Horrified

Holy hell there is so much to say about this album and band. The godfathers themselves, this band paved the way and forged the genre that we know today as grindcore. With only one album/ demo to their name, they pioneered an entire fucking genre with it, which is very impressive for its time. Now many people say that Napalm Death created grindcore, they did push the genre farther into popularity and took the intensity to new lengths. But they didn’t start the genre, Repulsion did. The “Slaughter of the Innocent” (which would later be renamed “Horrified”) demo came out a year earlier than “Scum”, and Napalm Death while they formed earlier, they started out as more of a hardcore punk band in the very early demos before slowly transitioning over to grindcore around the time Genocide(pre Repulsion) and Repulsion began. To me “Horrified” isn’t just an essential grind album, it’s an essential metal album across the board. Whether or not you like it or not you have to at least listen to it once.

This album contains everything you would love from an extreme metal album. Loud, raw as fuck guitars, blast beats galore, and a crunchy low rumbling bass tone. The lyrical content is gory as can be, with the album imagery being rather simplistic but iconic. For the whole 29 minutes, it’s an unrelenting bulldozer of intensity, the songs barely reaching the 2-minute mark except for the title track. Now you would think that with songs as short as they are, they would all blend and mush together, if you think this, fortunately, you are mistaken. Every single song has a catchy riff and is memorable, especially with the hardcore punk edge to the insane breakneck speeds these boys play at. The hooky riffs, leads, and solos can be easily recognized, they are on just about every single song on here. Matt Olivio’s solos are souring and very short, they are a staple on here. While the execution may be a little sloppy around the edges, most notably with how fucking fast the drums are, it’s the little human inconsistencies that add to the charm of this record. Drums are at full throttle the entire time, d-beating and blasting their way across the record, it creates a machine gun-like sound that is unbelievably intense.

This album also specializes in thrashing you around and beating you down with hardcore-style sections and hooks. Specifically, Slayer and Slaughter come to mind. And there are obviously a lot of death metal influences, hell I would even say this album is borderline death grind. A stand-out track for me would be “Crematorium”, it’s easily of the most intense blasting sounds on the album. “Black Breath” is a fan favorite on here too, a very mid-paced punky beat down. Other standouts would be “Maggots In Your Coffin”, “Splattered Cadavers”, “Slaughter of the Innocent” and the title track.

The production is everything I want in an old-school extreme metal record. Raw as fuck guitar and drums, but not to the point where everything is pushed back and can’t be heard. The individual guitar riffs and solos can clearly be heard, drums sound hard-hitting and pummeling. And that goddamn bass tone, holy fuck what a brutal, low, rumbling bass tone this album has, to this day I’ve never heard a bass tone quite like Scott Carlson’s bass. Scott’s vocals are also mixed perfectly, his vocals are foul, raspy, intense, and in your face, the entire listen. Scott also manages to speak at an unholy fast pace. Performance-wise and songwriting wise everything is also spectacular, executions are fantastic while having those human inconsistencies, and nothing feels out of place.

This album is essential to the metal genre. It’s a benchmark album for anyone wanting to find the most intense, barbaric music possible. It’s also a great gateway extreme metal record for anyone hoping to get into grindcore. Buy it. Listen to it. Bang your fucking head. A fucking flawless album.

Full on blast beats, jerky bursts of caustic vocals, abrasive and relentless guitars, uptempo power chord stomps, loud guitar solos as wild as you like, a fat bass guitar tone fuzzier than a pissed off cat, cheap horror movie zombie lyrics, songs that last about a minute each... it's all there, despite this being from 1986. Very surprising and way ahead of its time without a doubt. This easily could've been death-grind from the early/mid 90's.

What can be appreciated is beyond the raw brutality on display and the classic aura of the album, the songs are actually inspired and the riffs are so aggressive the album quickly starts to make sense. One may find they're no longer just giving this an ear on a history tour in the museum of extreme metal that is the world wide web today, but have been swept off their feet and hopped on the roller coaster ride that this will quickly turn into. There's a contagious energy about the feral onslaught every song keeps throwing at us, and it's hard to stop listening.

Something about the distinctly raw writing style in this makes for a really intense and entertaining listen. Even for the non grindcore aficionado. The vile guitar riffs and the irresistible complementing rage the blasts confer to them, coupled with a vocal style strongly similar to what was done in other seminal extreme metal acts at the time (Venom, Possessed...) work in an efficient synergy giving the songs a surprising cohesiveness despite the style being purposely patchy - like looking at a pile of trash and working out patterns that start to appear and somehow make sense in the mess.

Repulsion on this record take 80's hardcore punk and erase any trace of conviviality from it and replaces the gap with a hostility factor increased tenfold, making those punk bands sound exactly like the very commercial music industry the entire movement was supposedly formed as a reaction to. Despite its coarse and frenzied nature, a genuine musicality can be found at the core of the album. Something that could really be looked at as the extreme lengths of human imagination - when we can get a real grip on music like this, and find substance there that works on some level, in material that is probably closer to noise than music.

This is more than a vestige of extreme metal, it's music worth giving a listen, whatever particular musical persuasion a person might be. It's so radically different from what any music had attempted to do in a fundamental way; and still is to this day; and it's material that is so strongly adverse to the history of music as a whole, it should be looked at as a document beyond the music and in context of the societal and psychological state of part of the youth at a time that was, in hindsight, quite pivotal. New bands of a time always sound nonsensical to the previous generation in place, but this was the first time bands were getting close to producing actual noise.

I had to censor the title of this review in case someone digs it up in 10 years and tries to have me cancelled. Anyway, on to the important stuff. Repulsion's Horrified is a very interesting listen, however I feel as if its somewhat oversaturated reputation will leave some first-time listeners disappointed. I enjoy this record a lot, but it isn't a legendary, flawless masterpiece like it's cooked up to be. I understand that this album was the sole birth of grind, preceding even Napalm Death by a year, so the importance of Horrified is definitely valid, but I was expecting something more grandiose than this release, because let's be honest for a second here; the production sucks, the lyrics are samey and cheesy, the album is lacking in ambitious songwriting, and as a by-product of that, the rhythm barely changes.

