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Heavy Metal Thunder Goregrind

Genres Heavy Metal Speed Metal Thrash Metal Death Metal Grindcore Goregrind

Goregrind

Grindcore that traded politics for pathology. Anatomical horror, two vocalists and a sound like a blocked drain — revolting and very funny at once.

Active years
1988 – present
Origin
UK
Family
Death Metal
Bands here
13

Before you press play

Explicit content

The lyrics are pathology reports and the artwork is worse. It is also frequently a joke, which does not make the artwork better.

Start here

Four records in order of how easy they are to get into — which is not the same as best first.

  1. Symphonies of Sickness Carcass, 1989

    The same band and the same subject matter as the founding record, with production you can actually hear. Bill Steer's riffs turn out to have been there all along.

    Listen to Symphonies of Sickness

  2. Gore Metal Exhumed, 1998

    Californian and considerably tighter than the British originals. Two vocalists trading a shriek and a gurgle, which is the genre's one formal innovation, done properly.

    Listen to Gore Metal

  3. Grume Haemorrhage, 1997

    Spanish, and the most musical thing in the genre. Somewhere under the pathology reports is a band who clearly love Carcass and can play.

    Listen to Grume

  4. Reek of Putrefaction Carcass, 1988 The landmark

    Last, and only for the curious. The founding record of the genre, recorded so badly that John Peel loved it and the band disown it — the drums are a rumour and the riffs are a suggestion. Historically essential, practically unlistenable.

    Listen to Reek of Putrefaction

What it sounds like

A sound like a blocked drain, and entirely on purpose. Goregrind takes grindcore and lowers everything: guitars detuned into a formless churn, bass through a distortion pedal, and two vocalists — a high shriek and a wet, gurgling low register produced by singing through a pitch-shifter or simply through a lot of saliva. Tempos are slower than grindcore and the songs are less frantic. The lyrics are pathological rather than political: anatomy, post-mortem detail, medical horror. It is revolting and it knows it, and the humour is as much the point as the disgust. Compared with grindcore it is thicker, slower and much less interested in making a point; compared with brutal death metal it is scruffier and considerably funnier.

  • Heaviness 4 out of 5
  • Speed 3 out of 5
  • Aggression 4 out of 5
  • Technicality 2 out of 5
  • Darkness 4 out of 5
  • Melody 1 out of 5

Where the name came from

A portmanteau of 'gore' and 'grindcore.' Coined as Carcass's debut Reek of Putrefaction (1988) established the style with its anatomical lyrical obsession and the distinctive dual-vocal approach of Bill Steer and Jeff Walker.

The bands

Hear these first

  • Carcass UK
  • Exhumed USA
  • Haemorrhage Spain
  • Regurgitate Sweden
  • General Surgery Sweden

And 8 more

  • Impetigo USA
  • Lymphatic Phlegm Brazil
  • Oxidised Razor Mexico
  • Last Days of Humanity Netherlands
  • Dead Infection Poland
  • Gut Germany
  • Squash Bowels Poland
  • Dahmer Canada

If you liked this

Closest in sound outside this family, leaning towards the similar or the gentler rather than straight into the deep end.