Editing Grindcore (section)

== Characteristics ==
Known for being "among the noisiest, fastest and rawest kinds of metal,"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blum |first=Jordan BlumJordan |date=2021-11-19 |title=The 'Big 4' Bands of 17 Metal Subgenres |url=https://loudwire.com/big-4-bands-metal-subgenres/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref> grindcore is influenced by [[crust punk]],<ref name=grindcrust>"In Grind We Crust" [[Terrorizer (magazine)|Terrorizer]] #181, March 2009, p. 46, 51</ref> [[thrashcore]],<ref name="Glasper 2009, p. 11"/> [[hardcore punk]], [[death metal]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blum |first=Jordan BlumJordan |date=2021-11-19 |title=The 'Big 4' Bands of 17 Metal Subgenres |url=https://loudwire.com/big-4-bands-metal-subgenres/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref> and [[thrash metal]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/grindcore-ma0000004452|title=Grindcore Music Genre Overview - AllMusic|website=AllMusic}}</ref> as well as [[noise music|noise]] musical acts like [[Swans_(band)|Swans]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2019/11/grindcore-napalm-death-godflesh-carcass-june-1991/|title=Grindcore: Our 1991 Feature on the Metal Subgenre|author= Steven Blush |website=Spin}}</ref> The name derives from the fact that ''grind'' is a British term for ''thrash''; that term was prepended to ''-core'' from ''hardcore''.<ref>{{Cite book | first1=Pete | last1=Prown | first2=HP | last2=Newquist | title=Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists | chapter=Chapter Thirty-three: Industrial and Grindcore | page=249 | year=1997 | publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation | isbn=978-0793540426}}</ref>  Grindcore relies on standard hardcore punk instrumentation: [[electric guitar]], [[Bass guitar|bass]] and [[Drum kit|drums]].<ref name=amg/> However, grindcore alters the usual practices of metal or rock music in regard to song structure and tone.<ref name=amg/> The vocal style is "ranging from high-pitched shrieks to low, throat-shredding [[death growl|growls]] and barks."<ref name=amg/> In some cases, no clear lyrics exist. Vocals may be used as merely an added sound effect, a common practice with bands such as the experimental and jazz-infused band [[Naked City (band)|Naked City]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Quietus {{!}} Features {{!}} Anniversary {{!}} Early Reflections On Life In The Information Age: John Zorn's Naked City Turns 30 |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/27823-naked-city-john-zorn-review-anniversary |access-date=2023-09-06 |website=The Quietus |date=17 February 2020 |language=en-us}}</ref>

A characteristic of some grindcore songs is the "microsong," lasting only a few seconds. In 2001, the ''[[Guinness Book of World Records]]'' awarded Brutal Truth the record for "Shortest Music Video" for 1994's "[[Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses|Collateral Damage]]" (the song lasts four seconds). In 2007, the video for the Napalm Death song "[[You Suffer]]" set a new "Shortest Music Video" record: 1.3 seconds.<ref name="OCW">{{cite web|url= http://www.ocweekly.com/2006-03-09/music/extreme-extremeness/|title= Extreme Extremeness|author= McPheeters, Sam|date= 9 March 2006|publisher= Orange County Weekly|access-date= 27 March 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120929203844/http://www.ocweekly.com/2006-03-09/music/extreme-extremeness/|archive-date= 29 September 2012|url-status= dead}}</ref> Beyond the microsong, it is characteristic of grindcore to have short songs in general; for example, [[Carcass (band)|Carcass]]' debut album ''[[Reek of Putrefaction]]'' (1988) consists of 22 tracks with an average length of 1 minute and 48 seconds. It is common for grindcore albums to be very short when compared to other genres, usually consisting of a large track list but having a total length of only 15 to 20 minutes.

Many grindcore groups experiment with tuned-down guitars and play mostly with downstrokes of the pick, [[power chords]] and heavy [[distortion (music)|distortion]]. While the [[Gramophone record|vinyl]] [[A-side]] of Napalm Death's debut, 1987's ''[[Scum (Napalm Death album)|Scum]]'', is set to [[Eb tuning]], on side B, the guitars are tuned down to C. Their second album ''[[From Enslavement to Obliteration]]'' and the ''[[Mentally Murdered]]'' EP were tuned to [[C (musical note)|C]] [[Sharp (music)|♯]]. ''[[Harmony Corruption]]'', their third full-length album, was tuned up to a [[D tuning|D]]. [[Bolt Thrower]] went  further, dropping 3½ steps down ([[A (musical note)|A]]).<ref name=johnson200704>Johnson 2007, page 04.</ref> The bass playing is often overdriven.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blum |first=Jordan BlumJordan |date=2021-11-19 |title=The 'Big 4' Bands of 17 Metal Subgenres |url=https://loudwire.com/big-4-bands-metal-subgenres/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref>

