Scorn (band)
Encyclopedia
Scorn was an English
electronic music
project. The group was formed in the early 1990s as a side project of former Napalm Death
members Mick Harris
and Nic Bullen
(the latter as one of the founding members of the band in 1981). Bullen left the group in 1995 and the project continues on to this day essentially as part of Harris' career.
Since their early years, Scorn is often associated with industrial
and experimental music, particularly with their early releases as a duo with much of their Earache Records
-era output. Since the departure of Bullen, much of the output has been minimalist beats with an emphasis on very deep bass lines, often resembling dub
and trip-hop in structure. The departure from their early sound eventually led to Harris parting ways with Earache after the Logghi Barroghi release, both sides apparently having been unhappy with how the project was being handled.
, England
by drummer Mick Harris and vocalist/bassist Nic Bullen, former members of English grindcore
band Napalm Death
. Another Napalm Death member, Justin Broadrick
, appeared on several early Scorn releases. With Bullen's departure in April 1995, Harris has been the only member of the project since then.
After leaving Earache Records, the project kept pushing the dirty bass and heavy beat sound, subtly changing with each release. Over time, the band became associated with KK Records/Invisible and then Hymen - eventually parting ways with KK around 1998, and Hymen in 2002. The intervening years since saw a break in recorded output (save for what was a release of a live internet jam on Vivo Records in 2004) with live dates popping up periodically.
Starting in 2006, Harris began stepping up activities as Scorn, starting with the 10" Whistle For It, which (apparently to Harris' dismay) was so poorly mastered as to have lost Scorn's trademark low end.
After a 5 year absence, 2007 saw Scorn return to the studio properly with the long awaited full-length entitled Stealth on Brooklyn-based Kurt Gluck/Submerged (DJ)
's Ohm Resistance label. In early 2008 Scorn released the first of two 12"s on Combat Records. The second release came out in 2009. Each 12" contains one new track and a remix by a Combat Recordings artist. Combat also released a 12" containing remixes of the aforementioned tracks by other artists. At the same time, Mick also recorded another new 12" for California based Record Label Records, which was released in 2009 as limited edition of 300 copies on clear vinyl with handmade packaging.
2010 saw another new full-length entitled "Refuse; Start Fires", again released on Ohm Resistance, where Mick seems to have found a home with a supportive label that is like-minded in terms of meeting Scorn's high standard for the sound of the finished product. This album also marked the first time since Bullen left the project that Mick has worked full-on with another musician (excluding the track Scorn did with David Knight on the "Rise|Converge" compilation), drummer Yan Treasey. On the heels of this full-length, Mick returned with the "Yozza" EP in 2011, again with Treasey. On November 10th of 2011, Mick stated Scorn was put to bed.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
project. The group was formed in the early 1990s as a side project of former Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
members Mick Harris
Mick Harris
Mick Harris commonly known and credited both as Mick Harris or occasionally M.J. Harris, is an English musician....
and Nic Bullen
Nicholas Bullen
-Biography:He is one of the founding members - with Miles Ratledge - of Napalm Death, the band credited with creating the Grindcore 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 Napalm Death in May...
(the latter as one of the founding members of the band in 1981). Bullen left the group in 1995 and the project continues on to this day essentially as part of Harris' career.
Since their early years, Scorn is often associated with industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
and experimental music, particularly with their early releases as a duo with much of their Earache Records
Earache Records
Earache Records is a heavy metal-oriented record label based in Nottingham, UK and New York, USA. It helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing many of the earliest grindcore and death metal records in the period 1988-1994.-History:...
-era output. Since the departure of Bullen, much of the output has been minimalist beats with an emphasis on very deep bass lines, often resembling dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
and trip-hop in structure. The departure from their early sound eventually led to Harris parting ways with Earache after the Logghi Barroghi release, both sides apparently having been unhappy with how the project was being handled.
History
Scorn was formed in 1991 in BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
by drummer Mick Harris and vocalist/bassist Nic Bullen, former members of English grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
band Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
. Another Napalm Death member, Justin Broadrick
Justin Broadrick
Justin Karl Michael Broadrick is a British singer, songwriter, guitarist and drummer. He is best known as a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and industrial music.-Biography:Broadrick was born in the council estates of inner...
, appeared on several early Scorn releases. With Bullen's departure in April 1995, Harris has been the only member of the project since then.
After leaving Earache Records, the project kept pushing the dirty bass and heavy beat sound, subtly changing with each release. Over time, the band became associated with KK Records/Invisible and then Hymen - eventually parting ways with KK around 1998, and Hymen in 2002. The intervening years since saw a break in recorded output (save for what was a release of a live internet jam on Vivo Records in 2004) with live dates popping up periodically.
