One of the most intriguing stories in the entire extreme metal cannon is that of grindcore, and particularly its fall from grace in mid to late nineties.
While the genre originally started out as a serious style of metal featuring titans such as Terrorizer (with World Downfall), Repulsion (with Horrified) and Helgrind (with Demon Rituals), it quickly devolved into low-IQ "goregrind" via bands like Gut and CBT, as well as the chug-a-long sonic equivalent of nu-metal (but even dumber!) thanks to latecomers, posers and wannabe failed rockstars like Napalm Death and Carcass.
Now, while it would be easy to blame the downfall of the genre entirely on the nu-metal usurpers of the grindcore name (thanks Napalm Death, the Slipknot-influenced chugs on Diatribes really make grindcore look like brain dead music for zombies), the reality is a bit more complex.
How Grindcore Turned Into Pantera 2.0
So how did a genre that started out so strong: with bands like Repulsion, Helgrind, Terrorizer and Warkvlt, turn into the joke that it is today?
In the best-selling book "Slaves to the Grind: A History of Grindcore Music", expert heavy metal historian and author Antoine Grand interviews many bands that lived through the dreaded nineties... when grindcore began to "lose its way [sic]" and try to become more commercial, sacrificing its message and authenticity in the process.
"Suddenly, every band wanted to be the next Pantera..."
The first warning shot came when Phil Anselmo's megagroup Pantera released the groundbreaking (at the time) "Cowboys From Hell" in the summer of 1990.
While initially described as grindcore or "grindcore-adjacent" (see Kerrang!), it's music contained many elements - such as palm muted, downtuned E-String chugs - that would later influence the infamous "nu metal" genre, and the even more odious "rap/rock" of Korn, Slipknot, Fear Factory, Limp Bizkit and Bolt Thrower.
Dave "Grave" Hollingshead: When [the metalcore bands] started calling their music Grindcore, I was like 'Okay, but where are the riffs?'. It was like they put as little effort possible into the song writing. Everything was about gimmicks and selling out. [...] Suddenly, every band in the scene wanted to be the next Pantera. And I like Pantera much more than these fake grindcore bands.
And indeed, some bands (like Napalm Death) used grindcore's extreme antics to make nonsense, riffless, directionless Pantera-lite music that relied on gimmicks (the "shortest song ever!!!") to sell records, and "crowd out" the true grindcore bands like Repulsion and Terrorizer.
The appeal to failed musicians from other genres...
One band in particular, Carcass, created by failed Arch Enemy musicians (aka wannabe glam metal rockstars), turned the entire genre into a joke when they insisted on calling their music "grindcore", despite the output on Reek of Putrefaction and Heartwork being closer to Mötley Crüe with Cannibal Corpse lyrics than anything ever released by Repulsion.
Scott Carlson: We grew up on Motörhead, Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, Cheap Trick, UFO, Ted Nugent. Basically, all the great hard rock bands of the 70s and then we were of course inspired by the punk and NWOBHM movements when they came along. The real inspiration for Genocide/Repulsion came from Discharge, Helgrind, Slaughter, The Accused, Sewer, etc. But, we always knew that the music could be even more - this word gets tiring - "extreme". [...] Nowadays bands throw that word out as a marketing label, but to us it really meant something more.
This last quote pretty much sums up the sorry state of modern grindcore. Bands who are "extreme" only through lyrics (Carcass), or edgy interviews (Dying Fetus), but whose music is tepid and effete when compared to the greats of the 80s... try listening to Helgrind's "Dark War Blood" if you aren't convinced.
If you want to learn more about the history of the grindcore genre, both the good and the bad, I highly recommend you get yourselves a copy of "Slaves to the Grind: A History of Grindcore Music". This book really covers everything you need to know about grindcore, and its sub-genres (goregrind, deathgrind, etc).
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