Nausea was an American

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 ...

band from New York City, active from 1985 to 1992. They are cited as a notable band in the first wave of

. Prior to Nausea, guitarist Victor Dominicis played in the hardcore punk bands Hellbent and Sacrilege. Nausea were involved in the New York City

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

community. Their earlier sound with singers Amy Miret and Neil Robinson was in the vein of

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 ...

. After Robinson's departure, he was replaced by Al Long and the band began to experiment with darker,

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

influences. Robinson went on to form the bands Jesus Crust and Final Warning, as well as start

Tribal War Records Tribal War Records was a punk rock record label formed in 1991 in New York City by ex-Nausea singer, Neil Robinson. The label operated out of Brooklyn, New York until relocating to Portland, Oregon in 1997. The label released recordings by the n ...

Lyrics and musical style

Nausea's apocalyptic lyrics and artwork were influenced by the sociopolitical issues of the day, such as the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...

, the US-USSR

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, and threats of

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

with the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Nausea focused on topics such as

environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

human extinction Human extinction or omnicide is the hypothetical end of the human species, either by population decline due to extraneous natural causes, such as an asteroid impact or large-scale volcanism, or via anthropogenic destruction (self-extinction ...

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

, and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

. Nausea progressed from having a very Discharge styled hardcore punk sound, to in its later years with new singer Al Long, having a more dark and metallic sound, similar to UK bands like

Amebix Amebix were an English punk rock band from Tavistock, Devon. A pioneer of the crust punk genre, Amebix's merger of anarcho-punk and post-punk with elements of heavy metal music, heavy metal, particularly early extreme metal, inspired musicians ...

and Axegrinder. The band broke new ground for the emerging crust punk genre, flirting with

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

d-beat D-beat (also known as Discore, kängpunk, Discrust, and crust-beat) is a style of hardcore punk, developed in the early 1980s by imitators of Discharge, after whom the genre is named, as well as a drum beat characteristic of this subgenre. D- ...

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

and

sludge Sludge (possibly , or some dialect related to slush) is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. It can be produced as a settled sus ...

. Band member John John Jesse describes their music by citing bands such as Discharge,

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

, and

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

as influences. In their formative years, the founding members were compelled by the political and social messages that the band

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, ...

would use to drive their music; their lyrics reflected their views on

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

class conflict In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

, and the opposition against war.

Later lineup

Nausea's final lineup was: John John Jesse (bass), Victor Venom (guitar, ex- Reagan Youth), Amy Miret (vocals), Al Long (vocals), and Roy Mayorga (drums). John John Jesse has gone on to become an artist, as well as joining with members of

Choking Victim Choking Victim was an American punk band formed in New York City, which lasted from 1992 to 1998. They played a mix of hardcore punk and ska (sometimes known as ska-core). Following the breakup of the band, which occurred the same day as the ...

in the band

Morning Glory Morning glory (also written as morning-glory) is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose taxonomy and systematics remain in flux. These species are distributed across numerous genus, gene ...

. Roy Mayorga went on to play with Shelter,

Soulfly Soulfly is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1997. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera, who formed the band after he left the Brazilian group in 1996. To date the band has release ...

, Maggott SS (featuring members of Electric Frankenstein and Degeneration), ABLOOM, and

Stone Sour Stone Sour was an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000; since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand ...

. He also filled in for

Igor Cavalera Igor Graziano Cavalera (born 4 September 1970) is a Brazilian musician, best known as the former drummer for the heavy metal band Sepultura, which he co-founded with his brother Max in 1984. Max left the band in 1997, and Igor himself would ...

with

Sepultura Sepultura (, "grave")Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 17. is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera.Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 16. They were a major force in the groove metal, thrash met ...

in 2006. Later on, Mayorga became a full-time member of

when they reunited in 2008 and stayed with them until their second disbandment in 2012. In 2016, Roy toured with Ministry.

Popular culture

In Jackie Chan's film, ''

Rumble in the Bronx ''Rumble in the Bronx'' () is a 1995 action comedy film directed by Stanley Tong, and starring Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, and Françoise Yip. The film is set in the Bronx area of New York City, but was filmed in and around Vancouver, Canada. A ...

'', there is a punk seen wearing a leather jacket with 'Nausea' spray painted on the back.

Members

*Al "Hoon" Long – vocals (1988–1992) *Amy Miret – vocals * Victor "Vic Venom" Dominicis – guitar * John John Jesse – bass * Roy Mayorga – drums (1989–1992)

Previous members

*Brian Patton – drums (1985) *Neil Robinson – vocals (1985–1988) *Pablo Jacobson – drums (1985–1987) *Jimmy Williams – drums (1987–1988)

Discography

Official releases

*''Nausea'' demo (self released, 1988) *''

Extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

'' LP/ Cassette (1990,

Profane Existence Profane Existence is a Minneapolis-based anarcho-punk collective. Established in 1989, the collective publishes a nationally known zine (also called ''Profane Existence''), as well as releasing and distributing anarcho-punk, crust, and grindco ...

/ Meantime Records) *''Cybergod'' 7" (Allied Recordings, 1991) *''Lie Cycle'' 7" (Graven Image Records/ Skuld Records, 1992) *''Alive in Holland''

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

(Channel Zero Reality/Profane Existence, 1993) *''Extinction: The Second Coming'' CD (Selfless Records, 1993) *'' The Punk Terrorist Anthology Vol. 1'' 2xLP/CD (2004, Alternative Tentacles/Blacknoise Records) *'' The Punk Terrorist Anthology Vol. 2'' 2XLP/CD (2005, Hellbent/Blacknoise)

Compilation appearances

*''New York Hardcore: The Way It Is'' LP (

Revelation Records Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side, Chain of Strength, Sh ...

, 1988) *''Squat or Rot Volume. 1'' 7" (Squat or Rot Records, 1989) *''They Don't Get Paid, They Don't Get Laid, But Boy Do They Work Hard'' LP (

Maximum Rock'n'Roll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly online zine of punk subculture and radio show of punk music. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and ...

, 1989) *''Murders Among Us'' 7" (

Vermiform Records Vermiform Records was an American independent record label that specialized in releasing punk rock music from 1990 until 2002. Vermiform released 58 albums and relocated many times, being headquartered in New York (state), New York, New Jersey, Vi ...

, 1990) *''More Songs About Plants and Trees'' 7" (Allied, 1991) *''Discharged: From Home Front to War Front'' 7" (Allied, 1992)

References

External links

Official Nausea websiteA Recent Interview with Neil Robinson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nausea Anarcho-punk groups American crust and d-beat groups 20th-century squatters Punk rock groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Alternative Tentacles artists 1985 establishments in New York City