A well-educated metalhead friend once told me that the term “grindcore” wasn’t coined to capture the parts of grind songs where the bands chase you around like rabid barbarians, but for the slow sludgy parts where they catch you, pin you to the ground, and methodically beat you with hammers. He didn’t use those metaphorical terms — those are my own embellishments — but you probably know what I’m talking about.
I think at one point I probably researched the origins of the term, but I’ve forgotten what I found. Regardless, grind fans know this dichotomy between high-speed mayhem and down-shifted thuggery, and sometimes it’s tough to predict which aspect will generate the most violent mosh pit at a show (you remember mosh pits, don’t you, even if just barely?).
But in the case of the veteran Canadian band Fuck the Facts, it’s been evident for a long time that “dichotomous” egregiously under-represents their remarkably distinctive and multi-faceted approach to grind. In fact, there’s usually so much more going on in their music that some ingenious word-smith needs to come up with a different genre term for their music altogether. “Grind” really just doesn’t cut it. Continue reading »