On the other hand, the riffs are mostly badass, the vocals are bestial and unrelenting, and the blast beats are on point considering when this record was produced. Horrified stands as a competent grind album, and when I delve deeper into the subgenre I may even herald it as one of the best, but I still think that the first two Napalm Death albums, plus Terrorizer's World Downfall and Carcass' Reek of Putrefaction. Those records are much more catchy and visceral in their exectuion than Horrified. The reason I rated this album so highly, despite seemingly bashing them in this review, is because I do think that the music is enjoyable, but as I stated earlier, it just doesn't live up to the hype.

Songs such as Stench of Burning Death and Decomposed are straight-forward but great barrages of riffs. The lyrical themes are reminiscent of what Cannibal Corpse would talk about a few years later, rather than the subject matter of other grind bands that were gaining traction at the time. These tracks are heavy, crusty and very punk-oriented. The punky style of almost the entire runtime gives the record a certain attitude, which makes the heavier parts even better as you aren't suspecting them, such as the sudden groove in Maggots in Your Coffin which melts your face like a stick of butter, or the chuggy intro of Black Breath.

The constant use of the blast beat cause ear-fatigue if you're not used to this style of music, but the drums sound fairly good, it's just the shame that the fuzz of the guitars and the tv-static-like bass sounds dry and unpolished in a bad way, which can make some parts of the album quite annoying. The guitar solos are very similar to the solos that Slayer and Kreator were recording at the time; they're wholly chromatic, unpredictable and un-phrased. I would usually say that solos like these are best left off the tracks, but most of the solos on Horrified so contain coherent strings of notes that show off the guitarists' skills.

Another merit of this album is that the tracks are surprisingly tight. Particularly the guitars, wherein virtually every riff is played flawlessly. A lot of grind bands half-ass studio recordings, and this definitely impairs the quality of the songs as you're faced with a maze of messy and scratchy riffs. Repulsion, however, play tightly, and the riffs are potent, in spite of the rough production. Overall, definitely listen to this if you're a fan of grind or anything death metal-related, just don't expect the masterpiece that you may have heard about.

When it comes to landmark or defining moments in the history of heavy metal, there are a handful of albums that people will always mention. Whether it’s Black Sabbath’s debut, Maiden’s “Number of the Beast” or Metallica’s “Master of the Puppets”, (to name a few) such albums need no debate relating to their importance to heavy metal. However, there are other landmark albums, that for one reason or another, seemingly get overlooked, yet are no less important to heavy metal’s history. Repulsion’s, “Horrified” is one such album

In the late 80’s, various circles of hardcore punk were undergoing extensive changes to their sound that would ultimately lead to the birth of the grindcore genre. Repulsion (who began as a thrash/death outfit Genocide) would set their sights on a much faster paced style of music that many other bands were transiting to, but wanted to leave their own mark on the sound. Now, among the pioneers of grindcore, Napalm Death is by far the most cited and the most successful of the bunch. That being said, you won’t’ find many grindcore fanatics that would argue that “Horrified” was as important, if not more so than any of the other grindcore releases of that time.

As for the album itself, this is 18 tracks of primal, raw grindcore in its purest form. A non-stop assault of sound and energy that begins the moment you press play and only ends when the final second is reached. It would be very hard to try and describe the sound of this album without turning this into a George R.R. Martin novel, but the music is equal parts of relentless, barbaric and pulsating elements, mixed together and complied into an album.

Now, for 18 tracks clocking in under 30 minutes, you probably already know what you’re getting yourself into. The songs here are indeed, short blasts of speedy aggression, but that would be a generic description. Let’s face it, there are plenty of modern day grind and gore grind bands that cram some exorbitant number of tracks onto an album, many of which are 30 seconds or less. The problem is, many of those acts can easily become forgettable, as those songs simply fail to create anything in the way of substance or memorable. That’s the biggest difference between those grind acts and “Horrified”. Each track easily stands out on its own, which is accomplished through a very concise and creative song writing, which allows the music to be fast and furious, but never becomes dull or repetitive.

The first thing that jumps out at you is how each instrument manages to create its own identity on this album. The guitars can be cleanly heard on each track, especially when they rip off short, but sweet solos. The bass, which not only for grindcore is very noticeable, but also for the time, being audible, is nothing short of brilliant. The drums play with an insane tempo, pounding away with blast beats and crashes that leave your head spinning. Of course, Scott Carlson’s vocals need to have a special mention, as they truly help bring everything together in this landmark album. Of course, hearing each instrument is an accomplishment in and of itself, but harmonizing with one another to create such chaotic bliss, is amazing.

“Horrified” may not get the accolades that Iron Maiden or Judas Priest may have achieved in the annals of heavy metal history, but it’s importance cannot be overlooked. Death metal and grindcore fans alike should not miss out on hearing this album if they haven’t already done so. You will quickly hear the influence this record had on the likes of Napalm Death, Terrorizer and Extreme Noise terror and it won’t take long to see why “Horrified” is held is such high regards.

As a bonus, if you happen to seek out the 2-disc reissue, you will get all of the bands recordings from their Genocide days as well as Repulsion’s final demos. To summarize briefly, the recordings from the Genocide tapes are raw and primitive works. Nothing that will knock your socks off, but an interesting listen nonetheless. You’ll hear the sound that would be reworked and morphed into Repulsion, but at the time, it was some pretty groundbreaking material as not many other acts were recording such a heavy and aggressive sound. As for the remaining Repulsion demos, the music is a glimpse of what might have been. Granted, these were demos, so they don’t sound as crisp as a final product, but for fans, it’s a least more material to sink your teeth into and enjoy. Either way, a very nice addition to the original disc for sure.

Highlights: (As with many grindcore albums, this is best listened to as a whole, but if I had to choose) “The Stench Of Burning Death” “Maggots in Your Coffin” “Horrified”

Into the Abyss of Oblivion

I just listened to this album for the first time so I'll keep it short and sweet. I have never listened to grindcore (except Instinct of Survival and Scum from Napalm Death) but I had heard others speak about grindcore. I have to say I was quite surprised when I got this attack on my ears from my speakers. I now understand what a wall of sound means. Boom! It hit my head harder than a real wall!

