 | | In the last years of the 1990s, one of the few venues for underground punk shows in Memphis, TN, was a warehouse space located across the street from the hotel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. |
 | | Amebix, now recognized as one of the most influential heavy bands ever, was born in England during the summer of 1978. |
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 | | A long-lived British hardcore band cited as a key influence by artists including Metallica and Anthrax, Discharge was formed in 1977 by singer Terry "Tez" Roberts, his twin brother and guitarist Tony "Bones" Roberts, bassist Roy "Rainy" Wainwright, and drummer Hacko. |
 | | Long before the endless stream of grindcore bands emerged in the '90s, N.Y.C.'s Nausea was delivering a relentless, ear-splitting, and politically charged fury that none of them ever equaled. |
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 | | The brittlest and most hard-line radical of the first wave of British punk bands, Crass issued a blitz of records that were ruthless in both their unrelenting sociopolitical screeds and their amelodic crash of noise. |
 | | A fiercely political leftist punk band formed in Hertfordshire, England in 1980, Flux of Pink Indians comprised vocalist Colin Birkett, his bassist brother Derek, guitarist Kevin Hunter and drummer Martin Wilson. |
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 | | In many ways, Black Flag was the definitive Los Angeles hardcore punk band. Although their music flirted with heavy metal and experimental noise and jazz more than that of most hardcore bands, they defined the image and the aesthetic. |
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 | | Arising from the British anarcho-punk and hardcore scene of the early 1980s, Doom became a progenitor of the crust punk sound, characterized by thrash guitars, speed drumming, and barked vocals, often including, and certainly in Doom’s case, staunchly political lyrics. |
 | | Anarchy in the U.K., indeed -- such was the ultimate goal for the fiercely political British punk band Conflict, a group fueled by its hatred of Thatcher's England, the media, the military, and the general status quo of late 20th century life. |
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 | | A band on a mission to show that not all is sunny and bright in its native Orange County, CA (or anywhere else on the planet, for that matter), Phobia are a grindcore/crust-punk band founded in 1990 by vocalist Shane McLachlan (who also picks up guitars, bass, and drums, as needed in the studio), guitarists Bruce Reeves and Zach Southall, and drummer Marco Soriano -- the first of many lineups. |
 | | Formed in Oakland, California in late 1985, Neurosis developed a style blending industrial, heavy metal, and alternative rock with often spiritually focused lyrics. |
 | | Based in San Francisco during the '80s, MDC trumped the Dead Kennedys by performing politically charged hardcore punk that was arguably more extreme than what got the Kennedys into trouble. |
 | | One of the most enduring and influential underground bands in heavy metal history, Pentagram's career was almost 15 years old by the time they finally managed to record their first album. |
 | | This St. Petersburg, Florida-based outfit was one of the first wave of US grindcore bands to emerge in the late 80s. |
 | | The influential, long-lived punk metal band G.B.H. rose to prominence in England during the early '80s when hardcore punk began inching toward heavy metal. |
 | | U.K. anarchist punk collective Subhumans formed in the Trowbridge area of Wiltshire in 1980, comprised of vocalist Dick, guitarist Bruce, bassist Phil, and drummer Trotsky. |
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 | | Bristol, England's Disorder emerged in the early '80s out of the second wave of British punk. The group took the D. |
 | | Kylesa is, fundamentally, a metal group, but the Savannah, Georgia-based outfit is otherwise difficult to categorize: elements of hardcore punk, psychedelic stoner rock, technical speed metal, and good old-fashioned Black Sabbath sludge appear in their music. |
 | | Be forewarned: The story of this early-'80s New York punk band does not have a happy ending. Reagan Youth got their start in 1980 while founding members Dave Rubinstein -- later known as Dave Insurgent -- and Paul Bakija, aka Paul Cripple, were in high school. |
 | | The misanthropic sludge metal outfit Eyehategod was formed in New Orleans in 1988, and became an important part of a Southern sludgecore scene that included bands like Crowbar and Down, all of whom were heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, Black Flag, and the Melvins. |
 | | D.R.I. (aka Dirty Rotten Imbeciles) were one of the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal, along with Suicidal Tendencies and Corrosion of Conformity. |
 | | Void was one of the earliest bands to fuse hardcore punk and heavy metal in a way that was accepted by punk fans, and also the first band signed to Ian MacKaye's Dischord label that wasn't from Washington, D. |
 | | One of Britain's most consistent and enduring death metal bands, Birmingham's Bolt Thrower has weathered the best and worst of times in the extreme genre's history without ever giving in to commercial temptations, or hardly even altering its sound. |
 | | The Dead Kennedys merged revolutionary politics with hardcore punk music and, in the process, became one of the defining hardcore bands. |
 | | Motörhead's overwhelmingly loud and fast style of heavy metal was one of the most groundbreaking styles the genre had to offer in the late '70s. |
 | | Perhaps the ultimate stoner rock band, Northern California trio Sleep had a career that wafted in and out of focus from within their self-mandated cloud of marijuana smoke. |
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 | | Their name lifted from the seminal 1973 Stooges album, the Italian hardcore band Raw Power debuted in 1985 with Screams From the Gutter, an English-language album recorded for the California label Toxic Shock. |
 | | By melding punk with reggae, Bad Brains became one of the definitive American hardcore punk groups of the early '80s. |
 | | Formed in 1979 by Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson, the Circle Jerks combined the rebelliousness of the Sex Pistols and Ramones with the aggressive athletic elements of the surfer/skateboarder crowd from Hermosa Beach. |
 | | Living fast and dying young is one of rock's great clichés, but no phrase better describes the reasons for the demise of L. |
 | | This Scottish punk band were formed in Edinburgh in the early 80s, immediately gaining a reputation within both the anarchist and skinhead movements (their name, more than their actual music or attitudes, allied them to the nascent Oi! scene gathering pace in England). |
 | | Philadelphia emo quartet Kid Dynamite was formed in 1997 by ex-Lifetime guitarist Dan Yemin, who recruited bassist Steve Ferrel and drummer/fellow Lifetime co-founder David Wagenschutz for regular practice sessions which in time yielded a vocal-free demo cassette. |
 | | Baroness play an eclectic brand of heavy metal, embracing the ferocity and sharp technique of new-millennium metal but with melodic accents and intelligent guitar work that suggest the influence of indie rock and post-punk bands. |
 | | Nasum, a Swedish grindcore band formed in 1992 by Necrony members Anders Jakobson(guitar) and Rickard Alriksson(drums and vocals), would develop into one of that country's premier metal acts, but would be felled tragically by the events of the December 2004 tsunami that brought mass destruction to Thailand, ending the life of (eventual) vocalist and beloved member Mieszko Talarczyk. |
 | | Guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike, bass player George Rice, and drummer Des Kensel formed High on Fire in 1999, following the collapse of Pike's previous band, doom metal titans Sleep. |
 | | Originally known as Society System Decontrol (and later SS Decontrol), SSD is credited with having been the band that brought the straightedge movement to Boston's hardcore/punk world. |
 | | The fathers of grindcore, Napalm Death pushed the envelope of metal to new extremes of ear-splitting intensity, rejecting all notions of melody, subtlety, and good taste to forge a brand of sonic assault almost frightening in its merciless brutality. |
 | | Japanese cult favorite sludge/doom rock trio Boris take their name from a song on grunge godfathers the Melvins' Bullhead album. |
