Painkiller (also known as Pain Killer) is an

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...

and grindcore band that formed in 1991. Later albums incorporated elements of ambient and dub. The three primary members of Painkiller were John Zorn on saxophone,

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

on bass guitar and

Mick Harris Michael John Harris (born 4 October 1967) is an English musician from Birmingham. He was the drummer for Napalm Death between 1985 and 1991, and is credited for coining the term "grindcore". After Napalm Death, Harris joined Painkiller with Jo ...

on drums. Zorn and Laswell work in the New York

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

jazz music scene. Harris was the drummer for the grindcore band Napalm Death. Harris'

blast beats A blast beat is a type of drum beat that originated in hardcore punk and grindcore, and is often associated with certain styles of extreme metal, namely black metal and death metal,Adam MacGregor, '' PCP Torpedo'' by Agoraphobic Nosebleed ...

inspired Zorn to create his signature style, forming improvisational groups like Naked City that merged disparate genres into a unique scene. Several musicians have made guest appearances both live and in the studio, including

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...

Yamatsuka Eye (born , 13 February 1964) is a Japanese vocalist and visual artist, best known as a member of Boredoms and Naked City. He has changed his stage name three times, from Yamatsuka Eye, to Yamantaka Eye, to Yamataka Eye, and sometimes calls hims ...

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

, Makigami Koichi,

Justin Broadrick Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and i ...

and G. C. Green of

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, and

Keiji Haino Keiji Haino ( ''Haino Keiji''; born May 3, 1952) is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter whose work has included rock, free improvisation, noise music, percussion, psychedelic music, minimalism and drone music. He has been active since the ...

of Fushitsusha. Harris left the band in 1995 to dedicate himself to

computer music Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ...

. Zorn and Laswell resurrected Painkiller and played with

Yoshida Tatsuya (born 9 January 1961 in Kitakami, Iwate) is a Japanese musician; drummer and composer who is the only consistent member of the renowned progressive rock duo Ruins, as well as of Koenji Hyakkei. He is also a member of the progressive rock trios ...

Ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

on drums.

Hamid Drake Hamid Drake (born August 3, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. By the close of the 1990s, Hamid Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and Afr ...

joined the band for Zorn's 50th Birthday shows at Tonic in New York City. That show (which also featured Patton as a guest) was released as a live album by

Tzadik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

. In 2008, Painkiller performed a one-off show in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France with the original line-up of Zorn, Laswell, and Harris, along with an appearance by Fred Frith and Patton.

Band members

Current members * John Zorn – saxophone (1991–present) *

– bass guitar (1991–present) *

– drums (2008–present) Former members *

– drums (1991–1995)

Discography

* '' Guts of a Virgin'' (

Earache Ear pain, also known as earache or otalgia, is pain in the ear. Primary ear pain is pain that originates from the ear. Secondary ear pain is a type of referred pain, meaning that the source of the pain differs from the location where the pain i ...

, 1991) * '' Buried Secrets'' (Earache, 1992) * '' Rituals: Live in Japan'' (

Toy's Factory is a Japanese record label founded in the late 1980s as a subsidiary of the entertainment company VAP, based in Japan. On May 30, 1990, it was established as an independent company. Toy's Factory, as of the first half of 2012, is the four ...

, 1993) * '' Execution Ground'' (Subharmonic, 1994) * '' Talisman: Live in Nagoya'' (

, 2002) * '' 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 12'' with Hamid Drake and Mike Patton (Tzadik, 2005) * '' The Prophecy: Live in Europe'' with Yoshida Tatsuya (Tzadik, 2013)

Compilations

* '' Painkiller: The Collected Works'' (Tzadik, 1997) * '' Guts of a Virgin & Buried Secrets'' (Earache, 1998)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Painkiller Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 1995 American avant-garde metal musical groups American experimental musical groups American grindcore musical groups Avant-garde jazz ensembles Earache Records artists Tzadik Records artists John Zorn