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technical grindcore

Technical Grindcore

United States · 1990s
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Description

Technical grindcore is an extreme offshoot of grindcore that fuses the genre’s ultra‑fast tempos and abrasive vocals with the rhythmic sophistication and precision of technical death metal and mathcore.

It is defined by blast beats at eye‑watering tempos, intricate riffing in odd meters, sudden metric modulations, and through‑composed, micro‑song structures that often compress dozens of ideas into under a minute. Guitars favor chromatic, dissonant lines, wide interval leaps, and rapid alternate‑/economy‑picking; drums deploy traditional, bomb, and gravity blasts with metronomic accuracy; vocals shift between piercing highs and deep gutturals. The result is music that is both violently visceral and compositionally complex.


Sources: Spotify, Wikipedia, Discogs, RYM, MB, user feedback and other online sources

History

Origins (early–mid 1990s)

Technical grindcore emerged in the United States during the early–mid 1990s when musicians steeped in hardcore punk and first‑wave grindcore began incorporating the dexterity and harmonic language of technical death metal. Pioneering American bands pushed beyond straight blast‑beat barrages toward odd meters, unconventional song forms, and labyrinthine riff stacks, setting the blueprint for a more cerebral grind.

Consolidation and Globalization (late 1990s–2000s)

By the late 1990s and 2000s, a distinct scene formed around specialized labels and studios that favored ultra‑tight production and surgical playing. Acts in North America, Europe, and Japan advanced the style with tunings that supported low‑register clarity at very high speed, drumming that normalized gravity blasts, and arrangements that traded verse/chorus for through‑composed narratives. Festivals like Obscene Extreme (CZ) and Maryland Deathfest (US) gave this niche a live platform.

Hybridization and Studio Modernity (2010s)

The 2010s saw technical grindcore intersect with mathcore, deathgrind, and cybergrind. Affordable high‑fidelity recording, drum sample reinforcement, and precise editing magnified the style’s hallmark tightness. Producers and engineers known for extreme‑music clarity helped codify tones: bright, cutting snares; triggered, fast‑decaying kicks; and saturated but articulate guitars. International scenes in Poland, Spain, and Canada became especially visible.

Present Day (2020s)

Today technical grindcore remains a specialist craft: bands release compact records of extremely dense music, often under 25 minutes, while pushing rhythmic illusions, dissonant counterpoint, and virtuosic speed to new extremes. Online communities and file‑sharing revived interest in cybernetic/programmable approaches, while live acts continue to showcase human limits of precision at 250–300+ BPM.

How to make a track in this genre

Core Rhythm and Meter
•   Target tempos commonly range from 230–320 BPM. Alternate between traditional blasts, bomb blasts, and gravity blasts; intersperse ultra‑tight d‑beats and hyper‑skanks for contrast. •   Use odd meters (5/8, 7/8, 9/8) and frequent metric modulations. Shorten or extend phrases by a beat to create whiplash transitions.
Harmony, Riffing, and Tuning
•   Favor chromatic movement, minor seconds, tritones, and quartal clusters. Mix linear atonal runs with angular intervallic leaps. •   Common tunings: Drop C, Drop B, or 7/8‑string in A–B standard for low‑end clarity at speed. •   Compose in compact “cells”: 1–2‑bar ideas chained rapidly. Avoid repeated verses; think through‑composed micro‑structures.
Arrangement and Form
•   Keep songs concise (20–90 seconds is typical), but pack multiple contrasting sections. •   Use stop‑start stabs, dead‑air cuts, and abrupt tempo drops to reset the ear. Layer countermelodies or guitar/bass hocketing for added density.
Vocals and Lyrics
•   Alternate between high, rasping screams and deep gutturals; use gang shouts sparingly for emphasis. •   Lyrical themes lean abstract, sci‑fi, cybernetic dystopia, or intense personal/psychological fragments—delivered in tight syllabic phrasing that locks to rhythmic hits.
Drums and Bass
•   Drums require finger‑control singles for gravity blasts, heel‑toe or swivel for double‑kick clarity, and strict metronome practice. •   Bass should be articulate and slightly overdriven; double crucial guitar lines, then diverge with fills and slides to outline harmony.
Sound Design and Production
•   Tight gating, fast‑release compression on kicks, and well‑defined transient shaping on snare. Parallel compression keeps the kit aggressive without smearing. •   Guitars: high‑gain but controlled; emphasize pick attack and midrange definition (avoid scooped tones that bury fast lines). •   Edit with restraint: align but preserve human feel. Print tempo maps; rehearse to them before tracking.
Practice and Writing Workflow
•   Draft riffs as modular “cells,” then permute (retrograde, truncation, hemiola overlays). Test ideas at half‑speed to check voice‑leading. •   Rehearse transitions relentlessly; the impact of technical grindcore is in the micro‑timing precision between sections.