What can I tell about this album..? I don't feel repulsed but I do feel horrified. I almost crapped my pants when I heard it. I guess that's what happens when the sound waves get into your ears and try to find another way out of your body. The music is begging you to start moshing alone in the room. Fast, raw and violent with many quick rhythm changes. In most songs there is a guitar intro and then the drums come into the song.

These guys know their stuff. First of all they have paranoid guitar riffs and insane solos. I couldn't hear much from the solos but they are fast and crazy, Slayer-like solos. The bass sounds like a speaker that is put on fire (I guess it sounds close to that anyway) and its presence is noticed all the time. It starts building the "wall of sound". The drums are not boring, I mean I expected only blast beats (apparently the first thing you learn about grindcore is that it's all about blast beats) but it's not at all like that. They complete the "wall of sound". They fill the songs by giving a really nice pace and moshing rhythm according to the music. Finally the vocals, perfecting the deadly mix. A crude and rusty voice screaming in the punk fashioned way. They have a primitive feel. It's the cherry on top really. A compact performance by the band in both composing and playing their music. The only thing I got lyrics-wise from this album is from the last song, the screams "Horrified! Horrified!". Nothing else in the lyrics part cause I couldn't understand a thing and I have to look them up here in MA. But I'm sure they won't change my opinion about the album.

I heard the entire thing through Youtube and even though I liked very much 4-5 songs I can't tell you which ones they are. I'm going to hear this album once again and track them down. I was so excited I wanted to write a review as soon as possible. It's strange cause I didn't expect to like this album or any of it's songs. But I think any death metal fan (and grindcore of course) would love this album. It combines great riffs, extremely fast and heavy music, ultrasound drumming and primitive savage screaming. It's a classic too and it has a great cover! It's love on the first listen!

Rock On!
-Tzitzis-

I ll start things off by telling you that if you consider yourselves fans of grindcore, goregrind and even plain death metal this is one of the releases you NEED to own! Repulsion may not be one of the first bands that you come across when you are starting to get into the extreme sound, but in my opinion is one of utmost importance to really get acquainted with how things evolved in the genre of grind/death.

This album is the living proof that if a band can combine its influences in a stunning way and is obviously filled with a passion to crush everything in its path, the result is punishing to say the least. In the 2cd reissue of this album that contains the demos, we can easily comprehend that the origins of this album can be traced back to the golden era of 80 s hardcore/thrash and even proto death/black metal bands (celtic frost, bathory ,venom, slayer, siege, ripcord to name a few) . By releasing their first (and only) album, Repulsion should be memorized as the one album-miracle (along with the likes of Terrorizer etc.).

Should someone use two words to describe this cd,those should be ‘relentless’ and ‘atmosferic’. Firstly, while listening to ‘Horrified, you will find yourself not wanting to sit down even for an instant. At the moment each and every song kicks in you can feel a rush of energy and an urge for unstoppable mayhem and destruction… I myself have never encountered such a straightforward sonic onslaught, one that never lets up in the entire album! You can surely feel that the band s goal was to deliver a no breaks-carnage, one to surely push the boundaries of extremity at the time.

Another characteristic of this album is that each instrument feels like an essential component to reaching this devastating result. Firstly, the guitars have one of the best tones you ll come across, falling somewhere between the sound of hardcore and proto/death thrash. The guitar parts are not something difficult for someone to play, on the contrary they are pretty simple in pretty much all of the songs, no exhibition of technicality to be found here. That does not extract even an inch of power from this release, as they are definitely well executed and convey a rotting atmosphere all over the place.

The bass was definitely one to shock the audience at the time. Sure, there s a distinct Discharge influence in the manner of playing, but Repulsion took it to the next level of madness, as it s defitinely way more downtuned than in any other contemporary band. What you get here is a fuzzy wall of noise, but one to sustain a sense of evilness and heaviness to the music and even provide you with moments you ll want to revisit (check the intro of Festering Boils!).

The drums are obviously worthy of praise, especially considering the speed the infamous ‘Dave Grave’ developed on this album! His playing far surpassed the limits set for fast playing and paved the way for a whole new generation of bands who set out to match his intense drumming! Despite that, technicality is once again not an option, as we are talking about simple stuff here, no fancy fills or anything(especially compared to monsters like Nile and Hate Eternal), but still it matches the music greatly and gets the carnage going!

And last but not least, we have the vocals. I must say I really prefer Scott Carlson’s performance on this album over the one in the demos and even the live shows. What you get here is a unique mix of venom-meets possessed-meets death,and this injected with a hardcore attitude! His voice can transform from a hardcore-ish one to an exceedingly rotting one, making you believe you have a festering zombie handling the vocals! Without Scott a lot of the atmosphere on this album would be missing as I can’t immagine anyone that could transmit the evilness and rotten feeling that is required better than him!

Concluding, I usually tend to disagree with certain people who criticize Horrified as being repetitive and lacking the capability to stand side to side to classic albums. I reckon that there is plenty of variation to be found here! What we have here are songs with whirlwind-like riffs that will definitely make your neck bleed (Eaten Alive,Horrified) , blistering mid paced songs (Black Breath,Radiation Sickness) , and even proto death n roll traces (Bodily Dismemberment) ! As for its influence on the metal scene and durability in time, better ask bands like Napalm Death (who even today use the intro of Stench of burning death during their live performances!) , Mortician (who definitely had a real crush on how the bass sounded in Horrified,and even more…), Entombed (Black Breath cover and Radiation Sickness as Nihilist) and lots more who claim to have gained a lot from this underappreciated band! To sum up, even though they managed to release only a full length (and an ep), Repulsion is and should be acknowledged as a definite milestone in the history of extreme music.

The album that created the very first grindcore movement, the album that created the proto gore grind and the album that influenced the future generation of death metal bands. This is Repulsion’s Horrified. Back in 1986 these guys were probably the most extreme thing on the Earth and their previous demos were a complete innovation for malevolence, putridity and speed. Nobody played like them in that period. Carcass and Napalm Death were still punkish in their style, while the only band that was close to them were Terrorizer, but they were not so rotten.

