In 1984,
Matt Olivo and
Scott Carlson, with bassist Sean MacDonald, formed Tempter, a
metal act covering
Bay Area thrash metal bands, such as
Slayer and
Metallica. The group's sound became increasingly infused with
hardcore punk when Phil Hines, of Flint hardcore punk band Dissonance, joined as a drummer. They juggled band names, first renaming themselves Ultraviolence and then Genocide before recording their first demo in 1984. In spite of their growing popularity in the underground Genocide struggled to survive and faced difficulty maintaining a consistent lineup. In the summer of 1985,
Chuck Schuldiner, of pioneering death metal act
Death, invited Carlson and Olivo to
Florida to complete the Death lineup. The two parties failed to settle on a uniform creative direction and the merger proved short lived. Carlson and Olivo returned to Flint that summer, determined to reform Genocide. Local punk Dave "Grave" Hollingshead was recruited as drummer, after Carlson and Olivo saw an article about Hollingshead being arrested for
grave robbery. In 1985, the reformed Genocide recorded the
Violent Death demo tape, with Carlson assuming bass duties, and resumed playing live locally. In late 1985, Aaron Freeman was invited into the band as a second guitarist. With their line-up fleshed out, Genocide recorded in a studio for the first time to lay down the tracks for what was supposed to be their first album
The Stench of Burning Death – it ended up being their third demo. By 1986, Repulsion's trademark style had matured; characterised by raspy shouted vocals, extremely distorted down-tuned guitars, overdriven punkish riffs, absurd rambling solos interjected as if only as an afterthought, rumbling bass lines, and
machine-gun drumming. Finally, in 1989, Repulsion's material enjoyed modest, albeit posthumous, exposure when
UK grindcore pioneers
Carcass distributed a Repulsion compilation titled
Horrified on their own
Necrosis Records label; a subsidiary of
Earache Records. With interest in Repulsion rekindled, the band decided to reform in 1990. They resumed playing live with the (almost) 'classic' Repulsion lineup: Scott Carlson bass and vocals, Aaron Freeman on guitar, and Dave Grave on drums; Matt Olivo, then serving in the army, filled in as a second guitarist when possible. Repulsion recorded two self-financed demos in 1991:
Rebirth, and their
Final Demo, often criticised as lacking the drive and intensity of the band's earlier material. Later that year they managed to release a single on
Relapse entitled
Excruciation. In spite of new material the band broke up yet again in 1993. Scott Carlson went on to play in
Cathedral briefly, the rest of the band departed for short-lived projects or simply returned to everyday life.
Relapse re-released
Horrified again in 2003, drawing attention to Repulsion once more, and prompting the band to resume live performance. Their official return to the stage took place at the
Maryland Deathfest in 2004. In 2008, Repulsion opened for
At the Gates on their "Suicidal Final Tour" in California, along with
Darkest Hour and
Municipal Waste. Since then, Repulsion has continued to perform sporadically at major extreme metal festivals worldwide, including return appearances at Maryland Deathfest (2011, 2013, 2016), as well as
Hellfest (2013) and
Damnation Festival (2012). In 2019, the band celebrated the 30th anniversary of Horrified with a special performance at the Decibel Metal & Beer Fest. == Musical style and influences ==