Originally conceived as a side project for Napalm Death's Shane Embury (bass) and Jesse Pintado (guitar), Lock Up was essentially conceived as a booze-fueled return to the raw brutality of mid-'80s proto-death metal. Named after a death metal drumming technique in which the arms are stiffened to produce lightning-fast blast beats, Lock Up was initially rounded out by long time friend and Cradle of
Filth drummer Nick Barker (later of Dimmu Borgir) and Hypocrisy vocalist/production mastermind Peter Tägtgren.

Defusing possible supergroup-type expectations by emphasizing spontaneity and energy over, say, rehearsal, Lock Up recorded their debut album, “Pleasures Pave Sewers”, which was recorded at Tägtgren's studio, and released it in early 1999 on Nuclear Blast Records. After unfortunately being forced to turn down two potential tour slots in the US, Peter Tägtgren's place was taken by At the Gates vocalist Tomas Lindberg for the band’s debut UK tour - with a very young Decapitated as main support - and also the band's first appearance at the famous Wacken festival where Mark “Barney” Greenway came onstage for the band’s cover of Terrorrizer’s “Dead Shall Rise” and Peter Tägtgren came onstage as well for a song from the first album!

The band then recorded and released their second album, “Hate Breeds Suffering”, in January of 2002, earning them Album of the Month in Terrorrizer magazine. In support, the band managed dates in Japan with Converge and Will Haven and a few key festivals over the same year.

After a second appearance at Wacken got cancelled in 2002 due to Jesse’s growing illness, the band decided that it was time to go separate ways for a while as both Shane and Nick were increasingly busy with their main bands.

A live album “Play Fast or Die” came out in Japan in 2005 and was later released by Shane’s FETO Records in Europe in 2007. The first two albums were re-issued on one CD on FETO as “Violent Reprisal” in 2008.

The band was in a state of hiatus for a few years and struggled with the decision to reform, especially after the untimely death of guitar player Jesse. They decided to play a reunion show at the Damnation festival in October of 2009 to see if they still felt a passion together. They enlisted the guitar playing talent of long time friend Anton Reisenegger, who had played with his band Criminal in Chile with Napalm Death in 1997, but who had also been part of the underground tape trading scene from the eighties and had a cult death metal band called Pentagram. The show went extremely well and the band decided to continue on from there. 2010 sees the guys playing more festivals and also finally recording their 3rd studio album set for release in early 2011. With the addition of the new guitar player the music is moving towards even greater extremity – capturing the dynamics of all the classic thrash, death and grind, but also heading towards a more sinister sound… Toca rápido o muere – play fast or die!

Hardcore/Death/Grind fury from LANDAN FACKIN TAAAN.

Featuring ex and current members of: Labrat, Ted Maul, River Freshney, and Pure Negative.

LENG TCH'E, and the legacy continues. Belgian grindcore quintet LENG TCH'E are the latest standout grindcore troupe to join the heralded ranks of the Relapse Records roster. With The Process of Elimination, LENG TCH'E deliver some of the most devastating grindcore on the planet today.

LENG TCH'E aka death by a thousand cuts, is an ancient Chinese torture ritual where the victim has been doped up and is being cut into bits. The victim doesn't feel a thing of this procedure until it is far too late and death is unavoidable.

LENG TCH'E the band formed in early 2001, founded by Sven (drums, Aborted), Isaac (vocals, BBB, Permanent Death), Kevin (Bass) and Glen (guitars, Dark Ages).

Basing their own hybrid of grindcore on bands such as REGURGITATE, HEMDALE, NASUM and BLOOD DUSTER and mixing it all up with some stoner / rock / hardcore influences, the band baptized their own unique style, now known as 'razorgrind'.

The past two years have seen the band work through a number of line up changes before finally solidifying into its current incarnation of Sven (drums), Boris (vocals, Suppository), Nikki G (guitars), The Spleenventer (guitars, Spleen) and Nicolas (bass). The quintet have recorded two albums that have been released by The Spew Records in Europe. Noted underground label Willowtip issued the much talked about Man Made Predator in the USA most recently.