There’s, on the re-mastered CD case, a label with a written sentence: “ Repulsion is the band that introduced the world to insane blasting drums, bone-jarring distorted bass, and the most vile lyrics imaginable”. Well, I think that my whole review could finish here, because these words capture perfectly the content and the importance of this album. Great bands, such as Napalm Death, Carcass, Entombed and Cannibal Corpse were so influenced by this band.

Talking about the music here, in a more detailed description, we can find half an hour of totally madness grind. The blast beats are really ahead for the period but they are one of the most important thing in their sound. Try to imagine the faster up tempo by Cryptic Slaughter or S.O.D. brought to another level of speed and devastation. The guitars are not so extreme but they have that distortion that would be so famous among the future death metal bands: raw, down tuned and morbid. The vocals ala Cronos are perfect because are not annoying but they are truly extreme in the rough tonality, that I prefer instead of the terrible shrieks.

What always astonished me is the bass sound. I must admit that they were totally innovators for the period. It’s enough to listen to “Acid Bath” or “Festering Boils” to enjoy all the essence of a hyper distorted bass and brutal blast beats, occasionally broken by mid paced, sick parts. The solos are simple tremolo picking, to let flow all the anger and hostility. The parts in simple up tempo are still very influenced by the old Celtic Frost and the punk/hardcore movement, with moshing parts and sudden grind restarts. There’s no time to chill out because there’s not even a second of pause between the songs, forcing you to be annihilated by a sort of “single song” in a long journey through sickness and death.

Furthermore the production is perfect for a quantity of violence like this. All the instruments are very audible, conserving that underground, primitive sound they deserve to be so unique and unmistakable. Everything here smell of decomposition and check out the damn lyrics! They are completely new and shocking for the period with that gore content and twisted titles. Try to find out how many bands take their names from…

All in all, an outstanding piece of primordial gore grind. The one and only I like, because, going on, the new groups would have been too gore and extreme for my tastes; but if you want to know were pretty much all started, check this out. Primitive, narrow-minded music.

Not even close enough! Actually, I give this a solid 10/10 slaves of death.

Cheesy phrases aside, these pioneers of nasty music are the reason we love our underground very much. This entire album is in fact the soundtrack to the impending death of mankind. With excellent and erratic solos, which can only be found in 80's death/grind. When I hear this music, I get so pumped. Yet, at the same time, troubled, by how the stuff from then is any of the stuff you hear now. It is about time that bands like Repulsion are making their long awaited comeback, and gracing the stage of massive festivals such as the sixth installment of Maryland Death Fest, and having the honor to play with Swedish death masters At the Gates. You have to be a deprived of the extreme music life, to never have heard of a band as legendary of Michigan's own Repulsion. If you have have been, what the hell are you thinking?

There is no such thing as being too hyped up for a band such as this. The aggressive riffages, alongside disgustingly brilliant solos of Matt Olivo and Aaron Freeman, the razor edge feel of Scott Carlson's driving bass lines and the mastery of Dave "Grave" Hollingshead's D-beats and blast beats alike, are all the sure fire convincing you'll need to get into this crossfire of musician madness. 20-plus years ago, it was unthinkable that you could fuse something already angst-driven like hardcore punk and thrash metal, and create the most hated abomination to those who simply cannot understand and comprehend the sounds being pelted like maces to the gut.

All in all, an extremely impressive album. I am glad to have heard of this band, and ecstatic to be seeing them soon enough. If you haven't heard this opus of an album, I suggest that you do.

I wasn't sure if reviewing this was really necessary, but the overall percentage wasn't what it should be: 100%. Repulsion is IT when it comes to grindcore. As you do or should know, they did it all before anybody else. Fucking fast whirlwind blastbeating drums before it was everywhere, heavy guitars before it was cool, sickening gore lyrics before they were plastered all over, and straightforward vocal delivery.

Their overall sound is chillingly great, as the drums blast away into one's brain the guitar riffs move blazingly fast. Another great thing about Horrified is the riffing: it's really old-school and simple. No technical guitar work here, Repulsion pump out grinding evil powerchords like the best of them amidst the flurries of hats, bass drums and snares. The fanciest thing coming out of Repulsion is the guitar solos that occasionally wail thrashy dissonance across Repulsion's sound spectrum (see the solo in "Raditation Sickness")

The bass gives a really nice low-end rumble to the music, just that more punch and icing on the cake. The guitars don't need to be super heavy because the bass is already providing the base for the fast guitar work and solos. The drums are also needless to say very fast, mostly blastbeats. However the drums for non-blast parts are also very well done, for example in "Black Breath" where the killer main riff takes off a song with no blastbeats whatsoever (the only like such on the entire album in fact).

If you don't own this, get it get it get it! Essential grindcore.

Well... what can one say about the legendary Repulsion? Chillingly morbid yet wickedly amusing, cacophanously brutal and relentlessly agressive, these men were rotten-hearted revolutionaries of music ('music' here being used in the loosest possible sense). If this album is not essential, then nothing is.

Firstly, this was recorded in 1986. 1986! Do you think Slayer or Dark Angel were about the most extreme thing around then? Think again. 'Horrified' makes 'Reign in Blood' or 'Darkness Descends' look like Jon Bon fucking Jovi in comparison; it's darker, faster, heavier, more agressive, more chaotic and more lyrically extreme whilst also being catchier and even more brutally to-the-point. From devastating blasts of relentless grindcore such as 'Eaten Alive' to insane thrashterpieces such as 'Black Breath', Repulsion fused the razor edge of Celtic Frost and Slayer with the dark brutality of Discharge and the manic speed of D.R.I, creating a work that redefined music. From the doomy intro riff of 'The Stench of Burning Death' through to that famous final yell of 'Fuck!' on 'Horrified', this remains a seminal influence on both death metal and grindcore.