Starting in 2006, Harris began stepping up activities as Scorn, starting with the 10" Whistle For It, which (apparently to Harris' dismay) was so poorly mastered as to have lost Scorn's trademark low end.
After a 5 year absence, 2007 saw Scorn return to the studio properly with the long awaited full-length entitled Stealth on Brooklyn-based Kurt Gluck/Submerged (DJ)
Submerged (DJ)
Submerged is a Brooklyn-based DJ, bassist, founder of Ohm Resistance and co-founder of Obliterati, American avant garde drum and bass and experimental music labels, and a prolific multi-genre electronic music producer, first notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning bassist and producer Bill...
's Ohm Resistance label. In early 2008 Scorn released the first of two 12"s on Combat Records. The second release came out in 2009. Each 12" contains one new track and a remix by a Combat Recordings artist. Combat also released a 12" containing remixes of the aforementioned tracks by other artists. At the same time, Mick also recorded another new 12" for California based Record Label Records, which was released in 2009 as limited edition of 300 copies on clear vinyl with handmade packaging.
2010 saw another new full-length entitled "Refuse; Start Fires", again released on Ohm Resistance, where Mick seems to have found a home with a supportive label that is like-minded in terms of meeting Scorn's high standard for the sound of the finished product. This album also marked the first time since Bullen left the project that Mick has worked full-on with another musician (excluding the track Scorn did with David Knight on the "Rise|Converge" compilation), drummer Yan Treasey. On the heels of this full-length, Mick returned with the "Yozza" EP in 2011, again with Treasey. On November 10th of 2011, Mick stated Scorn was put to bed.
Albums
- Vae SolisVae SolisVae Solis is the debut album by Scorn, originally released in 1992 on Earache in the UK, and Relativity in the United States. It features the same musician lineup as Side A of Napalm Death's Scum.-Track listing:#"Spasm" – 2:49...
(Earache, 1992) - Colossus (Earache, 1993)
- EvanescenceEvanescence (Scorn album)Evanescence is an album by Scorn, originally released in 1994 on Earache Records. It was remastered along with its remix album and released as a two disc set in 2009.-Track listing:# "Silver Rain Fell" - 7:36# "Light Trap" - 6:11# "Falling" - 4:59...
(Earache, 1994) - GyralGyral (album)-Track listing:# "Six Hours One Week" - 6:40 # "Time Went Slow" - 9:45 # "Far In Out" - 5:55 # "Stairway" - 8:11 # "Forever Turning" - 5:18 # "Black Box" - 7:41 # "Hush" - 9:06 # "Trondheim - Gävle" - 9:11-Personnel:Scorn...
(Earache, 1996) - Logghi Barogghi (Earache, 1996)
- WhineWhineWhine is an album by Scorn, originally released in 1997 on Invisible Records in the United States, and KK Records in Europe.-Track listing:Tracks 1–8 recorded live in Rome, 1997-03-05.#"Not Answering" – 9:54#"Twitcher" – 6:02#"Strand" – 6:04...
(Invisible,1997) - Zander (Invisible, 1997)
- Greetings From Birmingham (Hymen Records, 2000)
- Plan B (Hymen Records, 2002)
- List of Takers (Vivo, 2004)
- Stealth (Ohm Resistance, 2007)
- Refuse; Start Fires (Ohm Resistance, 2010)
Compilation albums
- EllipsisEllipsis (album)Ellipsis is an album by Scorn, originally released in 1995 on Earache Records. It was remastered along with Evanescence and released as a two disc set in 2009.-Track listing:# "Silver Rain Fell " - 8:35...
(1995, remixes collection) - Anamnesis - Rarities 1994 - 1997 (1999)
Singles & EPs
- Deliverance (1992)
- Lick Forever Dog (1992)
- Lament (1993)
- White Irises Blind (1993)
- Silver Rain Fell (1994)
- Stairway (1995)
- Leave It Out (1996)
- Imaginaria Award (2000)
- Governor (2002)
- Born a Fielda, Die a Fielda (limited edition 10 inch vinyl picture disc) (2006)
- Whistle for It (limited edition 10 inch vinyl single) (2008)
- Super Mantis Part 1 (2008)
- In The Margins (limited 12 inch) (2009)
- Yozza (Ohm Resistance, 2011)
External links
- Scorn discography at Discogs.com
- Scorn Video Report on OC-TV.net