HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Horrified – Repulsion

The history of legendary and pioneering US grindcore band REPULSION is a storied one to say the least, and their story has a lot of twists and turns, but it is one that includes the creation of one of the most influential album in extreme music history. What makes the story of REPULSION all the more interesting is that 1989’s Horrified is the only album the band ever released, but when that album is a bonafide classic, you can see it’s impeccable legacy. To truly reflect on its impact, we need to go back to the very beginning, to where that saga started.

Starting as thrash metallers TEMPTER in Flint, Michigan in 1984 and featuring guitarist Matt Olivio and vocalist Scott Carlson, that band soon morphed into the death/thrash metal focused GENOCIDE. The band would release a series of well-received demos in Toxic Metal (1984), Violent Death (1985) and The Stench Of Burning Death (1986).

In the middle of GENOCIDE‘s reign in 1985, Carlson and Olivio relocated to Florida to complement the lineup of quintessential death metal band DEATH but while that tantalising prospect with Chuck Schuldiner‘s band didn’t amount to much, Carlson and Olivio returned to Flint and back to GENOCIDE with a renewed focus. With the addition of drummer Dave ‘Grave’ Hollingshead, who brought a powerhouse hardcore approach to the band as well as guitar player Anton Freeman and Carlson playing bass as well as vocals. The band would first release Violent Death and then The Stench Of Burning Death demo to acclaim in the metal underground but ultimately, the life of GENOICE was at its end at this point and what came next was something even more deadly and deathly.

That next twist came later in 1986. GENOCIDE became REPULSION and their blend of death metal and hardcore punk gave birth to a faster, heavier and above all more brutal form of music that has become known as grindcore. With their Slaughter Of The Innocent demo gaining acclaim in the metal underground with tapes traders all over the world, the band then recorded what be their first and only album in Horrified.

Recorded at Silver Tortoise Soundlab in Ann Arbor, Michigan in June 1986, Horrified‘s mix of brutal vocals, rumbling bass, hardcore punk inspired riffage and intensely fast  drumming was the perfect mixture of metal and hardcore. With the album’s death and horror obsessed lyrics and gruesome song titles, Horrified is indeed an apt title. With the album recorded and the album circulated across the tape trade world to create a massive buzz, REPULSION seemed poised to take over the extreme underground but a period of inactivity ultimately blunted the band’s signalled the end… for now.

Fast forward to 1989 and that inactivity was soon to be dispersed with an explosion of activity. First of all, Horrified was remastered and finally brought out on Necrosis Records, a sub-label of Earache Records. Horrified and REPULSION gained a new lease of life (or death!) as they reformed for live dates, bolstered by a new host of rabid fans following the official release of their debut album.

In this remastered form, Horrified is a lesson in sonic horror and violence through its raw and retained lo-fi sound and amped up brutality. From opening track The Stench Of Burning Death, all the way to the title track, or classics like Acid Bath, Radiation Sickness, Black Breath and Maggots In Your Coffin, cemented the detonation of grinding deathly madness. Both in its original form and its official release, the influence of Horrified is beyond doubt and helped REPULSION become the forefathers of grindcore.

The bands that REPULSION influenced with Horrified is undeniably impressive with CARCASS, NAPALM DEATH, CANNIBAL CORPSE and ENTOMBED all citing the record as an influence. What is more impressive is that Horrified became and continues to be the blueprint for grindcore today, thirty five years after its proper release. A truly impressive feat, and the fact that the record still sounds heavily powerful and fresh to this day is testament to its brilliance.

The album has been re-released a number of times over the years from the likes of Relapse and Southern Lord, alongside numerous demo material from the GENOCIDE and early REPULSION days, has only fuelled the myth of REPULSION and the enormous impact their music had on the extreme metal world.

Although the band would split again following its release, adding to those twists and turns, they have made sporadic returns from the wilderness to play live in the mid 1990s and the late 2000s. Although there has been no new music from REPULSION, and we can pray for a day when that may come, for now, we have the very special Horrified. 

Horrified was originally released on July 10th, 1989 via Necrosis Records.

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