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Originally Posted by k-krack
"Power-violence"?! What the fuck is "power-violence"?! There is absolutely no need for such ridiculous terms in fucking music, man. It's post-hardcore, whatever the fuck that even means, and that's as far as I, and anyone, should be willing to take the term. "Post-nu-power-core-straight-edge-indie-punk with some experimental-avante-garde-metalcore leanings." ...NO!
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"Powerviolence" is not a new genre name. The name's been around since the early- to mid-90's. It's kinda funny how the word became a genre descriptor.
Slap-a-Ham Records began as a label in 1989 or so with the release of an album by the not-so-memorable melodic hardcore band No Use for a Name, which SAH founder Chris Dodge used to sing for at the time. Next up, he began releasing records that were combining elements that were previously not mixed together: thrash/HC, crust (of Scandinavian mid-80's descent), grind, death, proggy breakdowns, and hip hop breakdowns and samples. This music was strictly through a punk/HC perspective...not metal. Some of the early records were by bands like Neanderthal, Crossed Out, No Comment, Infest, and Charred Remains, who later changed their name to Man Is the Bastard.
No one had heard music quite like this before, although there were some precursors (even within MITB ancestry such as Pillsbury Hardcore and Pissed Happy Children) including the most metal-accessible moments of NoMeansNo and the proggier side of early Melvins. So, when record reviewers at
MaximumRockandRoll attempted to describe it, they were often too perplexed to find the right words. One reviewer--finally through with throwing "brutal" around over and over--asked: "What is this music that Slap-a-Ham is releasing? Some kinda sonic powerviolence???"
In the next issue of
MRR, Chris Dodge ran with the quote and adopted a new slogan which appeared across the top of his 5" square Slap-a-Ham advertisement: "Specializing in Sonic Powerviolence Since 1989."
Several reviewers and columnists there thought he was serious and continued calling it "sonic powerviolence" or just "powerviolence."
The music began centered in Claremont, CA, with the MITB family tree of bands, L.A. with the likes of No Comment, Infest, and others, and Redwood City, CA, with the Plutocracy family tree which hatched bands such as Spazz, No Less, Evolved to Obliteration, etc., and the SF Bay Area at large with Capitalist Casualties. It spread throughout the west coast through the proliferation of releases by Slap-a-Ham, Deep Six, and Pessimiser/Theologian, a collector frenzy which reached Japanese punk collectors quickly, and through a series of weekend festivals at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley called Fiesta Grande. The music spread to the east coast and in a satirical reflection of East/West hip hop rivalries, a milieu of bands from Virginia to Boston would jokingly call themselves "East Coast Powerviolence," including Suppression, Black Army Jacket, Discordance Axis, Ulcer, and others. Sound Pollution Records would also be recognized as a main mover in powerviolence. Japan would naturally boast the largest contingent of bands from outside America with Fuck on the Beach, Slight Slappers, and others.
Many bands on the most extreme end of powerviolence would widen their influence funnels even further to advance (some would say reduce) their sound to more experimental fields such including noise. MITB would carry on as Bastard Noise, and other members would form Amps for Christ as their main post-MITB vehicle. Chris Dodge himself would do solo noise as Jesus Philbin and make the bizarre East/West Blast Test recordings with Discordance Axis' Dave Witte (later drummed with Melt Banana), and the band Suppression would descend into straight noise and make collab recordings with artists like Facialmess from Japan and even Crank Sturgeon.
While many futurists in the scene were getting more experimental, traditionalists in the scene were focusing more on celebrating the roots, especially Max Ward who hatched his label 625 Productions during the height of powerviolence but later focused almost strictly on very traditional thrash/HC a'la early D.R.I., the Neos, and his favorite Dutch bands such as Larm and Pandemonium. Along with Havoc Records outta Minneapolis, Max would pretty much teach HC history to a whole new generation.
With so many powerviolence principals moving in opposite directions, "powerviolence" sorta folded until recent moments of nostalgia have attempted to resurrect it.
What's also funny is that "powerviolence" is still only taken seriously up to a point even by critics who count themselves as fans, and thus, the word almost always appeared in quotation marks then and now.