However, all of this is worth nothing if the music cannot still stand up to scrutiny. Luckily however, this still sounds fresh, invigorating and utterly, gloriously violent! The production is excellent; meaty, echoing guitar and distorted-to-white-noise bass are mixed perfectly with the clattering drums and grating vocals. It's raw, atmospheric and heavy as all fuck. The songwriting is truly magnificent; keeping the 'songs' catchy and to the point, Repulsion vary things up nicely, alternating between exhausting speed-fests and headbanging thrash with aplomb - cliff-drop stops, violent tempo changes and sudden, cackling, shrieking guitar 'solos' (a leering mockery of virtuosity) hit with impunity from all sides. And then there are the riffs! Yes, that's correct - Repulsion are a grind band who actually had real riffs, courtesy of their myriad thrash influences. There are A LOT of riffs in here, and they vary from three-chord smashing to intricate thrashing. Repulsion know both how to bolt different riffsets together and how to flow between riffs, letting them modulate and evolve, a growing pestilent cancer. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is misplaced. You will bang your head until you vomit.

In twenty years, I don't believe that anyone has quite managed to better Repulsion's winning combination of slashing riffage, sheer brutality and sick catchiness. If you have even the slightest interest in death, grind or - hell - thrash, and you don't already own this classic, go and buy it RIGHT NOW. And no, I'm not being cute here; when I say 'now', I actually mean THIS VERY INSTANT. You even get a second cd featuring all of their early demos (back when they were Genocide), the 'Excruciate' EP and a later demo for a new album that was never finished. All in all there are 48 essential tracks here. Good value? More than that: this is mandatory.

FUCK!!!

Words cannot describe how intense this album is. From the fuzzy power chords that open 'The Stench of Burning Death' to the closing "Fuck!" of the title track, this album never lets up its chaotic assault on the senses. This album is a milestone in Extreme Music, and has been cited as a huge influence by legends such as Napalm Death, Carcass and Entombed. And make no mistake, this album is fucking fast. Reign In Blood, eat your heart out.

The riffs on this album are simple, thrashy and very raw. The rhythm guitar of Olivo and Freeman is well done, and they also throw in a number of guitar solos, which are very much in the vein of Slayer. They are a mess, but it works astoundingly well and I couldn't think of a better suited option, really. The guitar tone is very raw, with a touch of fuzz.

At first, the bass seems to be almost non-existent, until you realise the aforementioned fuzz is not purely from the lo-fi production. The bass on this album was recorded through a distortion pedal straight into a (probably very cheap) recorder. The result is a pulsating, fuzzy Bass sound unlike anything I've heard before. This works wonderfully as a compliment to the grinding guitars over the top. Sure, you can't really hear exactly what he is playing, but fuck, it sounds great!

Dave Grave's drumming on this album is very fast, and contains mostly your standard Thrash drumming, or a primitive sounding Blast Beat. Dave plays the classic style blasts, with only one kick drum and let me tell you, he sounds like an absolute maniac. Yeah, he can sound pretty sloppy at times, but it suits this album perfectly and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Scott Carlson's vocals are very raw and raspy, and he is one of my favourite vocalists. Think Massacre's Kam Lee, but not as deep, and that pretty much describes Scott's vocals. They are the perfect vehicle for the gory lyrical subject matter that Repulsion has. Song titles such as Maggots In Your Coffin, Splattered Cadavers, Festering Boils and Slaughter Of The Innocent speak for themselves, really.

Pros:
- Awesome bass sound
- Sick vocals
- Manic drumming
- Raw as fuck

Cons:
- None, unless you're a pussy

Recommended Tracks:
Horrified
Maggots In Your Coffin
Bodily Dismemberment
Black Breath
Six Feet Under
Slaughter of The Innocent


In summation, essential for any fans of Grind and/or Extreme Metal in general.

(originally written for http://www.sputnikmusic.com)

You've got to be fucking kidding me! This album is so original, brutal, efficient, fun, and fucking AWESOME that it makes my ears bleed in gratitude. I don't know a single metal album that I consider more of a must-own, for fans of any subgenre.

First off, I will say that I am a vinyl purist and generally dislike reissues. But this package is so complete that it not only makes up for my distaste but actually makes me glad to have the reissue instead. The essay by Laurent Ramadier is very complimentary and the notes by Scott Carlson give huge insight into EACH song. Also included is every Repulsion demo, copies of most of their flyers, and (somewhat hidden) a news clipping of drummer Dave Grave's run-in with the law for grave-robbing! Everything about the package spells out: "this is the real shit. Bow down right now." Which upon hearing this insane metal record, you shall.

Musically, these guys are just fucking monsters. As far as I know, this is the fastest record that had yet been released by 1986, and basically this album invented grindcore/goregrind. But I hesitate to even use the term "grind," because grind though it does, this album bears none of the atonal seriousness or mosh chunkiness of early 90s grindcore.....instead it comes out sounding as light-hearted as a fucking AC/DC record or something. The songs are all short and quick and violent, often with some serious tempo changes and mostly all about zombies and explicit death.....I know that sounds cliche now but on here it sounds totally fresh. Wasn't this the year "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" was made?

The riffs are huge and intensely engaging for something this fast, and I have a suspicion it's because most of the songs were written at slower tempos and speeded up.....unlike alot of stuff that came later when blastbeats were an accepted norm, these songs would probably sound good at any tempo. The guitar work is very grinding throughout and my only complaint about this record is you can't really hear the second guitarist, Aaron Freeman, except a weird buzzing sometimes....that's where my rating loses it's 1%. And the solos on this record rule! The fact that someone is even trying to solo on top of these songs is hilarious and most of them come off really well. The solo trade-offs in the middle of "Maggots in Your Coffin," the best song on the album, are especially sick.

Someone else described the bass on this as inhuman and I can't top that.....it gives a huge fuzz fog to the bottom end that is only pierced by the serial killer drumming of Dave Grave Hollingshead. The guy is just a maniac. Aside from keeping Napalm Death tempos for ENTIRE SONGS, his whole style is based around a super deadly swing beat that appears in a few different songs and gives some needed space to the rest of the sound, sort of like Bill Andrews' disco beats in the middle of Death songs. His tempo changes always destroy me and are always on point. There's no denying that this record is all about speed, but he makes speed seem way, um, faster, more brutal, and more fun than most records this fast tend to.

