Shane Embury (born 27 November 1967) is a British bassist and a member of the

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 ...

and

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band

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 ...

since 1987.

Career

Napalm Death

While not a founding member, Embury is the longest standing member of the band, having taken part in the ''Scum'' tour, replacing previous bassist

Jim Whitely Jim Whiteley is a musician who in the late 1980s played bass guitar in several Birmingham-based hardcore and grindcore bands, most notably Napalm Death. Biography Jim Whiteley was brought into Napalm Death in 1986 in hopes of restoring enth ...

in 1987. He was a fan of the band before he joined, first seeing them perform at Midlands venue The Mermaid the previous year and becoming close friends of the members of the band, particularly

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 ...

Nicholas Bullen Nicholas Bullen (sometimes called Nik Napalm; born 1968) is an English musician and a founding member of the grindcore band Napalm Death. Biography Bullen is one of the founding members – with Miles Ratledge (Rat) – of Napalm Death, the ...

, the founding member of the band, originally asked Shane to join them before the recording of the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the debut album '' Scum'' but Shane eventually declined due to nervousness, his biggest regret.

Warhammer

Before joining Napalm Death, Embury played drums in a

band called Warhammer with Mitch Dickinson. The band released one demo in 1985 called ''Abattoir of Death''. After Warhammer, Embury and Mitch did work as

Unseen Terror Unseen Terror was a British extreme metal band formed by Mitch Dickinson (Heresy) and Shane Embury (later of Napalm Death), and played extreme metal with a technical edge along with elements of hardcore punk.Liner notes of Earache Records' ...

. Embury also played drums in Azagthoth with fellow Warhammer guitarist Wayne Aston and bassist Pete Giles. Azagthoth recorded one demo at Rich Bitch Studios in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

called ''Shredded Flesh''.

Other projects

Embury has a long list of side projects. He performed in the

band Unseen Terror with Mitch Dickinson, who was also a member of

Heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

. He formed an

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

band called Blood from the Soul with Lou Koller from New York's

Sick of It All Sick of It All is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1986 in Queens, New York City. The band's lineup consists of brothers Lou and Pete Koller on lead vocals and guitars respectively, Armand Majidi on drums, and Craig Setari on bass. Sick ...

, which released their debut album, ''To Spite The Gland That Breeds'', in 1993; the project reformed in 2020 to release a sophomore record, ''DSM-5''. He was in an

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

band with

Mitch Harris Mitch Harris (born October 31, 1969) is an American guitarist. He started his career in the grindcore band Righteous Pigs. He did a side project with Mick Harris – then the drummer of grindcore band Napalm Death – called Defecation. Shortly ...

and several

Obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

members called

Meathook Seed Meathook Seed was an industrial metal music project formed in 1992 by the Napalm Death guitarist, Mitch Harris. Two Meathook Seed albums were released. ''Embedded'' Meathook Seed's first album, '' Embedded'', was released in 1993 by Earache Rec ...

. He was also part of an unconventional band called Malformed Earthborn with

Brutal Truth Brutal Truth was an American grindcore band from New York City, formed by ex- Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, and Stormtroopers of Death bass guitarist Dan Lilker in 1990. The group disbanded in 1999, but reformed in 2006 and continued to release mus ...

's bass player

Dan Lilker Daniel A. Lilker (born October 18, 1964) is an American semi-retired musician best known as a bass player, but also guitarist, pianist, drummer and vocalist. He was the bassist for the thrash metal band Nuclear Assault and was a founding member ...

, Lock Up with Tomas Lindberg of

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 ...

, and

Brujeria Various types of witchcraft and occult religious practices exist in Latin American and Afro-Caribbean cultures, known in Spanish as (pronounced ). Influenced by indigenous religion, Catholicism, and European witchcraft, the purpose may range ...

, a Mexican death metal band. Embury also plays with Napalm Death bandmate Danny Herrera, Kevin Sharp of Brutal Truth, and

Danny Lilker Daniel A. Lilker (born October 18, 1964) is an American semi-retired musician best known as a bass player, but also guitarist, pianist, drummer and vocalist. He was the bassist for the thrash metal band Nuclear Assault and was a founding member ...

Nuclear Assault Nuclear Assault was an American thrash metal band formed in New York City in 1984. Part of the mid-to-late 1980s thrash metal movement, they were one of the main bands of the genre to emerge from the East Coast along with Overkill, Whiplash, T ...

and Brutal Truth in the band

Venomous Concept Venomous Concept is an American hardcore punk band formed by Kevin Sharp of Brutal Truth and Shane Embury of Napalm Death in 2004. Sharp and Embury were joined by Danny Herrera and Buzz Osborne, who was later replaced by Danny Lilker. They have ...

; and has recently toured with UK

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

band

Anaal Nathrakh Anaal Nathrakh are a British extreme metal band formed in 1999 in Birmingham by multi-instrumentalist Mick Kenney and vocalist Dave Hunt. They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records. The band's name is Irish for ''snake's breath'' ( anál ...

. Embury recently resurrected a musical project called Absolute Power with close producer friends

Simon Efemey Simon Efemey is an English record producer, most noted for his work with metal and hard rock groups, including Napalm Death, Paradise Lost, Obituary, Amorphis, Deceased and The Wildhearts. He has also provided live sound mixing with bands inclu ...

Russ Russell Russ Russell is a British record producer, sound engineer, mixer, mastering engineer, musician and writer. He has worked all over the world and now is mostly based at Parlour Studios in the UK. He was also the guitarist in the psychedelic band ...

which he started in 2000, featuring

Tim "Ripper" Owens Timothy S. "Ripper" Owens (born September 13, 1967) is an American heavy metal singer who currently performs with KK's Priest, Spirits of Fire, the Three Tremors and A New Revenge. He first gained attention as the lead singer of Judas Priest ...

on vocals & Brian Tatler of Diamond Head on guitar. Their debut album was finally released on download only though Shane's Feto Records label in 2011. More recently, Embury played on the latest Liquid Graveyard album, ''By Nature So Perverse'' with

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

frontman and guitarist John Walker, drummer

Nicholas Barker Nicholas Howard Barker (born 1973) is an English extreme metal drummer best known as for his work in Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. Currently he is the drummer for Brujeria and Shining. Biography Barker was born on 25 April 1973. He join ...

and vocalist Raquel Walker, released in 2016.

Personal life

Born in

Broseley Broseley is a market town in Shropshire, England, with a population of 4,929 at the 2011 Census and an estimate of 5,022 in 2019. The River Severn flows to its north and east. The first The Iron Bridge, iron bridge in the world was built in 17 ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, he lives with his wife in

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, and loves horror and science fiction books, movies and comics. He has tattoos on both of his arms, including the Napalm Death logo and the "Life?" image on his left arm.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Embury, Shane Napalm Death members Death metal musicians English heavy metal bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English heavy metal drummers 1967 births Living people Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Musicians from Shropshire People from Broseley Lock Up (British band) members Brujeria (band) members Grindcore musicians British industrial musicians British punk rock musicians