Best playlists

The Sound of Technical Grindcore
The Sound of Technical Grindcore
Every Noise at Once
Technical Grindcore
Technical Grindcore
Chosic
Best of Technical Grindcore
Best of Technical Grindcore
volt.fm

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Revulsion Records
Revulsion Records

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in this genre
Influenced by
Group Sounds
Group Sounds (often abbreviated GS) is a mid-to-late 1960s Japanese pop-rock movement characterized by electric guitar “beat bands” modeled on the British Invasion and The Ventures’ surf sound, blended with domestic kayōkyoku pop sensibilities. Bands typically featured sharp suits or coordinated costumes, catchy vocal harmonies, twangy or fuzz-laden guitars, Farfisa/Combo organs, and danceable backbeats. Repertoires mixed original tunes with Japanese-language covers of Western hits. Lyrical themes centered on teenage romance, youthful longing, and bittersweet nostalgia, making the style both energetic and tender. The term “Group Sounds” (グループ・サウンズ) was coined by Japanese media to describe this wave of guitar groups that broke into the mainstream, popularizing the rock band format in Japan.
Death Metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal defined by heavily distorted, low‑tuned guitars, rapid and complex riffing, blast beat drumming, and harsh guttural vocals. Its harmonic language favors chromaticism, dissonance, and tremolo-picked lines that create an ominous, abrasive atmosphere. Lyrically, death metal often explores dark or transgressive themes—mortality, mythology, anti-religion, psychological horror, and the macabre—sometimes with philosophical or social commentary. Production ranges from raw and cavernous to hyper-precise and technical, reflecting the genre’s many regional scenes and substyles. From the mid‑1980s Florida scene (Tampa) and parallel developments in the US, UK, and Sweden, death metal evolved into numerous branches including brutal death metal, technical death metal, melodic death metal, and death‑doom, each emphasizing different aspects of speed, complexity, melody, or heaviness.
Technical Death Metal
Technical death metal (often shortened to tech-death) is a virtuosic, hyper-detailed branch of death metal characterized by complex song structures, rapid-fire tempo changes, and high-performance musicianship. It fuses the extremity and heaviness of death metal with the rhythmic sophistication of progressive metal and the harmonic vocabulary of jazz fusion. Signature elements include odd and shifting time signatures, polyrhythms, dissonant and chromatic harmony, through-composed or non-repeating structures, and intricate contrapuntal interplay between guitars and bass (often fretless). Drumming emphasizes precision blast beats, rapid double-kick patterns, metric modulation, and constant subdivision changes. Vocals are primarily deep growls or harsh screams, while lyrics frequently explore science, philosophy, metaphysics, and cosmology alongside the genre’s traditional dark themes. Production tends to favor clarity and separation to make dense arrangements intelligible, with tight, gated guitars, articulate bass presence, and drum sounds that capture transient detail. The result is aggressive, cerebral, and often breathtakingly technical music that rewards close listening.
Mathcore
Mathcore is an extreme offshoot of metalcore and hardcore punk characterized by rapid-fire shifts in meter, tempo, and texture. It emphasizes dissonant, angular riffing; complex, polymetric drum patterns; and whirlwind song structures that often feel deliberately chaotic. The genre fuses the precision and rhythmic gamesmanship of math rock with the aggression of hardcore and the density of extreme metal. Songs routinely feature sudden stops, blast beats, start–stop riffing, odd time signatures, and atonal or chromatic harmonies, producing a sound that is tense, volatile, and cathartic.
Hardcore Punk
Hardcore punk is a faster, louder, and more abrasive offshoot of late-1970s punk rock. Songs are typically short (often under two minutes), propelled by rapid tempos, aggressive down‑stroked guitar riffs, and shouted or barked vocals. The style prioritizes raw energy over technical ornamentation: power‑chord harmony, minimal guitar solos, and tightly locked rhythm sections dominate. Lyrically, hardcore punk is intensely direct—often political, anti‑authoritarian, and socially critical—reflecting a DIY ethic that values independent labels, self‑organized shows, and community‑run spaces. The genre coalesced in U.S. scenes such as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston, and soon spread internationally. Its velocity, attitude, and grassroots infrastructure profoundly shaped underground music and paved the way for numerous metal, punk, and alternative subgenres.
Thrash Metal
