really true to the original essence of grindcore."
Inhume, from the Netherlands,
Rotten Sound, from Finland, and
Leng Tch'e, from Belgium, were subsequent European groups who practiced grindcore with death metal inflections. In 2000s, the Belgium-based
Aborted "had grown into the role of key contributors to the death-grind genres".
Grindcore in Asian countries In 2010,
Singaporean band
Wormrot signed a
recording contract with
Earache Records. In 2019,
Filipino band
Tubero signed a recording contract with
Tower of Doom Records. == Influence==