Dropdead is an American

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band based in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. They have been active in the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

scene since 1991, having been formed in January of that year. The band's songs are generally short and very fast-paced, with few lasting longer than two minutes. Other famous

crust punk Crust punk (also known as stenchcore or simply crust) is a fusion genre of anarcho-punk and extreme metal that originated in the early to mid-1980s in England. Originally, the genre was primarily mid-tempo, making use of metal riffs in a stri ...

and

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 ...

bands like

Nasum Nasum (pronounced 'nah-zumm') was a Swedish grindcore band from Örebro, formed in 1992. The band released four studio albums and developed into "one of that country's premier metal acts". They disbanded after the December 2004 tsunami killed ...

have covered some of their songs. The band has a strong DIY ethic.

History

Meeting in Providence in 1989, they started playing as Hellocaust. After reconfiguring the lineup, a name change, and a great increase in speed and intensity, Dropdead was officially formed in January 1991. The first show happened in April 1991 with

Born Against Born Against was an American hardcore punk band from New York active between 1989 and 1993. Though Born Against received little media exposure while still together, they have since been described as "legendary" by the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ...

and Rorschach. Recorded with

Kurt Ballou Kurt Ballou (born February 1, 1974) is an American musician and record producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for metalcore band Converge and for his recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio. Early and pe ...

at GodCity Studio, their follow up to their 1998 ''Untitled'' album titled ''Dropdead 2020'' was released on September 25, 2020.

Influences

They have cited various acts where they have drawn musically from:

Anti Cimex Anti Cimex were a Swedish crust punk band, based in Skövde, Gothenburg, Linköping, and Malmö, at different times, that formed in 1981.Peter Jandreus, ''The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977–1987'', Stockholm: Premium Publishing, 2008, p. 20- ...

Crass Crass was an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle, and a resistance movement. Crass popularized the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, ...

, Conflict, Confuse, Discharge,

Gauze Gauze is a thin, translucent Textile, fabric with a wikt:loose, loose open Weaving, weave. In technical terms, "gauze" is a weave structure in which the weft yarns are arranged in pairs and are crossed before and after each Warp (weaving), w ...

Icons of Filth Icons of Filth are a Welsh anarcho-punk band that were formed in 1979. The issues the band promoted through their lyrics included animal rights, anarchism, environmentalism, anti war, vegetarianism, veganism, antiglobalisation, feminism, and ...

Infest Infest may refer to: *Infest, wild animal overpopulation, much in the same way that cockroaches do * ''Infest'' (album), a 2000 hard rock album by Papa Roach *Infest (band), American hardcore band *Infest (festival), an alternative electronic mu ...

Lärm Lärm (German language, German for ''noise'') were a Netherlands, Dutch straight edge hardcore punk, hardcore band formed in 1981, first playing under the name of Total Chaoz. They referred to their music as "extreme noise", though having nothing ...

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita, best known for a style of harsh noise music. Since 1980, Akita has released over 500 recordings and collaborated with numerous artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada a ...

Mob 47 Mob 47 is a hardcore punk band which formed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1982, originally under the name of "Censur".Peter Jandreus, ''The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977-1987'', Stockholm: Premium Publishing, 2008, p. 143. In 1983 the band members ...

, Pandemonium, S.O.B.,

Septic Death Septic Death was an American hardcore punk band active in the 1980s. The foursome from Boise, Idaho was a major influence for the development of grindcore, thrashcore and "speedcore". History Septic Death was formed in 1981 by Brian "Pushe ...

Siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

(whose 1984 demo tape '' Drop Dead'' is the origin of the band's name),

SSD A solid-state drive (SSD) is a type of solid-state storage device that uses Integrated circuit, integrated circuits to store data persistence (computer science), persistently. It is sometimes called semiconductor storage device, solid-stat ...

