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Main Genres
The two most popular genres in the scene are purest, straightforward Grindcore and sick, pathological Goregrind.
Grindcore is the umbrella term for more or less all the other genres and sub genres and what not listed below.
Grindcore was arguably started off by Brummie band Napalm Death way back in 1981. While other bands of this time were more concerned with their hair, makeup and consumption of ridiculous amounts of drugs and alcohol, Napalm Death were busy creating deliberately off-time, aggressive, anti continuity music which blossomed into death metal influenced neo speed insanity. Extremely distorted guitars, fuzzy bass, very fast drumming and low, guttural bursts as vokills, all working together to create short, nasty little songs. A kind of hardcore music that grinds. Grindcore. When they released their first LP, Scum, Napalm Death were totally oblivious to the amount of bands they would influence, and the number of sub genres their music would ultimately create.
Some more recent Grindcore bands who should definitely be checked out are Pig Destroyer, Brutal Truth, Nasum and Brutality Reigns Supreme.
Goregrind is the main offshoot of Grindcore, sloppily given birth to by Liverpool band Carcass. They began life with already solid grind foundations, chiefly thanks to having Napalm Death axeman Bill Steer among their ranks, playing a much nastier, much faster and strangely pathological type of Grindcore. It soon became known as Goregrind, a fitting title for a genre that would, alongside Grindcore, spawn countless other bands. Horrible band names, stomach churning lyrical matter, cover artwork extreme enough to be banned and jarringly heavy music with effects laden vokills are what make Goregrind popular, but also what keep it well out of the mainstream. Many Goregrind bands open their songs with samples from films [usually horror] or autopsy reports and that as intros.
Besides Carcass, other bands who had a hand in starting the whole Goregrind movement are Repulsion, Impetigo, Haemorrhage and Dead Infection. Other, more recently formed Goregrind bands who are bleedin ace are Regurgitate [of course], Last Days Of Humanity, Embalmer, Macabre, Oxidised Razor, Neurovisceral Exhumation, Pathologist and General Surgery.
Sub Genres
Besides Goregrind, shiteloads of other genres have been shat out - populated by bands who all have their own take on the styles of the originators.
Crustgrind is a stripped down, simplistic form of Grindcore. The guitars are very distorted and fuzzy, usually playing simple yet catchy and effective riffs, underpinned by solid blastbeating and rumbling basslines. The most prominent feature of Crustcore though is the lyrics and vokills. The bands write mostly political lyrics, like Napalm Death, about anything from government to bombings and vivisection to McDonalds food. The lyrics, usually short sections of text, are slopped out into the mic in slightly muffled, mid pitched grunts and shrieks. It's very rare if Crustgrind bands use effects on their vokills. Some Crustgrind bands like to use short intros from films and whatnot at the beginning of their songs.
Some popular bands in the Crust scene : Extreme Noise Terror, Cripple Bastards, Rot and Disrupt. A few other less well known bands are Assel, Accion Mutante, Warcollapse and the Crust inspired Bradyphagia, the surprisingly porn free side project of Porngrind bondage slags Cock And Ball Torture. Agathocles also have a Crusty sound, but are usually referred to as Mincecore.
Deathgrind - Deathgrind is a heavy, brutal style of Grindcore which takes elements of Death Metal [old skool and more recent], working them seamlessly into a lethal, bassy, watertight groove. The drum patterns and guitar riffs are very thick, bludgeoning and usually quite high in the mix on recorded works. Vokills are mostly very guttural growls and grunts, many bands shunning effects in order to showcase their vokillists' incredible talents. Said components work together to create bleedin excellent songs, some of em with the ability to stick in your head for days. A fair few Deathgrind bands use film samples or autopsy reports at the beginning of their songs for intros.
Bands well known in the Deathgrind scene are Mortician, Brodequin, Eternal Suffering, Gorerotted, Disgorge [US], Deaden and Impaled. Other ones a bit further underground are Foeturpurical, Festering Saliva, Leukhorrea.
Hardcore/Grind - Hardcore/Grind, a genre usually abbreviated as HC/Grind, is another bleedin great crossover genre. Bands take original Hardcore blueprints drawn up by old skool bands such as Agnostic Front then scribble on them with Grindcore crayons. The music grinds, but the Hardcore influence is very apparent. The lyrics, similar to Crustgrind and Mincecore, are usually concerning politics and anarchy and freedom of speech and whatnot. Some HC/Grind bands use short, effective samples from films at the beginning of their songs.
Popular HC/Grind bands are Abstain and Converge, and a few lesser known bands being I Saw A Prostitute Buying Milk, Mincing Fury And Guttural Clamour Of Queer Decay, Abuso Sonoro and Masher.
