Repulsion (band)

Repulsion is an American grindcore band from Flint, Michigan, founded in 1984.

History

In 1984, Matt Olivo and Scott Carlson, with bassist Sean MacDonald, formed Tempter, a metal act covering Bay Area thrash metal bands, such as Slayer and Metallica. The group's sound became increasingly infused with hardcore 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, of pioneering death metal act Death, invited Carlson and Olivo to Florida 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.

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 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 epidemics to nuclear war.

Finally, in 1989, Repulsion's material enjoyed modest, albeit posthumous, exposure when UK grindcore pioneers Carcass distributed a Repulsion compilation titled ''Horrified'' on their own Necrosis Records label; a subsidiary of Earache Records. 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 entitled ''Excruciation''. In spite of new material the band broke up yet again in 1993. Scott Carlson went on to play in Cathedral briefly, the rest of the band departed for short-lived projects or simply returned to everyday life. Relapse 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 on their "Suicidal Final Tour" in California, along with Darkest Hour and Municipal Waste.

Musical style

William York of ''AllMusic'' wrote, "the band's sound fell somewhere between the earlier proto-grind of Boston hardcore band Siege and the more fully developed grindcore of the early Napalm Death recordings, at least as far as the evolutionary ladder goes. They were also one of the first metal bands to use horror- and gore-oriented lyrics, thereby helping start a tradition that soon would descend to deeper and deeper depths of depravity as successive bands strove harder and harder to outdo one another."

Venom, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Discharge, Possessed, N.Y.C. Mayhem, Slayer, Slaughter, Exodus, and Crucifix have been repeatedly cited in interviews as major influences. Various bands have recorded covers of Repulsion songs, including Napalm Death, Impaled and Entombed.

Legacy

William York of ''AllMusic'' wrote, "Despite sounding a bit dated due to the primitive production and the relative simplicity of their songs (surely no one back then could have imagined the mutations grindcore would undergo during the next two decades), Repulsion's music has still held up fairly well over the years."

Members

Current

Source:
* Scott Carlson - 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 (1985-1988, 1990-1993, 2003–2005)
*Dave "Grave" Hollingshead - drums (1985-1988, 1990-1993, 2003–2005)
*Col Jones - drums (2005-2014)
*Thomas Puro- 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'' (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