Nicholas Bullen (sometimes called Nik Napalm; born 1968) is an English musician and a founding member of the

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...

band

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mi ...

Biography

Bullen is one of the founding members – with Miles "Rat" Ratledge – of

, the band credited with creating the

Grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...

genre. The duo had collaborated on fanzines and played together in a number of 'bedroom' bands from 1980 onwards and formed the first line-up of

in May 1981 (when Bullen and Ratledge were 13 and 14 years old respectively). Bullen was initially the vocalist in the group, but later began to play bass and vocals after

Justin Broadrick Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and i ...

(

Godflesh Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the original title O.P.D. (later Fall of Because) but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals, programmi ...

and Jesu) was invited to join the group on guitar in 1985. Bullen had previously been a collaborator with Broadrick in the

power electronics Power electronics is the application of electronics to the control and conversion of electric power. The first high-power electronic devices were made using mercury-arc valves. In modern systems, the conversion is performed with semiconduct ...

project

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

in 1983 and 1984. Bullen left

in December 1986 (after recording the A-side of the band's debut album '' Scum'' which is credited with being the release which initiated the 'Grindcore' genre) due to an increasing dissatisfaction with the direction of the group and a desire to pursue his studies at university (where he studied English literature and philosophy). Bullen was invited to join Mick Harris (a fellow ex-member of

) in Scorn in 1991: a more experimental project that moved away from the members previous work to explore dark breakbeat-driven rhythmic mantras informed by avant-garde modern composition, the reflective spaces of Dub and dark drone-based ambience. The core duo released 3 albums on the Earache label, along with a number of 12" singles featuring radically deconstructed remixes of album material and appearances on compilation albums (including the ''Isolationism'' and ''Macro Dub Infection'' compilations of the

Virgin Ambient series The Virgin ''Ambient Series'' is a series of albums released on the UK Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entre ...

). The group also released an album of remixes featuring artists such as

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

, Scanner, Coil and

Autechre Autechre ( ) are an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all o ...

, and recorded 2 sessions for the

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

radio show. The group featured a revolving roster of temporary members including Paul Neville (

) and James Plotkin (OLD,

Khanate A khanate ( ) or khaganate refers to historic polity, polities ruled by a Khan (title), khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. Khanates were typically nomadic Mongol and Turkic peoples, Turkic or Tatars, Tatar societies located on the Eurasian Steppe, ...

) in an ancillary role as guitarist. Bullen left the group in March 1995. Bullen continued to be involved in other projects during his tenure in Scorn: he worked with the avant-garde techno group Germ, the experimental soundscape project Umbilical Limbo and released material under his own name including an album called '' Bass Terror'' with bassist and avant-garde producer

. Bullen remained silent musically for the best part of a decade (during which time he gained another university degree in Computer Science) before returning to live performing in 2003 with the experimental electronic group Black Galaxy. Black Galaxy use a range of instrumentation (including laptop, tone generators, circuit bent instruments, tabletop guitar, preparations, and amplified objects) to blend rhythmic pulses with deep bass tones and abstracted sound. They also create satellite work related to non-rhythmic sound fields, live improvised film soundtracking, and regular collaboration with electro-acoustic musicians

kREEPA John Stephen Richards (born 1966 in Bideford, Devon, England) is a British musician and composer working in the field of electronic music. Since 1999, he has predominantly explored performing with self-made instruments and creating interactive e ...

. The group have played at a number of festivals (including Sonar (Barcelona), Supersonic festival and the

Sonic Arts Network Sonic Arts Network was a UK-based organisation, established in 1979, that aimed to enable both audiences and practitioners to engage with the art of sound through a programme of festivals, events, commissions and education projects. Its honorary ...

Expo). He also participates in a number of other collaborative projects which are predominantly focused on live performance and improvisation (including the Photon Hex ensemble and electro-acoustic improvising trio Migrant), and performs solo (as Alienist and under his own name). To extend this work, Bullen began the Monium imprint in 2006 with the intention of bringing together a loose collective of artists interested in the exploration of (analogue / digital, improvisation / composition, performance / recording) in sound, film and text. Bullen's work in the field of sound art has included sound installations, sound design for radio-based art, writing on the use of the voice in music and art, a tour of cinemas producing improvised sound responses to key pieces of 'experimental' cinema, lectures, and collaborations with artists at a variety of venues (including Tate Britain, Art Basel, Hayward Gallery, Schirn Kunsthalle, ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts), Arnolfini Gallery, Ikon Eastside, City Projects and New Art Gallery Walsall).Art Review September 2008
Artreviewdigital.com He also continues to develop an ongoing interest in Super 8mm film-making (with a particular focus on abstraction and hand-painted work). In 2019, Bullen released ''No You'', with his band Rainbow Grave. The band includes John Pickering (formerly of Cain,

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, Police Bastards, among others) on guitars, Nathan Warner (Bee Stung Lips) on bass, and James Commander on drums. This band is influenced by

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge doom or simply sludge) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, down-tuned guitars and nihilis ...

. He is based in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Discography

Napalm Death *1987 - '' Scum'' (

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by r ...

) Scorn *1992 - '' Vae Solis'' (

) *1993 - ''

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'' (Earache Records) *1994 - ''

Evanescence Evanescence is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent extended play, EPs and a Origin (Evanescence demo album), demo ...

'' (Earache Records) Nicholas Bullen & Bill Laswell *1995 - '' Subsonic 2: Bass Terror'' ( Sub Rosa (label)) Rainbow Grave *2019 - ''No You'' (God Unknown Records)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullen, Nicholas 1968 births Living people Musicians from Coventry English heavy metal bass guitarists British male bass guitarists English heavy metal singers English male singers Napalm Death members English punk rock bass guitarists English punk rock singers Grindcore musicians