There really isn't a bad song on here, but I always find myself just listening to the last six tracks, maybe the best 11 minutes of metal I've ever heard. The intro on "Bodily Dismemberment" is a way better album opener than the recycled "Crack of Doom" riff on track 1, and basically these six songs lay down everything you need to know about the band. The best two songs ("Radiation Sickness" aside) are in these last six, including the legendary "Black Breath" which has no blastbeats but is about the fucking Nazgul from Lord of the Rings (!!!) and the catchiest goregrind sing-along ever, "Maggots in Your Coffin," which you should read about in the review beneath this one. The best slow parts are also in here, in "Horrified" and "The Lurking Fear." All this in the amount of time it takes to get ready to go to work.....hell yeah!

But don't get me wrong, this whole album is essential, and at less than half an hour it will bear out many, many repeated listens. Repulsion will fucking rip your guts out and leave you rotting and begging for more. HORRIFIED!!

This record is my religion. Or at least a major sacrament of whatever a religion should be. It scratches the unscratchable itch. It never fails to stun me. I think it may be the only record I own that fills that function.

But even given the prize piggery of it all, it's got to get a 99% rather than 100 because: despite the most perfect intro chordage of all time, "The Stench of Burning Death" is just not first song material. I would guess they put it there because maybe they wanted to emphasize the lightning-ness of their speed right from the get-go; and lightning it is, but it just isn't one of the more powerful songs. During the first song, I might think: did I put on the right record?, but then: "Eaten Alive" eats my ass alive and it's off to the races! Understand -- these songs fall into three categories: fast, incredibly fast, and beyond comprehension. Whatever seems mid-paced in context is still FAST in reality. "Eaten Alive" is somewhere between incredibly fast and beyond comprehension, and here -- track 2 -- is when I start playing them air drums! Keeping in mind that apart from this record I do not ever play any air instruments. A superspeed senseless beating of a riff and a proto-blast-beat.

But I don't want to get into every single song. Let's just review the highlights.

"Slaughter of the Innocent" gives away their crusty vibe. Don't get me wrong, Horrified is mostly about zombies chewing face, exploding boils and all that. But as they were a band that played mainly in the hardcore scene (they were extremely extreme for metal in 1986) they clearly bear the scars of Discharge, GBH and DRI just for starters. Thusly this song is about the scheming minds of corporate tyrants... very nice... but what matters here is the meat hook riff and the insane martial cadence of the vocals. If this song doesn't claw your face off, then you should continue on with the rest of the almost 20-minutes long album.

"Radiation Sickness" is by far my favorite song. Repulsion is best known for predating/inventing/inspiring grindcore and/or death metal, but as such it's MOST noteworthy that guitarist Matt Olivo knows his way around a sick-ass and dare I say catchy riff; not to mention the mechanics of how to make velocity your friend. "Radiation Sickness" is all about the riff, the lyrics expounding upon the business of rotting whilst still alive, and velocity, velocity, velocity! Drummer Dave Grave gives the band so much of their power -- it's not just super-fast AND powerful, it's also punctuated by the best stop-start fills I have ever heard in the loud/fast music realm.

I used to take care of this teenager with cerebral palsy and I hooked him on this record. It was a beautiful thing to see, because this kid really did have so much rage inside (imagine if you had a normal brain otherwise, but had to depend on others to do every single thing FOR you, including wipe your ass) that he really related. "Maggots in Your Coffin" was his favorite song, and I wish I could convey my memories of him gleefully spazzing out and unintelligibly (except to me) yelling "you are!rotting!maggots!in your coffin!" over and over again. It's that kind of song. Cathartic fucking overdrive.

"Horrified" was always their set closer and you can see why. So fast that it's practically psychedelic. Lyrics describing (naturally) a terrified state and hellish visions; now, I have never been one that cared for lyrics of gore and carnage, I never liked Cannibal Corpse even, but I love it out of Repulsion, and I mean Repulsion only. With other bands this shit is just subject matter. Repulsion were really making their own path -- I mean Reign in Blood came out the same year and this sounds like two Reigns in Blood fistfighting each other. "Horrified" (the song and the whole of the album) closes with the very same vocalism that ends several other songs: an enraged and clenched-teeth "fuck!"

I can't call this kind of record a "masterwork," or "classic," or anything connoting dignity, because Horrified does not call for dignity, it's a beast and it calls for a fucking fleabath. And the fact is that it's a beast I hug close to me; never will I let it go. Not death metal in the strict sense... or else it is, in which case I wish it was the only death metal record ever released. All young males should be issued this record. Then they can have a discussion group about their feelings.

