Top 10 Best Grindcore Bands
Hatred, frustration, political intolerance, and medical terminology are what Grindcore is all about.
Napalm Death is a British grindcore and death metal band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, England, in 1981. Although none of the founding members are still in the band, the lineup of Mark "Barney" Greenway, Shane Embury, Mitch Harris, and Danny Herrera has been stable for most of the band's career... read more Most intense live band I've ever seen!
Absolutely the best, no contest.
Carcass is a British extreme metal band from Liverpool, formed in 1985. They initially disbanded in 1995 but reunited in 2007. Drummer Ken Owen did not rejoin due to health issues, though the band has continued to release new music since reforming. Grindcore at its best. The angry vocals and Steer's brilliance on guitar. Why on earth is Carcass so underrated?
Carcass is much better than Napalm, especially when they lost Steer and he went to Carcass.
Listen to Reek of Putrefaction, and you will know what the definition of grindcore is.
Pig Destroyer is an American grindcore band formed in 1997 in Alexandria, Virginia. The original lineup featured vocalist J. R. Hayes, guitarist Scott Hull, and drummer John Evans, who was later replaced by Brian Harvey. The band is known for its intense sound and literary lyrical themes, with notable... read more This band is great for their genre, but one thing I noticed is that on their Prowler in the Yard album, the song Starbelly has parts that sound a lot like the Melvins' song Boris (which was made way before Starbelly).
You might think I'm being unjust since the Melvins and Pig Destroyer sound nothing alike, but if you listen to the middle of the song Starbelly and then listen to Boris, you'll notice that they sound almost exactly alike. I'm beginning to wonder if Pig Destroyer stole the part from Boris.
If they did, that would be bad because bands should be original and not rip off other artists. If they did it but asked first, then it would be okay. If they didn't, then it wouldn't matter.
Cattle Decapitation is an American deathgrind band from San Diego, California, formed in 1996. Their music addresses themes such as animal rights, environmental destruction, and misanthropy, often depicting humans in the roles of abused animals. While the band originally had an entirely vegetarian lineup,... read more One of the best out there. Their vocalist, Travis Ryan, can do pretty much anything, and they have amazing technical instrumentalists.
Cattle Decapitation is most certainly one of my favorites.
Cattle Decapitation is just fantastic!
Nails is an American hardcore punk band with powerviolence and grindcore influences, formed in 2009 in Oxnard, California. The band has cultivated a strong cult following among fans of extreme metal genres. Nails is currently signed to Nuclear Blast, and their most recent album, Every Bridge Burning,... read more
Terrorizer is an American grindcore band formed in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. After disbanding, its members gained recognition by playing in influential extreme metal bands such as Napalm Death and Morbid Angel. The band later reformed and released additional albums. Aggression, speed, rage, heaviness - that's what grindcore is, and that is all about Terrorizer. World Downfall is the greatest grindcore record ever made.
Should be the runner-up, just below Napalm Death.
Wormrot is a Singaporean grindcore band that was formed in 2007 immediately after its founding members completed their mandatory two years of national service. The band gained international recognition with their intense sound and DIY ethic, releasing their debut album Abuse in 2007. Wormrot continues... read more The greatest modern grindcore band ever and one of the greatest modern metal bands.
Amazing band. Every grind fan should listen to their self-titled debut and Dissimulate!
Such a funny band, but very crazy and intense.
The Newcomers
I can't believe they weren't on this list.
Repulsion is an American grindcore band from Flint, Michigan, formed in 1984. They are considered pioneers in the grindcore genre. Their influential debut album Horrified was recorded in 1986 and released in 1989.
Aborted is a Belgian death metal band that formed in Waregem in 1995. They are known for combining brutal death metal with grindcore influences. Over the years, they have released ten studio albums and toured extensively across Europe and North America.
Nasum was a grindcore band from Örebro, Sweden, formed in 1992. The band released four studio albums and developed into one of Sweden's premier metal acts. They disbanded after the December 2004 tsunami killed the band's frontman, Mieszko Talarczyk, while he was vacationing in Thailand. Best band that plays grindcore.
