Music Sound

Powerviolence is a cross breeding of musical genres hardcore punk and grindcore that was first mentioned by name in the song Hispanic Small Man Power (H.S.M.P.) by genre pioneer Man Is The Bastard. Powerviolence is generally played at a frantic speed, often employing blast beats, and expressing frenzied rage. Its nascent form was pioneered in the late 1980s in the music of hardcore punk bands Infest and No Comment, themselves heavily influenced by earlier bands like Siege, Lärm and the Neos. The microgenre solidified into its most commonly recognized form in the early 1990s with the sounds of bands such as Man is the Bastard, Crossed Out, and No Comment.

Musically, the majority of bands focus on speed, brevity, and constant tempo changes, without the metallic influence that grindcore is generally known for in its songwriting and production techniques. This is meant to contrast with modern grindcore variants that have become increasingly associated with death metal and other forms of extreme music as well as many more modern hardcore and metalcore bands slowly moving away from certain roots of the traditional hardcore. Powerviolence songs are often very short; it is not uncommon for them to last less than 20 seconds.

The afformentioned song H.S.M.P. mentions Crossed Out, No Comment, Capitalist Casualties, Manpig, and Man is The Bastard by name. Other bands commonly associated with Power Violence include, Neanderthal (a pre-cursor to Man Is The Bastard), Infest, Despise You, Drop Dead, Lack Of Interest, and Spazz. Wood has reportedly claimed that the term was meant as nothing more than a joke and has expressed his dismay about its increasingly common use as a descriptive term very explicitly[1].

Spazz vocalist Chris Dodge's record label Slap a Ham was a fixture during the rapid rise and decline of powerviolence, releasing influential records by the likes of Neanderthal, No Comment, Crossed Out, Infest, Spazz, etc. The label's Fiesta Grande was an annual powerviolence festival held at 924 Gilman [2] from 1992 to 2000. Spazz drummer Max Ward's label 625 Thrashcore [3] has started their own festival, 'Super Sabado Gigante', in a similar vein.

Bands

Capitalist Casualties
Charles Bronson
Crossed Out
Fuck on the Beach
Infest
Man is the Bastard
Manpig
No Comment
Neanderthal
Spazz
Suppression

Hardcore punk | Hardcore punk genres
Christian hardcore - Crust punk - D-beat - Funkcore - Grindcore - Mathcore - Melodic hardcore - Power violence - Ska punk - Skate punk - Straight edge - Thrashcore - Youth crew
Derivative forms: Emo - Math rock - Post-hardcore
Regional scenes: Australia