From the very first blast beat Repulsion’s only album, Horrified is a raging album that leaves everything else in shreds. Originally recorded in ’86, but released in 1989, many would be quick to label Repulsion as a Napalm Death/Carcass rip-off, but what those people wouldn’t know is that Repulsion’s early ‘86 demo (under the Genocide moniker) chronologically puts Repulsion at the same starting point as the aforementioned godfathers of grind from the UK. But enough with the history lesson for now, as we will get back to the Genocide demos later.
Instead, let’s try to put “Horrified” into prospective. The first album that comes to mind upon examining a possible example that would serve well to convey this album is most-likely Napalm Death’s “Scum” for the simple fact that the two share many similarities between them, the most dominant commonplace being the blast beat and hardcore influence, the least being the two bands’ lyrics. In that case a reference to Carcass is much more pertinent, whilst not quite on target. But Repulsion is much more than simple references, it is an amalgamation of different styles, ranging from early thrash ala Slayer to early traces of death metal and of course hardcore.
The intro to the opening track, “The Stench of Burning Death” is reminiscent of British crust/hardcore, at least until the song picks up. At that point we start entering grind territory. The vocals, which are a distant shriek, much in the vein of all early death metal, the insanely fast guitar work and even more preposterous drumming, the violent tempo changes, the raw production, the fuzzy bass, the chaotic solos and the gore/horror themed lyrics (which occasionally are rather humourous) all lay down the groundwork for what makes Repulsion the band that it was. All in all it’s probably a defining track for the band’s sound, yet some elements and sides of the band aren’t obvious from the initial taste of “Horrified”. Many songs, such as “Decomposed”, “The Lurking Fear” and “Bodily Dismemberment” all have a certain thrash vibe to them, in some cases Slayer comes to mind. On the other hand, many songs are more of a clash between hardcore and metallic riffs, “Pestilent Decay” has a brutal stop and start structure that really amplifies the intensity of the track while “Repulsion” grabs hold and doesn’t relent as it just keeps on pounding away with blast beats, not to mention it having some of the albums more nasty lyrics, featuring rabid dogs, maggots, vomit, oozing pus, zombies, corpses and a rotten, aborted fetus with a hanger through it’s head, utterly fantastic.
In some ways the album is a bit over the top as the occasional track strikes the listener as already covered territory, but Repulsion also had a way of making room for Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and Master influences, so it never gets boring. “Radiation Sickness” has a killer death metal vibe that’s just as heavy as any other track without resorting to the proverbial blast beat for the whole duration of the song, not to say that there isn’t any blasting in there for good measure. “Driven to Insanity” once again takes a thrashy edge and mixes it with abrasive metal riffing, monstrous bass and slow pounding drums before going into a pummeling overdrive. The slow grinding “Festering Boils” kicks off with a very harsh bass intro that sounds like a chainsaw, once again taking hardcore and metal and mixing it into it’s own unique sound, while “Black Breath” takes it a step further and totally dismisses the blast beats in favour of a thrashy, slow grinding song that absolutely reeks of Slayer, with it’s distorted bass it’s still as unyielding as any other track that you could single out. The album closes with the title-track, which is just as uncompromising and defining as the album’s opener, yet slightly more diverse as it’s crushing mid-paced section towards the ends really goes for the listener’s jugular.
“Horrified” is just as essential a listen for any grind freak as Napalm Death’s and Carcass’ first two albums, if not more so. Relentless, uncompromising, insane, extreme and downright wrong, “Horrified” will ram you and leave you for dead. I simply cannot recommend this enough.
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Along with the 2003 re-issue of “Horrified” comes a second CD full of great rarities and extras:
GENOCIDE 11/84 Rehearsal Demo
Before Repulsion would start playing at breakneck speeds, this rehearsal (recorded on a portable cassette) gives only bit of an impression of what is to come from the band in the future. The solos aren’t as chaotic, there are a couple of mid-paced sections in these tracks and most importantly there are no blast beats. It’s actually a bit like early Venom on steroids, not bad, but in face of what’s to come rather irrelevant.

GENOCIDE Violent
Death Demo Autumn ‘85
Recorded on a portable cassette like the first demo, it sounds just as shitty, but the band’s songs are picking up speed at this point. The vocals are more of a distant yell than those on the first demo and on future recordings, also the bass sounds rather normal, for lack of better word. A few of the tracks later appear on “Horrified”, the only significant difference here is the absence of blast beats from those very tracks.

GENOCIDE WFBE Demo 1/26/86
As mentioned earlier, this demo is the first recording to provide a more established sound for the band. The overall product is definitely something groundbreaking for it’s time. All but two tracks from this demo would appear on “Horrified”, which would explain why it sounds a lot like it to begin with. All the elements are present, the blast beats, the fast guitar work, yet it just doesn’t feel as chaotic as Repulsion’s debut. In some ways the production is better on this demo, but for all it’s worth, it doesn’t have as much feeling as “Horrified”. But despite that minor fault, it’s still punishing and easily stands on it’s own.

GENOCIDE Live 5/14/86
Not much to say about these two tracks, the sound is pretty messy, but still manages to capture a great live performance from the band. It’s neither here nor there, really.

REPULSION Excruciation EP/Demo
Repulsion’s next release after “Horrified”, “Excruciation”, despite being a lot more focused on a certain sound, it just doesn’t hold the same thrill as the legendary debut. There is more structure to these tracks as they don’t stray away from pure death metal. The songs have a more rhythmic approach to them as well as more mid to fast-paced sections, even a couple of solos that don’t sound like an animal being raped by a horse. All in all the only track that really stands out in “Helga (Lost Her Head)”, both musically and lyrically.

REPULSION 1991 Final Demos
Last but not least, these are the tracks that tantalise with the promise of a future that would never happen. To quote the linear notes, “the blast beat is back”. What we have here is a band that’s ready to take over the underground world.
”Depraved” is a fast, brutal track that’s once again pure death metal. With blast beats and deep growls unlike anything to have ever been released by the band, “Depraved” relentlessly sets the tone for the next two tracks. “Face of Decay” is much like the first track, but rather starts with a slow doomish intro before culminating into a chaotic maelstrom of speed. Ending, “Something Dead” is another fast track that moves in and out of slow doom like sections that pummel the listener. The overall production is pretty rough but, had these sessions made it to a full length, they could have been quite imposing. If only interest in this band hadn’t waned, they could have really had something here.

(Note: I am reviewing the Relapse re-release)

Repulsion is truly one of THE cult metal acts. Their name was known all over the tape trading underground as early as 1985 and despite their enormous influence and underground following, they couldn't get signed and officially release any material - that is, they couldn't until 1989 when Bill Steer and Jeff Walker of Carcass fame decided to put this amazingly awesome death/grind/thrash classic out on their Necrosis label. For 1989 this is still quite abrasive, raw and just fucking good, but the most mind bending fact about this album is that is was originally recorded in 1986, a full three years before it was released in any sort of meaningful capacity. This is THE original grindcore album, before Napalm Death, before Carcass, Brutal Truth, Entombed, or any other band touted by Earache's grind period. Not only are Repulsion the first grind band, but they are also the first band with over the top gore-laden lyrics. One can even argue that Repulsion were the first pure death metal band. While Death were basically thrash with harsher vocals, Repulsion incorporated much more of what we see in modern death metal: vicious blast beats, relentless speed, and a flurry of noise. Repulsion effectively set the ground for all death metal to follow. Hell, one need only look at the song titles to understand just how influential Repulsion were - "Splattered Cadaver," "Acid Bath," "Six Feet Under" - all band monikers lifted from this one Repulsion album.

