Gem Grinder: Metallic Hardcore Before It Was Cool

HELLO FIENDS. Mike Infected, reporting for duty. I come to bring you gems of deadly grinding hardcore supremacy. The purpose of this segment is to bring to light a lot of stuff I think grindheads might miss or over look because of all the hyped modern stuff. There's a lot of stuff out there to be heard! This month I will be focusing on grinding metallic hardcore from the late 90's. I was just a wee tot during most of the 90's but I acknowledge that a lot of whats going on in hardcore these days is all just rehashed stuff from the 80's and 90's, Nothings fresh, Pay homage kids! The bands I'm gonna showcase today are Acrid, Unruh, and Rorschach...


I was introduced to Unruh through the comp 'Cry Now Cry Later'... They were a sick moody, metallic, grinding, hardcore band from Arizona. To me they perfectly mix hardcore, death metal, and 'emo violence.' They chug, they blast, they drone out a little, they were doing this long before it ever became trendy to do so! These guys set the bar (and unfortunately most people didn't reach up to it, look at the pathetic excuses for 'deathcore' we have these days...) This is truly raw, pissed, misanthropic shit, don't miss out on it!

Suggested album: MISERY STRENGTHENED FAITH. (released on the King Of The Monsters label in 1997)

Acrid, stylistically is very similar to Unruh, they were from Canada (if I'm not mistaken). They were just a bunch of hardcore kids playing the music they wanted to hear. They are bit more on the sludgey side but they definitely bring the same kind of vibe. No frills, scathing, metallic hardcore, just raw drug free anger, hatred, and misanthropy!

Suggested Album: Eighty Sixed (released on No Idea Records on Vinyl in 1997)


Rorschach are from New Jersey, and they are arguably the fore fathers of chaotic metallic grinding hardcore. Having power violence, metalcore, and screamo fans laying claim to them being 'theirs.' These guys are definitely NOT something to miss out on. They've been doing the metallic, moody, grindy, hardcore thing since 1989, and they certainly do it right. Mixing schizophrenic wails, with dizzying, churning, riffs, with blasts, chugs and chord progressions that were unheard of at the time. Being influenced by everything from Rites of Spring, to Slayer, to Rudimentary Peni,you know this is stuff to hear. These guys paved the way for bands like Converge, Dystopia, and a lot of the more mathy hardcore bands to follow.

Suggested Album: Protestant (released by Wardence/Gern Blandstend in 1993)

Fans of Dystopia, Weekend Nachos, Converge, New Lows, Sea of Deprivation, Noothgrush, and any kind of metallic hardcore should check all these bands out!

~Mike Infected