Noisegrind is a fairly simple style of ‘music’. Bands who play it usually use simple Grindcore and occasionally Crustgrind song structures, then bugger them up completely with screeching feedback, deliberately bad musicianship, out of tune instruments, knackered mics [and throats + all, probly], bad production and a general obnoxious attitude to more or less everyone and everything.
More or less all Grindcore bands record a hefty batch of tracks for their albums [an average figure being around 35], but Noisegrind bands enjoy going over the top altogether, fitting as many tiny songs into a short a space as possible. Noise act Limbhat [who even go as far as to play Noisegrind on a mandolin] released an album called Throwing Milk, managing to fit 99 songs into 15 minutes. Noisegrind is basically the sound of Grindcore fans pratting around and having a laugh. Some bands have only one or two members, and use a drum machine if they are without a sticksman. A lot of Noisegrind bands use samples from all kinds of films and telly programmes in their songs. For some people, even veteran Grinders, too much Noisegrind is nowt but headache material. Steer clear unless you love all things harsh and intense.
Popular Noisegrind bands are Anal Cunt, Infected Pussy, Choke, Anal Massaker, Gore Beyond Necropsy and Merzbow.
Less well known Noise bands to keep an eye out for are Congenital Haemorrhoids, Analscope Rectal Speculum, Anal Rip, Rotten Cunt, Facialmess and Vulgar Taste.
Powerviolence is an intense Grind style with elements of Hardcore, Thrash, Noisegrind and Punk. The songs are short, fast and brutal with many a blastbeat. Like Crust bands, Powerviolence musicians take simple, Punk song structures then twist them into deformed, uncompromising and noisy little compositions. Vokills range from low/mid pitched growls to horrific shrieks. Some Powerviolence songs use samples as intros.
A few Powerviolence bands to have a listen to are Benumb, Fuck On The Beach, Bloodred Bacteria, Charles Bronson, DOOD, Infest and Infected Society.
Porngrind, also called Pornogrind, Pornocore or Porn Groove is easily one of the most offensive, dirtiest, darkest, and grooviest styles of Grindcore. Ejaculated out onto the scene by self proclaimed Godz Of Porngrind, Gut, this filthy type of Grind borrows elements of Grindcore, Goregrind and Noisegrind then wanks and defecates all over them. Most Porngrind bands use grooving, downtuned guitar riffs and a solid, punishing rhythm section as a base for some of the most extreme vokills in Grindcore. Growls, grunts, pukes, screeches, gurgles, squeaks and agonized bitch screams all make their way into Porngrind, usually all pitchshifted/harmonized to fuck. Porngrind lyrics are similarly extreme, being centred around all types of underground/illegal pornography [bondage, scat, torture, bestiality, rape, necrophilia, paedophilia, necropaedophilia and snuff to name but a few], as well as various dark, sordid sexual scenarios and fantasies. Cover art for releases is always as appropriate as possible, with a lot of extreme porn imagery. Almost all Porngrind bands use samples from horror and porn films in their songs, some intros actually being longer than the songs themselves.
Some popular bands of the Porngrind genre other than Gut are Cock And Ball Torture, Mucupurulent, Anal Whore, Purulent Spermcanal and Utopie. More underground and dirty are Anal Penetration, Creamface, Gonorrhoeaction, Filthy Maggoty Cunt, Pissed Off Orgasm and Urethral Enema
Cybergrind is a dark, electronic strain of Grind, far removed from the straightforward blasting and growling of Napalm Death and Nasum. Often created by one man bands with computers and/or keyboards, Cybergrind consists of very distorted, simple guitar lines, dirty techno beats and ridiculously fast drum programming, with pitchshifted vokills splattered over the top. However, some Cybergrind bands dispense with guitars and vokills, instead opting to pummel the listener with pure Cyber insanity.
Cybergrind is sometimes referred to as Technogrind and Digitalgrind.
Cybergrind bands worth having a listen to are Microphallus, Terrible Noise Shit, Hatred Surge, Dataclast, Hydropropyl Methycellulose and Emethic Meat.
Cyber Porngrind is simply a combination of Porngrind and Cybergrind. The bands [usually consisting of only one or two members] use catchy techno beats and programming and sodomize them with Porngrind lyrics and vokills. The downtuned groove riffs of Porngrind are an intergral part of some Cyber Porngrind bands' music, whereas others either dispense with this element altogether or bury it deeper in the mix on their recorded works. Cyber Porngrind bands use samples from various films in their music.
One of the best and most popular Cyber Porngrind bands in the scene is Libido Airbag [a band containing ex Gut members] but also keep an ear out for Smothered Brothers, Nunwhore Commando 666, Goat Orgy, The Bitch Project, Misogynist Pussy Slasher and Hot Lesbian Goat Sex.
