Repulsion – Horrified

In their first band (year 1984), Matt Olivo and Scott Carlson were doing what many American newcomer metal musicians were doing in those years: Slayer and Metallica covers. Their music changed under the influence of drummer Phil Hines, whom they exported from a hardcore punk band called Dissonance. However, the real magic mix would emerge when Dave ‘Grave’ Hollingshead, a notorious punk, joined the band. Dave’s reputation, and also his nickname, came from his grave robbing, which made TV news.

This critically acclaimed album was first released as a demo called The Stench Of Burning Death in 1986. That is, historically, before the debut albums of grindcore giants such as Carcass, Terrorizer and Napalm Death were released. Undoubtedly, they also released various demos before their first album. However, the real important issue here is this: Horrified may have been released after the first albums of the bands we mentioned, but since it is a completely re-recorded version of The Stench.. demo, its content is actually older. Therefore, we can say that Repulsion are perhaps the first grindcore band. In any case, they are certainly one of the genre’s greatest sources of inspiration.

Horrified was first released in album format in 1989 by Necrosis Records, a sub-label of Earache, owned by Carcass members who were fans of Repulsion. They are a great band that has deeply influenced many grindcore musicians, including members of Terrorizer and Napalm Death, and has managed to enter the list of single-album gems in the history of heavy music with their creativity (See Disincarnate). This is the only reason why the new generation is not familiar with their name.

The biggest architect of the dynamism in their music is definitely drummer Dave. I don’t know how much of an influence he has on songwriting, but he plays incredibly fast. In those years, the band was known as the fastest band in the world due to Dave’s drumming.

The album consists of 18 tracks in total and has a duration of around 29 minutes. There are occasional groovy and slow parts in the tracks, but overall it ends the same way it started, in the mood of Reign In Blood. The album – as is customary in grindcore except for exceptional cases – has a feeling as if it comprises a single song, but there is a break every 1.5-2 minutes so that the listener does not become exhausted. The lyrics are based entirely on gore themes. They talked a lot about things like zombies, nuclear war, and cadavers.

In fact, these words, which make you think that they do not mean anything, generally stem from a punk attitude. These people are not assholes. On the contrary, they have chosen to express their reaction to the mainstream, the mundane, where people constantly talk about love and affection, serve them with romantic covers, and create the illusion that people live in a rosy world. If you have fun watching zombie movies, be sure you will have fun listening to this album too.

There isn’t left much to say 🙂 It’s a monster, rock solid album. A classic, period.

10/10