''World Downfall'' is the debut album by 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

Terrorizer 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 Morbid Angel ( David Vincent, Pete Sandoval), Napalm ...

. It was released by

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 ...

on November 13, 1989.

Background

''World Downfall'' is regarded as one of the most influential grindcore albums ever: it showcases crunchy, heavily distorted guitar riffs and extremely fast and precise blast beats in addition to growling, harsh vocals and lyrics dealing with social issues, features that would become a standard among grindcore music. The cover art, which is similar to

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 ...

's '' Scum'', is a collage featuring scenes of war, political figures, a nuclear power plant, and Jesus rising. About a third of the songs were actually Nausea material, the previous band of vocalist Oscar Garcia. The album was released in 1989 when the band had already split up, with

Jesse Pintado Jesus "Jesse" Ernesto Pintado Andrade (July 12, 1969 – August 27, 2006) was a Mexican-American guitarist best known as the lead guitarist for the British grindcore band Napalm Death. He started in the grindcore band Terrorizer where he reco ...

joining

, and Pete Sandoval joining

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American 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 ...

. David Vincent was not an original member of Terrorizer but filled in on bass due to his connection to Sandoval in Morbid Angel, because their original bassist Alfred "Garvey" Estrada was in jail at the time. The song "Fear of Napalm" was featured in the video game '' Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned'', and the song "Dead Shall Rise" was on the soundtrack for the video game ''

Splatterhouse is a beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was the first in a series of games released in home console and personal computer formats. This cult classic would later spawn the parody '' Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti'', the ...

''.

Track listing

Personnel

*Oscar Garcia -

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s * David Vincent - bass,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Pete Sandoval -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Scott Burns -

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

References

{{Authority control 1989 debut albums Terrorizer albums Earache Records albums