The Peel Sessions

Unseen Terror, a group often overlooked by the masses when discussing grindcore of the old days. Many think it was just another side project of Napalm Death’s Shane (and later Mick Harris joined as well). This of course is far from the truth. Shane joined Napalm Death two years after founding Unseen Terror.

Unseen Terror was the brainchild of Shane Embury & Mitch Dickinson after their first band Warhammer, which actually was the first ever death metal group from the U.K. but never released an album. What really set Unseen Terror apart from contemporary grindcore pioneers was the fact that the hardcore punk influence was only present in pace and the riffs were as metal as you could get them. Fast thrashing death metal riffs all over the place.

The biggest problems with their official debut in ‘Human Error’ in 1987 were the production (guitars probably were played without an amp or what?) and the hesitant vocal performance by Dickinson. Now over the years both ‘negative’ aspects have grown on me and actually gave that album it’s very own charm and character. But still, if that album would’ve had a more extreme sounding guitar and extreme vocals, it would have easily made an even bigger impact. Still to this day a lot of grindcore fans complain about that production and the four comedy tunes about Garfield. Not realising that incorporating a few comedy tunes was a pretty normal thing to do in the crossover scene during those days. Retrospectively the band could have done without them.

On the ’89 Peel Sessions we get to hear the band at it’s best! The guitars sound heavy, extreme and crunchy and the vocals are dynamic. Mitch Dickinson shares the lead vocals with none other than Mick Harris! Yes, that manic drummer clearly can grunt and scream as well and he does it well here. Just check out his vocals on “Burned Beyond Recognition” and tell me that isn’t just as good as any other death metal vocalist in those days! Marvellous. Mitch Dickinson sounds a lot better as well, listening to his vocal performance on “Divisions”. The vocal performance on “Incompatible” is simply hilarious and I don’t even know how to best describe them.

So if you want to hear the real impact of Unseen Terror’s metal-riff-laden dynamic grindcore, the 1989 Peel Session is the best way!