Thrash metal is a fast, aggressive, and riff‑driven style of metal characterized by high-tempo, palm‑muted downpicking; tightly synchronized rhythm sections; and abrasive, shouted or barked vocals. Songs typically sit in the 180–220+ BPM range, with rapid alternate picking, chugging power‑chord riffs, and precise double‑bass drumming. Harmonically, thrash favors minor tonalities, chromatic movement, tritone tension, and modal flavors such as Phrygian and Aeolian. Structures are riff-centric and often feature brisk tempo changes, sharp stops/starts, and technically demanding solos that draw on pentatonic, natural/harmonic minor, and modal runs. Lyrically, thrash is frequently anti‑authoritarian and socio‑political, addressing war, corruption, media manipulation, and personal alienation. Compared to speed metal, thrash is more percussive, staccato, and palm‑mute heavy; compared to death metal, vocals are generally less guttural and the riffing slightly less dissonant, but the intensity and precision remain core to the style.
Progressive Metal
Progressive metal blends the ambition and extended song forms of progressive rock with the heaviness, timbre, and energy of heavy metal. It is characterized by complex arrangements, frequent time‑signature changes, virtuosic instrumental passages, thematic or concept‑driven albums, and a wide dynamic range from delicate, atmospheric sections to aggressive, high‑gain climaxes. Harmonically it draws on modal interchange, chromatic voice‑leading, and jazz‑fusion colors, while rhythmically it favors polymeters, polyrhythms, and metric modulation. Keyboards and layered production often add orchestral or cinematic scope.
American Grindcore
American grindcore is the United States’ take on the ultra-fast, ultra-abrasive fusion of hardcore punk and extreme metal. It emphasizes blast‑beat drumming, down‑tuned and highly distorted guitars, and a mix of guttural growls, high‑pitched screams, and barked shouts. Songs are famously short—often under a minute—packing multiple riffs, tempo shifts (from blast-beat barrages to D‑beat breaks), and sudden stops into miniature explosions of intensity. Compared with its UK forebears, the American branch often leans more heavily into death‑metal precision, technical riffing, and tight production while retaining punk’s confrontational immediacy. Lyrically, American grindcore ranges from political and social critique to bleak nihilism, absurdist humor, and splatter/gore imagery. Strong local scenes formed in places like Southern California, the American Northeast, the Mid‑Atlantic, Florida, and the Midwest, tied together through DIY venues, tape trading, and later, independent labels and online communities.
Has influenced
Cybergrind
Cybergrind is an ultra-kinetic fusion of grindcore’s extremity with digital production and club-adjacent sound design. It pairs screamed or growled vocals and whiplash riffing with drum machines, trackers, and DAWs that unleash blast beats far beyond human performance, glitch edits, and brutal, bit-crushed textures. Stylistically, it draws from breakcore, digital hardcore, industrial, gabber, and speedcore, translating grind’s micro-song intensity into a hyper-digital aesthetic. Song lengths are often short, arrangements swing between chaotic bursts and razor-cut grooves, and synths/organs/8‑bit timbres frequently replace or double traditional guitars. Lyrically and visually, cybergrind leans into dystopia, technophobia/techno‑fetish, internet culture, and cyberpunk imagery.
Technical Deathcore
Technical deathcore is a hyper-virtuosic branch of deathcore that fuses the genre’s signature breakdown-focused heaviness with the speed, precision, and advanced musicianship of technical death metal. Expect rapid-fire, tightly edited riffing on extended-range guitars, intricate drumwork (gravity blasts, relentless double-kick, metric modulations), highly syncopated chugs that flirt with djent, and sudden drops into massive, rhythmically clever breakdowns. Lead guitars often employ sweep-picking, tapping, and chromatic or exotic-scale runs, while bass frequently mirrors or expands guitar lines with its own technical flourishes. Vocals range from cavernous lows to piercing highs, with occasional inhuman textures and layered harmonies. Lyrical themes frequently lean toward science fiction, cosmic horror, technological dystopia, and apocalyptic imagery, with a modern production aesthetic: clinical tightness, re-amped guitars, sample-reinforced drums, and dense, spatial synthetic layers.
Deathcore
Deathcore is an extreme metal style that fuses the sonic density and vocal brutality of death metal with the rhythmic breakdowns and structural emphasis of metalcore. Typical arrangements feature drop‑tuned or extended‑range guitars executing tremolo‑picked and palm‑muted riffs, drummers deploying blast beats and rapid double‑kick patterns, and vocalists alternating guttural lows with harsh mid/high screams. As a distinct genre, deathcore consolidated in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the mid‑2000s with a wave of touring acts and online discovery. Hallmark moments in songs often pivot around groovy, half‑time breakdown sections that contrast with faster, blast‑driven passages, creating dramatic dynamic shifts that fuel the style’s live energy.

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