, and

Swans Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

Members

Dropdead - March 12 2011 - Live in DC - by Will Butler

;Current * Bob Otis – vocals (1991–present) * Ben Barnett – guitar (1991–present) * Brian Mastrobuono – drums (1991–present) * George Radford – bass (2010–present) ;Former * Lee Mastrobuono – bass (1991–1996) * Devon Cahill – bass (1996–2010)

Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums * ''Dropdead'' (1993, Selfless) (Sometimes referred to as ''落とす死'' or ''Dropdead 1993'') * ''Untitled'' (1998, Armageddon) (Sometimes referred to as ''LP 2'' or ''Dropdead 1998'') * ''Dropdead 2020'' (2020, Armageddon) ;EPs * ''Untitled'' 7" (1992, Crust Records) * ''Hostile'' 7" (1996, Spiral Objective/Insurgence) * ''Arms Race EP'' (2018, Armageddon) ;Splits * ''Dropdead/

Swirlies Swirlies is an American indie rock band formed in Boston in 1990. Since their first records in the early 1990s, the band has released studio and home recordings that blend shoegaze and twee pop with electronica and lo-fi music. Swirlies releas ...

'' (1991, Fast Forward) * ''Dropdead/Rupture'' 8" (1992, Highly Collectable Records) * ''Dropdead/Crossed Out'' 5" (1993, co-released by five labels) * ''Dropdead/Totalitär'' 7" (2002, Prank) * ''Dropdead/Unholy Grave'' 7" (2003, MCR) * ''Dropdead/Look Back and Laugh'' 7" (2004, Armageddon) * '' Converge/Dropdead'' 7" (2011, self-released) * ''Dropdead/Ruidosa Inmundicia'' 7" (2013, Armageddon) * ''Dropdead/Systematic Death – Fighting For Life'' 7" (2013, Armageddon) * ''Dropdead/Brainoil'' 7" (2014, Armageddon) ;Other * ''Demo 1991'' (1991, Armageddon, Fast Forward) * ''What Could Be'' Single lathe 6" (2014, Armageddon; recorded live on BSR 88.1 FM on February 5, 2004) * ''Demo 2019'' (2019, Armageddon; benefit release for the Dropdead van fund) ;Compilation albums * ''

Discography 1991–1993 ''Discography 1991–1993'' is a compilation album released in 1994 by American powerviolence band Dropdead on Armageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the ...

'' (1994, Armageddon) ;Live albums * ''Untitled'' (1991, self-released; recorded live at 2nd show) * ''Untitled'' (1991, self-released; recorded live on WRIU Radio 90.3 FM on May 22, 1991) * ''Live at The Jame Room'' (1996, HG Fact Co. in Japan; recorded in Columbia, SC on August 10, 1993) * ''Stack/Dropdead – Live In Udine 1996'' (1997, self-released; recorded in Udine, Italy on October 2, 1996) * ''Drop On – The Bootleg'' 3" (1997, Profane Existence Far East; recorded at Bad Lands, Hitoshima, Japan on May 14, 1996) * ''Dropdead/Mrtvá Budoucnost/Primitiv Bunko - The Big Boss Originall Soundtrack'' (1998, Hogo Fogo Records; recorded live at 007 Club in Praha, Czech Republic on October 29, 1998) * ''Live In Železniki'' (1998, Podpajsho Rekords; recorded in Železniki, Slovenia on November 1, 1998) * ''Humanity Is Burying the Earth with Its Rotting Carcasses'' (1999, Ad Absurdum Records; recorded in Lahti, Finland on October 19, 1997) * ''Live AJZ Wermelskirchen'' (2003, Red C Records, Armageddon; recorded in AJZ.Bahndamm Wermelskirchen, Germany in December 1998)

Associated acts

;Bob Otis * Previously: The Fuzz, Lolita Black, Extinction Machine, NRK and I, Destroyer ;Ben Barnett * Runs Armageddon Label and Armageddon Record Shop * Previously: Snake Apartment, Generica ;Brian Mastrobuono * Previously: Straight to Hell, Supperating Pustule, Battlesnake, Neon Bitches, and Ratstab * Currently: Wolfhex ;George Radford * Currently: Edict, She Rides * Previously: Intent to Injure, Fucking Invincible, and Sweet Jesus ;Devon Cahill * Previously: Monster X, Exploding Corpse Action, Conniption, and Hail Mary

References

External links

Bandcamp pageDropdead
on

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Providence AttacksDropdead live set in Tijuana, Mexico
{{Authority control Hardcore punk groups from Rhode Island American grindcore musical groups American crust and d-beat groups Musical groups established in 1991 Powerviolence groups 1991 establishments in Rhode Island