Shitgrind, also known as Coprogrind is like a very raw, stripped down Porngrind, with some Cybergrind elements. Such bands are almost always one man bands, their music consisting of little more than bad quality guitar sounds, programmed drums and effects ridden vokills. Their lyrics, song titles and releases cover art make it clear that they have an unhealthy obsession with excrement. Lyrics centre around the consumption of it, the use of it as a sexual aid, the insertion of it into bodily orifices and various other shite scenarios. Shitgrind bands use intros from underground porn films, as well as some from more well known mainstream films too. Other samples used are usually the sound of someone having a shite, being shat/pissed upon, vomiting - bascially deriving joy from an excremental bodily function.
Popular Shitgrind bands in the scene are Necrobestiality, Amoebic Dysentry, Animal Foreskin, Abosranie Bogom and Slokdarm Poep.
Tiny Genres
Here are some tiny genres, so called because they are inhabited by very small numbers of bands. More often than not, the genre name has been coined by the band themselves, or by some critic or other who has found it difficult to categorise them.
Grindrock or Grind/Rock is a modern type of Grindcore, which differs in that it could easily be called ‘catchy’, ‘grooving’, and ‘possible to perhaps have a dance to’. Use of samples is quite popular in Grindrock.
A few Grindrock bands are Blood Duster, Mastic Scum and Clotted Symmetric Sexual Organ.
Goregrindrock or Goregrind/Rock is the same thing as Grindrock, apart from its Grind elements being more akin to Goregrind, both musically and lyrically.
A Goregrindrock band definitely worth a listen is Filth.
Cyber Goregrind is a combination of Cybergrind and Goregrind. Techno beats and hyper drum programming is in place, combined with various elements of Goregrind, as well as a few slivers of Porngrind thrown in here and there.
Two Cyber Goregrind bands to keep an ear out for are SMES and Gynophagia.
Gabbergrind - Submitted by Tourette Syndrom: No noise, no porn, no gore, no politics, no religion, just a fusion of gabber/hardcore techno and all grind-known-vocals with old and new school heavy metal/hardcore guitars.
Obviously a gabbergrind band to check out is Tourette Syndrom.
Porn Deathgrind, or Porno Deathgrind, has all the musical elements of Deathgrind, but has pornographic lyrics, song titles and imagery. Menstruation is a popular subject among such bands.
Three excellent Porn Deathgrind bands are Anal Blast, The Meat Shits and Lividity.
Horrorgrind isn't really much of a genre, more a term applied to bands, usually Goregrind, who are partial to their horror films. They make this apparent in their film samples, lyrics, song titles and sometimes in their artwork.
Bands who could be labelled Horrorgrind are Impetigo, Blue Holocaust and maybe Repulsion and Mortician.
Jazzgrind is a more technical style of Grindcore. Jazzgrind bands utilize jazz song structures and progressions but instead of using traditional jazz instruments to play them, they grind them out on their good old guitar, bass, drums and vokills. This makes for an insane Grindcore soundscape, involving a high degree of skill and musicianship. The members not only play Jazz in a Grindcore style, but can alter from this feral noise to quite palatable, light Jazz at the drop of a hat. Vokills usually remain vitriolic and high pitched throughout, with some growls.
Jazzgrind bands to definitely have a deek at are Virulence and some stuff by the now more mainstream Dillinger Escape Plan.
Hydrogrind can be summed up as ‘Pot Smoking Grindcore’. The music is akin to modern Grindcore such as Blood Duster, but the band members participate in the smoking of Bob Marley fags.
A Hydrogrind band [as far as I know, the only one] to most certainly have a listen to is Cephalic Carnage.
Crapgrind is a type of Grindcore created by those crazy fucks Boiling Remains. I've not got much of an idea why they call themselves Crapgrind, it might be because they're less than excellent.
So, a Crapgrind band to try out is Boiling Remains.
Turdgrind is basically another name for Shitgrind, which I belive was coined by Slokdarm Poep, who presumably called themselves Turdgrind in order to stand out from their fellow shit obsessed Grindcore mates [see Shitgrind for some bands].
Thus, a Turdgrind band worthy of your attention is Slokdarm Poep. Maybe Abosranie Bogom as well, i see to remember them being referred to as Turdgrind somewhere along the line.
Poopcore and Shitcore are along the same lines as Turdgrind. Shitgrind band Necrobestiality enjoy applying these two genre names to their music, again probly in order to stand out from the other shite obessessed bands in the scene, or something.
Therefore, a Poopcore/Shitcore band to keep an ear out for is Necrobestiality, and perhaps Amoebic Dysentry as well.
Acoustic Grind is raw, stripped down Grindcore involving acoustic guitars, intentionally bad vokills and short songs.
An Acoustic Grind band you might like to check out is Country Death Jamboree.
Vocal Only Grind is a very simple style of Grindcore which dispenses with guitars, bass, drums, keyboards or whatever and uses only vokills and intros.
Vocal Only Grind bands to check out are Sodomized Tomato and Dried Semen.