LENG TCH'E then signed a deal with Relapse Records for their new album, The Process Of Elimination. This album was recorded in the CCR studios in Belgium and was mixed / mastered by Tue Madsen at the Antfarm studios in Denmark (MNEMIC, ABORTED, THE HAUNTED, HATESPHERE). On the new album, hooks that sink into your brain accompany some of the fastest and most extreme grind to emerge in years as LENG TCH'E prove that grindcore can continue to evolve, while staying true to its formative roots. This is the new sound of extreme - don't be left behind.

Rising from the unhallowed wastes of Western Sydney, extreme metal outfit Thy Art Is Murder have carved a trail of bloody mayhem since their inception in 2006. With an acclaimed EP and debut album in Infinite Death and The Adversary to their name, the band have traversed the highways and autobahns of Australia, the UK and Europe on a relentless crusade to destroy every venue and audience they can with like minded peers in a who's who of heavy metal.

2012 brings a new ritual offering of darkness from the five piece. Simply titled Hate, the band's second full length is the pointed result of Thy Art Is Murder's growing dissatisfaction with all aspects of modern life - political, religious, social and environmental - everyone is to blame. Fusing the blasting technicality of metal luminaries The Black Dahlia Murder with thunderous breakdowns and the intensity born of their nascent hometown scene; the blackened grandeur of Behemoth and the pit churning groove of Tampa originators Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse, the furious musical arrangements provide a bloody canvas for vocalist CJ McMahon's outpourings of bile.

No strangers to stoking controversy and criticism, the band have not toned down their art for the sake of palatability and have introduced a morose melodicism into their maelstrom - the rumination before pulling the trigger. With their best work to date ready to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world, Thy Art Is Murder will once again take to the road to unleash the Hate with one simple message - get in the pit or get out of the way.

Here Comes The Kraken (also known as HCTK) is a Death Core / Metal band from Aguascalientes, Mexico. The band started in the year 2008.

HCTK has released 3 albums: “Here comes the kraken”, “The Omen” and their most recent production “Hate Greed & Death.”

The band has produced 5 official music videos: “ Don’t fail me Darko”, “Into the Slaughter basement”, “Never regret”,“ NU BEGINNING.” and their latest "AGUASCALIENTES (DEAD HOME CITY)"
They have toured throughout Mexico 5 times, from Tijuana down to Cancun. On December 2008 HCTK played many shows in Germany which triggered a new European tour on October-November 2009 visiting countries like: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland. With such a great crowd response on summer of 2010 the band came back for their second European tour, this time with more shows to play and more countries to visit.
On 2011 new material was released: “Hate, greed & Death” which has shown an evolution in their sound and that has wowed the media with its technical and musical quality. The CD was mixed by Ulrich Wild (Deftones, Pantera) and mastered by Ted Jensen (Slipknot, Marilyn Manson).

After their appearance and performance in the Festival Vive Latino 2011 the band initiated their Hate Greed & Death tour and after a great number of shows they had to cancel the tour due to a car accident in which some of the band members were injured therefore could not continue playing and are still in recovery.

HCTK is currently promoting their new single "AGUASCALIENTES (DEAD HOME CITY)" and preparing a new album for 2013, HCTK is going to hit Europe for 5th time on February 2013 with Avocado Booking

This is Martyr Defiled’s world, and you just live in it – if the brand new self-released EP from the Lincoln based death metal mob is anything to go by. Combining huge anthemic riffs, disgusting breaks and neck snapping groove, Martyr Defiled have taken their jaws straight to the throat of all that they see wrong with the world - and they won’t let go until it bleeds out.

‘In Shadows’ comes from 5 years of notorious struggling, including touring with giants like The Black Dahlia Murder, Despised Icon and All Shall Perish; Martyr Defiled have earnt their right to smash their way through every venue put in front of them, bringing the kind of ferocious support from their fans that would make any hooligan firm proud.

Originally signed to Thirty Days Of Night records, then picked up by Siege Of Amida Records to release their debut album Collusion, Martyr Defiled have rolled through the UK and continental Europe like a steamroller on steroids, and have no intention of stopping any time soon