Repulsion is an American

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

band from

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

, founded in 1984.

History

Matt Olivo and

Scott Carlson Scott Carlson is an American musician, who most notably worked as the lead vocalist and bassist of pioneering grindcore band Repulsion. Additionally, he was briefly the bassist and one of the vocalists of pioneering death metal band Death, as ...

, with bassist Sean MacDonald, formed Tempter in 1984, a

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

act covering Bay Area thrash metal bands, such as

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

and

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

. The group's sound became increasingly infused with

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

when Phil Hines, of Flint hardcore punk band Dissonance, joined as a drummer. They juggled band names, first renaming themselves Ultraviolence and then Genocide before recording their first demo in 1984. In spite of their growing popularity in the underground Genocide struggled to survive and faced difficulty maintaining a consistent lineup. In the summer of 1985

Chuck Schuldiner Charles Schuldiner (born May 13, 1967 – December 13, 2001) was an American musician. He founded the death metal band Death in 1983, in which he was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter and only consistent member until his death in ...

, of pioneering death metal act

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

, invited Carlson and Olivo to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

to complete the Death lineup. The two parties failed to settle on a uniform creative direction and the merger proved short lived. Carlson and Olivo returned to Flint that summer, determined to reform Genocide. Local punk Dave 'Grave' Hollingshead was recruited as drummer, after Carlson and Olivo saw an article about Hollingshead being arrested for

grave robbery Grave robbery, tomb robbing, or tomb raiding is the act of uncovering a grave, tomb or crypt to steal commodities. It is usually perpetrated to take and profit from valuable artefacts or personal property. A related act is body snatching, a term ...

. In 1985 the reformed Genocide recorded the ''Violent Death'' demo tape, with Carlson assuming bass duties, and resumed playing live locally. In late 1985 Aaron Freeman was invited into the band as a second guitarist. With their line-up fleshed out, Genocide recorded in a studio for the first time to lay down the tracks for what was supposed to be their first album ''The Stench of Burning Death'' – it ended up being their third demo. By 1986 Repulsion's trademark style had matured; characterised by raspy shouted vocals, extremely distorted down-tuned guitars, overdriven punkish riffs, absurd rambling solos interjected as if only as an afterthought, rumbling bass lines, and machine-gun drumming. Repulsion was experimenting with a hammering, static clouded,

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

sound that was on a level of extreme that had been touched on by few bands before. To complement the band's sound they penned gruesome lyrics; focusing on fantastic apocalyptic themes ranging from

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

epidemics to nuclear war. Finally in 1989 Repulsion's material enjoyed modest, albeit posthumous, exposure when UK grindcore pioneers

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: *Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being *The str ...

distributed a Repulsion compilation titled ''Horrified'' on their own Necrosis Records label; a subsidiary of

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by rel ...

. With interest in Repulsion rekindled, the band decided to reform in 1990. They resumed playing live with the (almost) 'classic' Repulsion lineup: Scott Carlson bass and vocals, Aaron Freeman on guitar, and Dave Grave on drums; Matt Olivo, then serving in the army, filled in as a second guitarist when possible. Repulsion recorded two self-financed demos in 1991: ''Rebirth'', and their ''Final Demo'', often criticised as lacking the drive and intensity of the band's earlier material. Later that year they managed to release a single on

Relapse In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or r ...

entitled ''Excruciation''. In spite of new material the band broke up yet again in 1993. Scott Carlson went on to play in

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

briefly, the rest of the band departed for short-lived projects or simply returned to everyday life.

re-released ''Horrified'' again in 2003, drawing attention to Repulsion once more, and prompting the band to resume live performance. In 2008, Repulsion opened for

At the Gates At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Ga ...

on their "Suicidal Final Tour" in California, along with Darkest Hour and

Municipal Waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

Hellhammer Hellhammer was a Swiss metal band from Nürensdorf, active from 1982 to 1984. Although the band's sound and style were heavily criticized and poorly reviewed during their active years, they have been widely praised in retrospect and are often re ...

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metalBukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2003. p.43 and avant-ga ...

, Discharge,

Possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...

, N.Y.C. Mayhem,

, Slaughter,

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

, and

Crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

have been repeatedly cited in interviews as major influences. Various bands have recorded covers of Repulsion songs, including

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...

, Impaled and Entombed.

Members

Current

Source: *

- vocals (1984-1985, 1985–1988, 1990-1993, 2003–present), bass (1985–1988, 1990-1993, 2003–present) *Matt Olivo - guitar (1984-1985, 1985–1988, 1990-1993, 2003–present) *Chris Moore - drums (2014–present)

Former

*James Auten - drums (1984) *Sean MacDonald - bass (1985) *Phill Hines - drums (1984) *Aaron Freeman - guitar (1986-1988, 1990-1993, 2003–2005) *Dave 'Grave' Hollingshead - drums (1986-1988, 1990-1993, 2003–2005) *Col Jones - drums (2005-2014) *Tom 'Fish' Perro - drums (1986) *Matt Harvey - guitar (2005-2008) *Mike Beams - guitar (2008-2011) *Marissa Martinez - guitar (2011-2013)

Timeline

Discography

Demos

* ''Rehearsal Tape'' (1984) * ''Stench of Burning Death'' (1984) * ''Violent Death'' (1985) * ''WFBE'' (1986) * ''Slaughter of the Innocent'' (1986) * ''Rebirth'' (1991) * ''Final Demo'' (1991)

Single

* "Excruciation" (Relapse Records, 1991)

Album

* ''

Horrified ''Horrified'' is the only full-length studio album to date by American grindcore band Repulsion. This album was influential on later goregrind bands.Badin, Olivier (2009). "Goregrind". ''Terrorizer'', 181, p.41. Although the album was originall ...

'' (Necrosis Records, 1989; Relapse Records, 1992, 2003; Southern Lord Records, 2006)

Split

* ''Relapse Singles Series Vol. 3'' (Relapse Records, 2004)

References

External links

Official Repulsion MySpace page
{{Authority control American grindcore musical groups Hardcore punk groups from Michigan Earache Records artists Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 Musical groups reestablished in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1993 Musical groups reestablished in 2003 Musical groups from Flint, Michigan