Gore Metal is more a type of Death Metal than Grindcore, but I thought it worth mentioning since it involves gore imagery and does have minimal Grind elements. Exhumed created Gore Metal, a brutal, solid and catchy brand of Death Metal with Gore lyrics and artwork.
So then a Gore Metal band to look out for is Exhumed, and maybe Deathgrind merchants Avulsed, who could possibly be branded Gore Metal too.
Black Metal/Noisegrind, or Evil Noise Shit as it is sometimes branded is extremely harsh and nasty. Most bands play their instruments intentionally badly, spewing forth trebly guitar riffs and horrific screams with the most awful production job imaginable. Band members are usually studiedly obnoxious and ‘evil’, uttering words to the effect of ‘If you want our demos, you can fuck off! Fag!’
Black Metal/Noisegrind bands to be amusingly insulted by are Enibulugugal and WXRTHLTL-JWLPKLZ.
Luchagrind is a highly underpopulated and unknown genre. All I know about is that a Luchagrind band to check out is Hideous Fecal Splatter Sessions.
Flowerpowerviolence is another genre I don't know a great deal about. It's similar to Powerviolence, with its main differences being in the lyrics, which deal with such things as courteous and friendly communication, being straight edge and the bad points of technology. Flowerpowerviolence is also a record label.
Bands to check out are Seven Days Of Samsara and Spazz.
Mathcore is a technical style of grind, with complex song structures and a lot of fucked up time signatures and whatnot.
Mathcore bands worth a listen are Creation Is Crucifixion, Judoboy, Last Day and some of Burnt By The Sun's material.
Hatecore is a genre name applied to bands who are predominantly hateful, lyrically and in their general attitude and playing style. Music is uncompromising, harsh and nasty.
Bands worth a look are Sludge, Dismembered Fetus.
Kazoocore is a brutal, grinding style of Grind, played by those lovable Noisegrind lads Purulent Excretor, probly cause they have a kazoo in some of their songs.
Obviously, a Kazoocore band to try out is Purulent Excretor.
Vomitcore is a noisy Deathgrind-esque sort of Grind, created by crazy Californian fucks Fetus Eaters. Vomitcore is also the name of one of their albums, and also a record label. Presumably, most of the bands signed to this label also play Vomitcore.
Vomitcore bands to keep an eye out for are Fetus Eaters, Spew and Burn Victim.
All above genres often cross over even further - creating bastard child genres such as Gore Porn Deathgrind like Holocausto Canibal, Cyber Porno Sludge Noise Goregrind like Sewer Sludge and bleedin loads of other intermingled genres that'd take ages to sort out and list properly.
Points of Interest
Er, here's a few other points of interest.
Splatter - Term applied to bands who are particulary gory, eg Splatter Goregrind
Psychotic - Some bands are branded psychotic, usually if they have v harsh screamed vokills [bitch screams] like Intestinal Disgorge and Munt Victim.
Gorecore - Alternative term for Goregrind.
Grindgore - Another alternative term for Goregrind.
Crustcore - Alternative term for Crustgrind.
Avant Garde - Term applied to more eclectic Grindcore bands.
Harsh - A term usually applied to Noisegrind bands who are less than easy on the ear.
Fun - Some bands are described as fun eg Fun Noisegrind or when it is clear they're not serious musicians, they're playing their music for t'laugh and usually to be as offensive as possible.
Serial Killers - Some bands like to write most of their songs about serial killers, like Dahmer and Macabre.
Uncategorised Bands
This bit is for a few bands who have such variety in their sound that they can't be defined by any one of the above genres.
Dying Fetus - These lads are often just referred to as Death Metal but that term's a bit loose. In their sonic melting pot of gret brutality, they chuck in elements of Grindcore, Goregrind, Hardcore, Death Metal and Deathgrind
Intestinal Disgorge - This sadly splitted up set of nutters are usually branded as Goregrind but their style is all over the shop. Elements of Grindcore, Goregrind, Porngrind, Shitgrind and little bits of Cybergrind were all chewed up then sicked back up by these lads.
Disgorge [mex] - Disgorge from Mexico are often referred to simply as Goregrind. However, due to the sheer extremity and brutality of their music, these mad bastards make most Goregrind bands seem about as extreme as Darius. Too brutal to be classed as Goregrind, yet still too gorey and depraved to be described as something else. Brutal Goregrind is a term that could work though.
Acid Bath - Acid Bath have so many influences and different musical elements it'd be daftness trying to think up some genre or catergory to put em in. Sabbath-esque Metal, Sludge, Grind, Death Metal, Psychedelia, Hardcore, Goth and Doom are all ingredients in Acid Bath's bleedin ace cocktail.
If you think we've missed something off of this page, a genre or a band or somet, please let us know in the forums or in an email. Cheerz.
Written by Baz
pierced_baz@hotmail.com