Shane Embury (born 27 November 1967) is a British bassist and a member of the

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of 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, extreme metal, and industrial. ...

and

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, fe ...

band

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

since 1987.

Career

Napalm Death

While not a founding member, Embury is the longest standing member of the band, having taken part in the ''Scum'' tour, replacing previous bassist Jim Whitely in 1987. He was a fan of the band before he joined, first seeing them perform at Midlands venue The Mermaid the previous year and becoming close friends of the members of the band, particularly Mick Harris. Nicholas Bullen, the founding member of the band, originally asked Shane to join them before the recording of the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of the debut album '' Scum'' but Shane eventually declined due to nervousness, his biggest regret.

Warhammer

Before joining Napalm Death, Embury played drums in a

band called Warhammer with Mitch Dickinson. The band released one demo in 1985 called ''Abattoir of Death''. After Warhammer, Embury and Mitch did work as Unseen Terror. Embury also played drums in Azagthoth with fellow Warhammer guitarist Wayne Aston and bassist Pete Giles. Azagthoth recorded one demo at Rich Bitch Studios in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

called ''Shredded Flesh''.

Other projects

Embury has a long list of side projects. He performed in the

band Unseen Terror with Mitch Dickinson, who was also a member of

Heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

. He formed an

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine ...

band called

Blood from the Soul Blood from the Soul is an industrial metal supergroup formed by Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury. The band's debut album, ''To Spite the Gland That Breeds'' (1993), featured Embury with Sick of It All vocalist Lou Koller. In 2020, Embury reform ...

with Lou Koller from New York's

Sick of It All Sick of It All is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1986 in Queens, New York City. The band's lineup consists of brothers Lou and Pete Koller on lead vocals and guitars respectively, Armand Majidi on drums, and Craig Setari on bass. Sic ...

, which released their debut album, ''To Spite The Gland That Breeds'', in 1993; the project reformed in 2020 to release a sophomore record, ''DSM-5''. He was in an industrial band with

Mitch Harris Mitch Harris (born October 31, 1969) is an American guitarist. He started his career in the grindcore band Righteous Pigs. He did a side project with Mick Harris – then the drummer of grindcore band Napalm Death – called Defecation. Shortl ...

and several Obituary members called Meathook Seed. He was also part of an unconventional band called Malformed Earthborn with Brutal Truth's bass player

Dan Lilker Daniel A. Lilker (born October 18, 1964) is an American semi-retired musician best known as a bass player, but also guitarist, pianist, drummer and vocalist. He was the bassist for the thrash metal band Nuclear Assault and was a founding member ...

, Lock Up with Tomas Lindberg of

At the Gates At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the ...

, and Brujeria, a Mexican death metal band. Embury also plays with Napalm Death bandmate Danny Herrera, Kevin Sharp of Brutal Truth, and Danny Lilker of

Nuclear Assault Nuclear Assault was an American thrash metal band formed in New York City in 1984. Part of the mid-to-late 1980s thrash metal movement, they were one of the main bands of the genre to emerge from the East Coast along with Overkill, Whiplash, ...

and Brutal Truth in the band Venomous Concept; and has recently toured with UK

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw ( lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an em ...

band

Anaal Nathrakh Anaal Nathrakh are a British extreme metal band formed in 1999 in Birmingham by multi-instrumentalist Mick Kenney and vocalist Dave Hunt. They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records. The band's name is Irish for ''snake's breath'' ( an� ...

. Embury recently resurrected a musical project called Absolute Power with close producer friends Simon Efemey & Russ Russell which he started in 2000, featuring Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals &

Brian Tatler Diamond Head are an English heavy metal band formed in 1976 in Stourbridge, West Midlands. The band was part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement and is acknowledged by thrash metal bands such as Metallica and Megadeth as an import ...

of Diamond Head on guitar. Their debut album was finally released on download only though Shane's Feto Records label in 2011. More recently, Embury played on the latest

Liquid Graveyard Liquid Graveyard is a progressive death metal band founded by John Walker, the frontman of Cancer. Biography Liquid Graveyard is a death metal band formed in 2006 by John Walker, frontman and guitarist in the British death metal band Cancer, ...

album, ''By Nature So Perverse'' with

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

frontman and guitarist John Walker, drummer Nicholas Barker and vocalist Raquel Walker, released in 2016.

Personal life

Born in

Broseley Broseley is a market town in Shropshire, England, with a population of 4,929 at the 2011 Census and an estimate of 5,022 in 2019. The River Severn flows to its north and east. The first iron bridge in the world was built in 1779 across the Se ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, he lives with his wife in

, West Midlands, and loves horror and science fiction books, movies and comics. He has tattoos on both of his arms, including the Napalm Death logo and the "Life?" image on his left arm.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Embury, Shane Napalm Death members Death metal musicians English heavy metal bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English heavy metal drummers 1967 births Living people Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Musicians from Shropshire People from Broseley Lock Up (British band) members Brujeria (band) members Grindcore musicians British industrial musicians British punk rock musicians