Grindcore is a much loved and often misunderstood genre of music. Some try to go for the power behind the music without understanding the punk rock origins, some understand the origins but can’t find the power they need. Grindcore is punk rock shot out of a cannon landing in a swimming pool of razor blades. Short bursts of chaos that blurs the line between extreme music and noise. Most of the bands who did it well are gone, all that’s left is glorified Death Metal.

One band who perfected the craft of Grindcore was Insect Warfare a band that savagely tore away at the frayed seems of established extreme music, attempting to burn the entire idea down before they broke up last year. I got to talk to the band and ask them about their legacy, their thoughts on music and what lies ahead.

CRAVE ONLINE: For those who aren’t familiar give me a little history of the band

INSECT WARFARE: We started around 2004 to play Grindcore in the vein of the early shit (88/89 UK grind) but also to incorporate a lot of the noisier style grind from the 90s that we were into. Bands like Warsore, Arsedestroyer, IRF, World, 7 Minutes of Nausea, etc. Basically formed, wrote a bunch of terrible songs, did some fun tours, and called it a day.

CO: How did you arrive at the name?

IW: The name really has no other meaning other than we liked the way it sounded. Plus, it was better than something like "Forever Autumn Ashes In The Gear of The Machine" type bullshit.

CO: So being one of the few true Grindcore bands left why call it quits?

IW: Got tired of doing it. To be honest, I wrote almost 75 songs for IW. I really didn’t have anymore ideas in me for that style of music and I didn’t want to play safe and just tread the same ground over and over. Talk about being boring.

CO: Will any of the band members continue on in other projects?

IW: Our drummer has a fantastic raw death metal band called Demonical Genuflection, or however you spell that. I do noise music and play in 70s style punk bands. I currently do a GISM meets the Stooges type band called The Homopolice. That takes all my time these days.

CO: So much new Grindcore is essentially glorified Death Metal. Why do you think newer bands can’t capture the spirit of Grindcore?

IW: Shitty slick production and awful Photoshop artwork. That’s why most grind bands today suck.

CO: Talk to me about the 53 song EP “Noise Grind Power Death”.

IW: That is our final recording. Its actually a 1 sided 12" coming out on 625 in a few months. We just wanted to record something that would be like the first Anal Cunt 7"s and Arsedestroyer's Teen Ass Revolt. I think we succeeded. No guitars or Bass. Drums, vocals, and noise only. It’s my favorite IW recording.

CO: It’s only available on the Coffins tour. Why release it that way?

IW: Actually, that ended up not happening. We couldn’t finish it in time for that tour. Coffins rule.

CO: Talk to me a little about the “World Extermination” LP.

IW: World Extermination was the most energy I have ever devoted to a band. It fucking wore me out but I'm really happy with it. I wanted to channel the same vibes I got from records like From Enslavement To Obliteration, JouHou, and Anticapitol. Whether we achieved that or not is debatable.

CO: Who did the artwork for World Extermination?

IW: Our close friend Daniel Shaw. He has done lots of art since then but at the time he was relatively new to doing band art. Now he is a tattoo artist at a shop called Secret Tattoo in Houston Texas. He's amazing at it.

CO: Why do you think so much of the extreme music world is stagnant? Is it fear of experimentation or has it just run its course?

IW: I really don’t know. I don’t follow extreme music really. I’m more concerned on what’s going on in the harsh noise scene.

CO: Do you think the current global climate will inspire uglier and more intensely angry music?

IW: Sure. Something’s gotta change.

CO: What bands are moving you right now?

IW: My current top 5 on the record player right now are Radio Birdman, Confuse, Entombed, The Germs, and the Saints.

CO: You guys have so many releases through so many different circles it’s hard to keep up. Why do it that way?

IW: Because I always loved bands who did lots of split records. I wanted to do as many splits with Japanese bands as possible before we broke up.

CO: Did anything finally come about with the split with Agoraphobic Nosebleed?

IW: Yeah, at this point the 5" has been releases and sold out I believe.

CO: How far into the 625 song EP did you guys get? Any chance it will see the light of day?

IW: 0 songs. We broke up before we could have started. it would have been great.

CO: So much of extreme music now seems to center around the “scene”. How detrimental is that kind of group mentality to the actual progression of music?

IW: We hated scenes and never felt compelled to be part of one. That’s the way it should be. I try not fall into group/herd mentalities in any aspect of my life.

CO: I want to start a Grindcore band called Catastrophic Internal Bleeding? What do you think of the name?

IW: Reminds me of the death metal band Internal Bleeding so I’m a little biased.

CO: What do you want Insect Warfare to be remembered for?

IW: Noise, speed, and distortion.

CO: OK I wanted to try this I call it blast beat. I’ll give 20 bands and you give one-word reviews of each band. If you only do some or none at all that’s fine I just thought it would be funny:

Black Flag - Keith or Morris. Either one
Disassociated - ?
Lamb Of God - gross
Anal Cunt - blurr
At The Gates - grotesque (band)
Trap Them - nope
His Hero Is Gone - crust
Shadows Fall - terrible
Wolves In The Throne Room - ?
Sunn - overplayed
Pantera - nope
Slipknot - awful
Neurosis - boring
Eyehategod - amazing
Brutal Truth - stoners
Hate Eternal - boring
Mastodon - boring
Wetnurse - ?
Slayer - Necrophobic
Negative Approach - perfection