Pete - Vocals/Guitars|Gorkas - Bass|Martin - Drums Scalplock originally formed in 1993 with a line-up comprised of Pete (ex- Unseen terror, Azag-Thoth, Harmony as One, Insight and Nightside of Eden) on guitar, Martin (ex- Long cold Stare, Harmony as One, Nightside of Eden) on drums, Spencer on vocals and Adam on bass.|The band played a few shows before Adam left to go to America (where he went on to play with both Shelter and H2O) and Spencer departed to form Ignoramus. After a hiatus the band reformed in ‘96 with Pete on vocals and guitar, Martin on drums and Jim on bass. During this period they released two demos ‘To Hate is to Cure’ and ‘Assert Direct Force’ before recording their first MCD entitled ‘Broken History’. Collaborating with Nihil from the label Cacophonous, they formed Insurrection Records and released the MCD in ‘97 and their first full length CD, ‘To Hate is to Cure’, in ‘98. The same year they toured mid-east America to promote the album, playing everywhere from Illinois to Pennsylvania to Iowa alongside bands like Drop Dead, Short Hate Temper, Botch and Ire. 1999 was probably one of the band’s busiest years for releases; the bands first 7” entitled ‘Inculcate The Fear’ and three more split seven inches with Arms Reach (Australia), Shank (Scotland), and Short Hate Temper (USA). The S.H.T. split release coincided with a very successful tour of Europe while the same year also marked the departure of Jim; he was replaced by new bass player, Big Al, who became a significant contributor in developing the band¹s sound. In 2000 the second full-length album was released on Sound Pollution Records entitled ‘On Whose Terms?’. This saw the band extend their hold over extreme music and accordingly received many accolades from underground zines such as Maximum Rock n’ Roll and Heart Attack. Later the same year the band also released three tracks on a compilation entitled ‘Tomorrow Will Be Worse Vol.2’. This was followed by a heavy schedule of shows with the likes of Napalm Death and Impaled Nazerene, and small underground gigs at pubs in and around the UK and Europe. The departure of bassist Al could have been disastrous, but the arrival of new bassist Gorkas was instead a significant turning point for Scalplock. The band had always had an interest in hardcore and crust/dis-core music, but with the addition of Gorkas and his passion for extreme black and death-metal, the songwriting of the band soon reflected this. It took on their already impassioned raw punk elements and honed them with a metal edge. This new line-up began work on their third album in early 2002. Upon completion the band realised they had material that could cross over from their mainly punk audience into the realms of devotees of metalcore and black/death music. They decided it would be worth contacting a more established extreme music label based in their own country and so renewed old ties by approaching Cacophonous to do it. Realising what a shift in progression their new direction was, the label was more than happy to sign the band to release both the recorded album and future works. Entitled ‘Spread The Germs…Over The Human Worms’, the album is a cavalcade of blast-beats and ferocious guitars that puts the listener of even the most extreme music to the test. The title of the album refers to the recurring tactic of governments (specifically the USA and Israel) in dehumanising people in order to justify their brutalisation, as can be seen by recent military actions in Afghanistan and Occupied Palestine. This is just one facet of the band’s ethos - believing that all structural re-adjustment programmes should be disbanded along with neo-colonial strategies for subjugation. |
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