Siege

Here's a little piece of history for ya. Siege were this little-known hardcore band from Weymouth, Massachusetts (just outside of Boston) that began in 1981, but were really only active between 1984 and 1985. They only recorded one demo in their existence, in addition to a handful of compilation tracks. Siege took the foundation of hardcore that had begun a few years prior to their existence and pushed an already radical genre to a new extreme. Louder, faster, dirtier, nastier, whatever adjective you want to use, they fit it. This is especially true for Kevin Mahoney's vocals, which were incredibly raw, vicious, and anyone whose vocals could ever be compared to an exorcism's owes a lot to him.

Though they were relatively unknown in their heyday, they've become massively influential in the years following them. They are often credited with founding, or at least influencing, what would later be become grindcore and powerviolence. Tons of noteworthy bands cite them as an influence, with the two most notable perhaps being Napalm Death (who have been vocal supporters of them in addition to covering them), and Drop Dead (who take their name from Siege's demo). If those two bands aren't noteworthy enough, I don't know who is. Even goddamn Lars Ulrich has praised them.

Siege briefly reunited in 1991 with Seth Putnam (the Anal Cunt guy) on vocals, but not much became of that except for a radio session that only surfaced a few years ago (which I don't have and in all honesty kind of feel like hearing it would be a tarnish on the mystique of their legacy, but that's just me). Sadly, but coincidentally, both Putnam and Mahoney died in 2011.

Their demo and early material was largely out of print for quite a few years, though it's been reissued quite a few times since it first was in 1994, which included both the demo tracks and their compilation tracks off of Cleanse The Bacteria. That initial reissue was re-released in 2004, twenty years after their demo and 10 years after the first reissue. That version is the one I have here. It's gotten a few other re-issues since then, twice in 2006 by two different labels and then again in 2009 by Deep Six. Sadly, I don't have every version of it, otherwise I would probably upload them all. Regardless, just one is all it takes to understand why this band is heralded the way they are. Not only were they massively influential, they were also a great band in themselves. Enjoy.

Drop Dead (1984/2004)

1. Drop Dead

2. Conform

3. Life Of Hate

4. Starvation

5. Armageddon

6. Walls

7. Sad But True

8. Cold War

9. Grim Reaper