Brutal Truth was an American grindcore band that originated in Rochester, New York. The band was formed in 1990 by bassist Dan Lilker, who had previously played in Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, and Stormtroopers of Death. The group disbanded in 1999, later reunited in 2006, and continued releasing music... read more Extreme Conditions rules! Enough said.
Best American grindcore band.
Anal C*** was an American grindcore band founded by vocalist Seth Putnam in 1988 in Newton, Massachusetts. The band is known for their highly offensive lyrics which included themes of misogyny, homophobia, racism, Nazism, antisemitism, and schadenfreude (ridicule of the unfortunate). Their music has... read more Anal C is the all-time heaviest band ever. Their 5,643-song EP cannot be topped. Absolute pure noise. Beautiful in every aspect.
Way better than Napalm Death. These guys have pure talent!
For me, it's AxCx and Napalm Death. The mass lunacy and carnage of Napalm Death and the non-conformist, actually quite funny song titles of A.C. are great.
Brujeria is a Mexican-American extreme metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1989. Their name comes from the Spanish word for "witchcraft," reflecting their dark and politically charged themes. The band is known for its anonymity and theatrical presentation, often using pseudonyms and masks... read more One of the underrated ones. These masked Mexican musicians really know how to rock.
They can bring great riffs, great bass guitar, great solos, great vocals, and still be one of the heaviest bands of all time. Albums like "Cursed" and EPs like "Napalm" or "Consume to Contaminate" are some of the best grindcore works of all time.
Rotten Sound should at least be in the top ten.
Agoraphobic Nosebleed is a grindcore band formed in 1994 in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. The group is known for its aggressive sound, use of drum machines, and short, intense songs. They have released several albums and EPs and are regarded as pioneers in the digital grindcore genre. I love them. They're so fast-paced that they fired their drummer when he couldn't keep up. So they replaced him with a drum machine.
Cephalic Carnage is an American deathgrind band formed in Denver, Colorado, in 1992. The current lineup includes vocalist Leonard Lenzig Leal, guitarists Steve Goldberg and Brian Hopp, drummer John Merryman, and bassist Nick Schendzielos. The band has released six studio albums and has toured extensively... read more Wow, why are these guys not higher on the list? One of the best.
Arguably, they're deathgrind, but if we're going to include deathgrind in grindcore, these guys are easily top-five material. Like Cattle Decapitation, Cephalic Carnage has a surprising and creative take on the deathgrind formula.
While Cattle Decapitation experiments more with vocal techniques, Cephalic Carnage also has a great and variable vocalist. Though slightly less creative than Cattle Decapitation's Travis Ryan, they experiment more with interjecting ambient sounds from jazz, surf rock, and flamenco. At times, they also incorporate jazz fusion licks into their unique and trippy brand of deathgrind without ever seeming ridiculous.
These unique elements, combined with the fact that they manage to stay as brutal as grind gets, make them far more interesting than straightforward peers such as Terrorizer, The Berzerker, Nasum, or Anal C***.
The top five should be: 1) Napalm Death 2) Carcass 3) Cattle Decapitation 4) Pig Destroyer 5) Cephalic Carnage. And while Carcass is an excellent band, their success comes more from their own unique brand of death metal, which they've been playing since Necroticism in 1991 and which barely has any grind left. In that case, Cephalic Carnage climbs to the fourth place, and Aborted is able to take a deserving fifth spot.
Extreme Noise Terror are a crustgrind band originally formed in Ipswich, England, in 1985. They are considered one of the earliest and most influential European grindcore bands, particularly in the crustgrind fusion genre. The band helped define the crust punk subgenre by blending anarcho-punk themes... read more Love these guys. Put them in the top 5.
They are awesome, and their music style is also very innovative. I want to see them at least at number 5.
By the way, Brutal Truth also should be ranked higher.
Awesome band. Misery Index is their best release ever. By the way, why is Sayyadina not voted?
Their self-titled LP is definitely a must-listen for grindcore fans.
Bolt Thrower were a British death metal band from Coventry, England. Formed in 1986, they released their debut album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. The band later signed with Earache Records, where they became one of the label's best-selling acts.They're awesome! The cover of their album "Carnivorous Erection" is the goriest ever.