=== Blast beat ===
{{main|Blast beat}}
{{listen|filename=blast_beat.ogg|title=An example of a blast beat|description=A blast beat played at tempos of 124, 160, 200 and 240 BPM, respectively.|format=[[Ogg]]}}
The blast beat is a drum beat characteristic of grindcore in all its forms,<ref name="macgregor">Adam MacGregor, Agoraphobic Nosebleed review, ''Dusted'', 11 June 2006. [http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2945] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221133749/http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2945|date=21 December 2008}} Access date: 2 October 2008.</ref> although its usage predates the genre itself, in Adam MacGregor's definition, "the blast-beat generally comprises a repeated, sixteenth-note figure played at a very fast tempo, and divided uniformly among the kick drum, snare and ride, crash, or hi-hat cymbal."<ref name=macgregor/> Blast beats have been described as "maniacal percussive explosions, less about rhythm per se than sheer sonic violence."<ref name=greenway>Strub, Whitney. [https://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/napalm-death-060511.shtml "Behind the Key Club: An Interview with Mark 'Barney' Greenway of Napalm Death"]. ''PopMatters'', 11 May 2006. Retrieved 17 September 2008.</ref> Napalm Death coined the term,<ref name=greenway/> though this style of drumming had previously been practiced by others. Daniel Ekeroth argues that the blast beat was first performed by the Swedish group Asocial on their 1982 demo. [[Lärm]] ("Campaign For Musical Destruction")<ref>Ekeroth, p. 22.</ref> [[Dirty Rotten Imbeciles]] ("No Sense"),<ref name=macgregor/> [[Stormtroopers of Death]] ("Milk"),<ref>Stormtroopers of Death, 1985, track 11.</ref> [[Sarcófago]] ("Satanas"),<ref>Sarcófago,</ref> [[Sepultura]] ("Antichrist"),<ref>Sepultura, 1986, track 10.</ref> and [[Repulsion (band)|Repulsion]]<ref name=repulsion/> also included the technique prior to Napalm Death's emergence.

=== Lyrical themes ===
Grindcore lyrics are typically provocative. A number of grindcore musicians are committed to political and ethical causes, generally leaning towards the [[Far-left politics|far left]] in connection to grindcore's punk roots.<ref name=gs46>"Grindcore Special," p. 46.</ref> For example, Napalm Death's songs address a variety of [[anarchist]] concerns, in the tradition of [[anarcho-punk]]. These themes include [[anti-racism]], [[feminism]], [[anti-militarism]], and [[anti-capitalism]]. Early grindcore bands including Napalm Death, [[Agathocles (band)|Agathocles]] and [[Carcass (band)|Carcass]] made [[animal rights]] one of their primary lyrical themes.<ref name=barchi>{{cite magazine|access-date=24 March 2019|url=https://seer.ufrgs.br/revistadolhiste/article/viewFile/84969/48950|pages=190 (Napalm Death), 191 (Carcass) and 193–194 (Agathocles)|title=O ruído infame das ecologias menores|language=pt|issn=2359-5973|first=Rodrigo |last=Barchi|magazine=Revista do Lhiste|location=Porto Alegre, Brazil|number=6|volume=4|date=January 2017|quote=O grindcore, em sua herança punk libertária, absorve e dissemina as mais diversas preocupações entre os próprios punks, [...] Uma das mais caras é a questão dos direitos dos animais, o vegetarianismo, o veganismo e  o  que é chamado de especismo. |url-status=live|archive-date=18 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318083858/https://seer.ufrgs.br/revistadolhiste/article/viewFile/84969/48950}}</ref> Some of them, such as [[Cattle Decapitation]] and Carcass, have expressed disgust with human behavior and animal abuse, and are, in some cases, [[vegetarians]] or [[veganism|vegans]].<ref>Carcass biography. NME.com. [https://www.nme.com/artists/carcass] Access date: 25 April 2009.</ref> Carcass' work in particular is often identified as the origin of the [[goregrind]] style, which is devoted to "bodily" themes.<ref name="Widener">{{cite journal
  | last = Widener
  | first = Matthew
  | title = Carcass Clones
  | journal = Decibel Magazine
  | url = http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/dec2005/carcass_clones.aspx
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071214174913/http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features/dec2005/carcass_clones.aspx
  | archive-date = 14 December 2007
  | access-date = 28 November 2007 }}</ref> Groups that shift their bodily focus to sexual matters, such as [[Gut (band)|Gut]] and the Meat Shits, are sometimes referred to as [[pornogrind]].<ref name="passion book">{{cite book
  | last = Purcell
  | first = Natalie J.
  | title = Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture
  | publisher = McFarland
  | year = 2003
  | pages = 23–24
  | isbn = 0-7864-1585-1
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZErQs5hCUQC&q=%22gore+grind%22&pg=PA24
  |access-date= 28 November 2007 }}</ref> [[Seth Putnam]]'s lyrics are notorious for their [[black comedy]],<ref>Eduardo Rivadavia, Anal Cunt bio, Allmusic. [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p45080|pure_url=yes}}] Access date: 25 April 2009.</ref> while [[The Locust]] tend toward [[satirical]] collage, indebted to [[William S. Burroughs]]' [[cut-up]] method.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://acoatofredpaintinhell.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/the-locust-catching-up-with-jp/|title=The Locust: Catching Up with JP|date=17 October 2007|access-date=18 January 2018}}</ref>