WWW.METALSETLISTS.COM - Ben's Top 15 Grindcore Albums

Alrighty. Grindcore (or as I like to call it, grind) has been my favorite style of metal for a while now, so I feel pretty well-qualified to make a list like this. One thing you may notice is the lack of "essential" albums on here. I'll just list them here right now: there's no Repulsion, Napalm Death, or Terrorizer. I don't really like those bands. You also may notice that most of the albums here are from the latter half of the first decade of the 21st century. Haha.

I also decided I'm not gonna post song links. Trust me, you want to check these albums out, ya lazy pieces of shit.

It's also probably heavily anti-climatic for me to post everything all at once, but I don't care anymore.

Okay, let's get the show on the fucking road.

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[LIST]15. The Endless Blockade – Primitive (2008)
Apparently these guys have been around a while, but they just broke up. Aww shucks. This is some fantastic powerviolence-flavored grind. Nothing more to say here; it's not especially unique, just really well-executed.[/LIST][LIST]14. Kill the Client – Cleptocracy (2008)
One of the best grind bands from the states right now. They play a pummeling metallic meets punky blend of grind. Really enjoyable and well-written.[/LIST][LIST]13. Defeatist – Sharp Blade Sinks Into Dull Minds (2009)
This grind band from NYC quickly became not only one of the city's greatest imports, but a major contributor to the American grind scene. Their brand of grind is similar to that of Kill the Client but not as standard and by-the-books. This is their first album and set the stage for a more experimental direction.[/LIST][LIST] 12. Magrudergrind – Magrudergrind (2009)
One of the newer bands on the scene as well, these D.C. grinders play a healthy mixture of powerviolence and grind. A lot punkier-sounding than most of the standard grind today. They also seem to have a fascination with black people. Check this shit out.[/LIST][LIST] 11. Phobia – Cruel (2006)
These guys have been around since 1990, so over 20 years in the grind business. They play Kill the Client-style grind (or, rather, Kill the Client play Phobia-style grind :p) but with a huge punk/crust influence. Yum. DEATH TO FALSE PUNKS.[/LIST][LIST] 10. Insect Warfare – World Extermination (2007)
Who saw this coming? If you like grind at all, you would've spotted this a mile away. Consistently hailed as one of the greatest grind albums of the first decade of the 21st century, Insect Warfare play the standard American grind blend but they do it much better than anyone else, in my opinion. A bit of a technical edge as well with very deep vocals. This album is the epitome of American grind in the 21st century, plain and simple.[/LIST][LIST] 9. Brutal Truth – Evolution Through Revolution (2009)
I am fully prepared for the hate from the grind purists. This was my first grind album so it still holds a place in my heart. I remember reading reviews of this album and was surprised by the long-time fans less-than-satisfactory reactions. After having listened to their earlier, more essential albums, I understood. Evolution Through Revolution is obviously no Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses (hint hint :p). It's got a much cleaner production and an overall more modern-sounding grind sound. But as you guys have seen by now, I dig the modern grind sound. This album is groovy political grind and while it can get on my nerves sometimes, I can always return to it.[/LIST][LIST] 8. Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Agorapocalypse (2009)
Heh, this was probably my second grind album. It's a lot different than older ANb records – much groovier, overall longer songs, not nearly as many samples – and for that reason I like it a lot more. This motherfucker always hits the spot.[/LIST][LIST] 7. Wormrot – Abuse (2009)
I feel kinda lame putting this on here, as it's probably one of the most overrated grind albums (or maybe I'm just a hipster). But fuck it man, this album just has a certain charm to it. It's not particularly original, just really punky grind, but I love it. I think my favorite part of the album are the vocals – Arif Rot constantly switches from a lower scream to a high-pitched yell. Did I mention they're from Singapore? Oh, no, I didn't. I do believe that's why they get all the praise they get.[/LIST][LIST] 6. Pig Destroyer – Prowler in the Yard (2001)
Another album that you must have seen coming a mile away. Today, Pig Destroyer is probably the biggest – also, the most accessible, take that as you will – grind band from America. J.R. Hayes may have my favorite vocal style in all of grindcore (except for Jon Chang, of course). The songs are groovy as well as extremely angry. My only problem with this album? A bit too many breakdowns for my taste. Some are pretty damn good, while others are just lame as fuck. But aside from 38 Counts of Battery this is the purest album you'll get from these guys, before they went in a deathcore-meets-grind direction. Gross.[/LIST][LIST] 5. Brutal Truth – Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses (1992)
Okay, I had to make an exception and include two BT albums. This is one of the greatest grind albums of all time – even if half the time it's death metal. I think this is what the kids call “deathgrind.” I've never been a huge fan of deathgrind – fucking hate it, actually – but this album is just perfection.[/LIST][LIST] 4. Gridlink – Amber Grey (2008)
Hah. Probably one of the most unique American grind bands today. You may know Jon Chang from Discordance Axis. He's in this band too. You also may know him for his vocal style – high-picthed black-metal rasp meets furious thrash yell, with the angry as fuck urgency of grind. You thought Jacob Bannon of Converge sounds like a dying dog? Jacob Bannon is a fucking pussy. This is extremely short, fast, straight-to-the-point grind, clocking in at 13 minutes. The music is extremely technical, not unlike Cephalic Carnage, but, at the end of the day, it's still grind. Anyway, the vocals make this album. Without the vocals this would be good, don't get me wrong, but nothing too original.[/LIST][LIST] 3. Assuck – Misery Index (1997)
These guys seem pretty underrated in the grind scene, which is a damn shame. The deep vocals matched with perfectly-executed grind make this album a fucking masterpiece. If someone asked what American grind sounded like, I would force this album into his hands. [B]Misery Index is [I]the [/I]American grindcore album.[/B][/LIST][LIST] 2. Splitter – Avskrackande Exemplar (2007)
Because they come from Sweden, you know they're going to sound like Nasum. And they do. But they jump [I]far [/I]beyond those fences. Never have I heard a grind album that manages to be so fucking angry – truly, probably the angriest album on here – but so damn melodic. Never have I heard a grind album that is so fucking catchy. Catchy grindcore? Yeah. They pull it off. [B]They perfectly fucking execute it[/B]. The best grind album released in the first decade of the 21st century, without a doubt.[/LIST][LIST] 1. Nasum – Helvete (2003)
Why only one album from your favorite grind album, Ben? That's easy. If I listed all four of their albums, they would all be in the top 5. And that's not really fair, now, is it? So I picked their best album, which should surprise no one that it's also the best grind album ever recorded. The Swedish grind sound is extremely metallic, with chainsaw-tone and sharp precision. To be honest it's not really punky-sounding at all, which is why most bands can't pull it off. But Nasum, the pioneers of the Swedish grind sound, fuckin' kill it. It's melodic, it's catchy, it's fast, it's angry – it's everything I want from a grind album. One of my top 5 albums of all time. GET THIS NOW.[/LIST]---

Albums that I would have entertained putting on here if they fell more along the traditional lines of grindcore:
[LIST]Owen Hart – Earth Control[/LIST][LIST]
Mistress – Glory Bitches of Doghead[/LIST][LIST]His Hero Is Gone – Monuments to Thieves[/LIST][LIST]Genghis Tron – Board Up the House[/LIST][LIST]Massgrave – 5 Years of Grinding Crustcore[/LIST][LIST]Disrupt – Unrest[/LIST][LIST]Soilent Green – Inevitable Collapse[/LIST][LIST]Cephalic Carnage – Xenosapien[/LIST]

EP that would've made the list (probably the top five, to be honest) if it wasn't so damn short:
[LIST]Wormrot – Noise[/LIST]