But Horrified is more than just influence. It is an all out awesome record. It's raw, it's brutal, and it just fucking rocks. Drawing on a range of influences like Hellhammer, Slaughter, and Discharge, Repulsion infused elements of all these acts, threw in a lot of feedback and distortion and a lyrical bloodbath to create a legendary wall of noise that is still relevant today. If anyone witnessed them at this past Maryland Deathfest they can attest that the sheer intensity of their music has not faded with time. The best part of all this? Relapse has released this almost impossible to find classic on two discs. The first disc is Horrified in all its original raw glory, and the second disc is chock full of rarities, from their 1984 demo released when they were still called Genocide, all the way to some demos they recorded in 1991.

The second disc is the real treat in this deal; along with some wonderfully written liner notes, the rarities disc gives an aural history of the evolution of this cult group. The first three tracks from Genocide's rehearsal demo are entirely indecipherable and would put any wannabe "cult" black metal band to shame with their ghetto recording techniques. Even though it is just a massive wall of distortion one has to appreciate the sheer sonic intensity of it all. As the tracks progress the songwriting gets better, the demo production improves just enough to make the music understandable. We even get treated to a pair of live tracks from May of 1986, which sound absolutely amazing. All in all this re-release is extremely well done, as all the re-releases Relapse has been behind have been, and is a must for anyone who doesn't have the original Repulsion releases.

Originally Published @ www.metaljudgment.com (c) 2004

This album blows away all preconceptions about extreme metal.
To think that this kind of noise was being turned out in the mid-eighties is almost unbelievable. Just a few years after Metallica and Slayer popped onto the scene, the members of Genocide are already taking that new form of heavier sound and butchering it for all its worth.
This cd is as complete as it can be on the past history of the first true grindcore outfit. It has demos galore, and some newer stuff added in too. To be honest though, the demos are weakly produced, and some of them are just a pure barrage of bass and drums.
But lets not detract from this fine album. The nice thing about the accompanying booklet is foot notes that give little insights into the thinking of the songs and their arrangements and ideas. Ok. So the idea was to write about people being horribly butchered, burnt or eaten by zombies, but hey...thats half the fun. If you can't have a laugh, what have you got?
The songs don't blur into each other quite like I was expecting. (I had a few of their tracks on tape and they seemed quite similar, so I was aprehensive). Unlike Carcass's first full length (in my opinion) these tracks really do have individual feeling and structure. I was expecting a 'Scum' style montage of white noise and fuzz bass with no begining or end, just little breaks to breath.
There is some fuzz bass on this don't get me wrong, but its cool intro fuzz bass, thats opens for some bad as fuck riffs and chaotic drum sections.
The opener, The Stench of Burning Death, raps off a few intro bars and then lets you have it both barrels with blast beats that defy description. Its just one big thrash of speed and ...well, more speed.
The vocals on an initial listen seem a bit weak, almost cross over thrash/death style. But once you play this album a few times they fit very very nicely into the scheme of things. And lets not forget Chuck Schuldiner's vocal talents were not exactly "Chris Barnes" grunts when Death first started off either. Both bands share some history, but like it says in the booklet, Repulsion knew they were heading in a different direction to Chuck when their songs constantly involved zombie gore lyrics and cramp inducing drum blasts!
Radiation Sickness is one of my personal favorites. It has some clean moments and the vocals complement the track very well.
But hell, this album is all about the grind, so for that you really need to listen to The Lurking Fear and Horrified for all out brum smashing, riff melding carnage. The little addition of..."Fuck" at the end of the last track (title track) completes, what is for me a bizarrely underproduced, yet totally addictive album.
You know when you put your favorite death metal album on and you come over all aggressive and emotional (well maybe its just me)?
This album makes me like that. And that in my book is FANTASTIC thing indeed.

God Damn! This album is just constant speed and intensity from beginning to end. Imagine Slayer, Celtic Frost(pre-Avaunt Garde days), and Discharge on a speeding train on a crash course for a village full of blood thirsty zombies, that aren't slow and dimmited, but fast and haven't eaten flesh for at least a year, and you have this damn album! Constant headbanging! This has to be the most extreme(and underrated) release of the 80's. This is total grindcore. If you think Napalm Death were the first grindcore band, you're wrong! ND totally ripped off Repulsion! Muddy yet audible production is what is on display here, in gigantic doses. There is no let up on this album! Damn, I feel as I'm repeating myself but I just can't help it! All the lyrics on the album are about gore(before gore lyrics became cliche). The bass sound on this is just inhuman. The reason this got a 96 instead of a perfect 100 is that some of the songs sound the same unless you listen really closely. This deserves your attention the whole way through. If you call yourself a grindcore fan, and do not own those album, then you do not know grindcore! This the first, best and best grindcore release ever, and probably the only grindcore album you'll ever need. Hail Repulsion! My head still hurts from head banging so god damn much along with the album.

Napalm Death's Scum was the foundation for political grindcore, Horrified was the foundation for gore grind. It is unfortunate that Napalm led a long and successful career full of accolades and recognition, while Repulsion had a few of their songs covered by.... Napalm Death. Horrified is relentless... 16 tracks of scathing grind and sick lyrics that predate carcass by a year or two and pound "Reek" like a red headed stepchild.

This is grindcore. Ground zero.

The guitar tone is gritty as fuck, yet audible... little to no technical prowess, but ain't that the beauty of grind and it's forebearers? Just play as fast and straightforward as possible. Drums = unstoppable blasts that are unfortunately buried in the mix. Imagine Slayer mixed with DRI circa Dealing With It, plus a fuckload of aggression.

Standout tracks = Radiation Sickness, Eaten Alive, Maggots in Your Coffin, and Black Breath, the only somewhat midpaced song (later covered by Entombed). You don't know grind until you know REPULSION \m/. Nuff said