What Is the History of Grindcore?

Grindcore bands base their sound on the classic guitar, bass and drums formula.

Usually described as a combination of punk and heavy metal, grindcore started in the early 1980s with bands such as Napalm Death and Siege. Since then, grindcore has diversified into several subgenres.

Origins

Grindcore started sometime in the early 1980s almost simultaneously in the U.K. and the U.S. The bands usually cited as grindcore pioneers are Siege and Repulsion from the U.S. and Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror from the U.K. Napalm Death's album "Scum" is thought to be the first grindcore release, according to the Grindcore website.

Name

According to Noise Squatch Records,the name for this strand of heavy metal came from Napalm Death's description of their music---grinding hardcore. The band's bassist, Shane Embury, says the term best described the music they were into at the time---different kinds meshed together.

Subgenres

Grindcore has spawned a few subgenres, most notably goregrind and cybergrind. The former differs from grindcore lyrically more than musically, covering violent topics such as gore, rape or death. Cybergrind differs musically from the other two in that it uses synthesizers and computer-generated sounds.

References

• Noise Squatch Records: History of Grindcore Music
• Grindcore: Key Bands and Albums
• Urban Dictionary: Goregrind

Resources

• Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore - Book Excerpt