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| PIG DESTROYER |
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| INFO |
YEAR FORMED: 1997
HOMETOWN: Sterling, VA
MEMBERS:
JR Hayes (vocals),
Scott Hull (guitar),
Brian Harvey (drums)
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| BIOGRAPHY |
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Virginia’s extreme sound nihilists PIG DESTROYER deliver savage grindcore that is both intentionally confrontational and thoroughly pummeling. PIG DESTROYER formed in 1997, when vocalist J.R. Hayes, guitarist Scott Hull and drummer John Evans decided to unite in their efforts to bring utterly destructive grindcore to their local Virginia area...and beyond. The trio began rehearsing and immediately found that their common musical interests produced intelligent and incendiary music. Derived from a non-musical source as extreme as the band’s sound, PIG DESTROYER’s easily-identifiable logo took form when the emblem from the infamous Answer Me! magazine was disassembled and rearranged.
This lineup meshed well and recorded their self-titled demo, which met to a rousing response. A PIG DESTROYER / ORCHID split seven inch was then released, and quickly sold out. In early 1998, the band embarked on an East Coast tour that culminated with an appearance at New Jersey’s Paperweight Festival, where PxDx crushed alongside contemporaries CONVERGE, KID DYNAMITE and ISIS.
1998 then saw the band part ways with Evans and initiate skinsman Brian Harvey into the faction. PIG DESTROYER was growing in name and sound, playing more and more shows and touring up and down the east coast. A CD entitled Explosions in Ward 6 was released and PIG DESTROYER increased their visibility immediately after the release of the CD, touring and playing shows with the likes of DISCORDANCE AXIS, PHOBIA, DAYBREAK, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN and CATTLEPRESS. Great press reaction to the Explosions in Ward 6 album established Pig Destroyer as one of the best new grind acts to emerge worldwide in the last decade.
PIG DESTROYER toured in the summer of 1999 with DAYBREAK and GODSTOMPER, further abusing the east coast scene(s). Standout performances at Philly’s Stalag 13, NYC’s CBGBs and the 2000 March Metal Meltdown saw the buzz on PxDx reach a new high. In May 2000, PIG DESTROYER again toured the east coast, this time with Joe Preston’s THRONES. This tour was the most highly-attended to date, culminating with a webcast performance at New York’s renowned Knitting Factory.
Relapse signed the band and issued a PIG DESTROYER / ISIS 7” (PxDx covered the CARCASS classics Genital Grinder and Regurgitation Of Giblets) on the label’s Singles Series in July 2000. Released as a limited edition of 2000, the single sold out in less than a month’s time, garnishing cult status for the release. Plans were made to release a complete band discography under the guise 38 Counts Of Battery. 38 Counts Of Battery is an intense register of the band’s work and includes the remastered Explosions In Ward 6 album, tracks from the ISIS and ORCHID splits and their scalding demo. Fusing intelligently agitated lyrical concepts with an absolutely murderous mixture of maniacal guitar work and thundering percussive persecution, 38 Counts Of Battery is mandatory listening for any fan of extreme music.
PIG DESTROYER then took listeners on a rampaging journey through an unsettling, psychotic world with their 2001 album, Prowler In The Yard. Melding an insane musical attack with similarly jarring lyrical prose and an unmatched propensity to incite, Prowler In The Yard hit listeners like a coal-black monolith of nihilism. Equally extreme artwork by noted tattoo artist Paul Booth perfectly complemented PIG DESTROYER’s aural atrocities, setting the tone for what could only be called a disturbing listening “experience”. The record stunned music fans, garnering lavishing praise, and becoming one of the more talked about extreme music releases in recent history. Headlining performances at the 2002 New England Metal and Hardcore Festival and 2002 Relapse Records CMJ Showcase, alongside a hi-profile set at the media-hounded Relapse Records ‘Contamination’ Festival in Philadelphia, cemented PIG DESTROYER’s place among the new goliaths of heavy music.
PxDx then continued work on the follow-up to “Prowler…”. In what would turn out to be an exhausting, lengthy creative process, the band assumed the ambitious goal of creating a multi-media monster (CD / Audio-DVD package) with their next release. Choosing to name the album “TERRIFYER”, the band worked to create something different, something new to extreme music fans. As the album’s preparation continued, the band took their new body of work to the live setting, testing and honing the material in the process. New songs such as “Soft Assasin”, “Pretty in Casts” and the formidable “Gravedancer” were unleashed on audiences. In January, 2004, PIG DESTROYER toured Japan as part of the “Grind the Dojo” tour series where PxDx delivered explosive live sets alongside NAPALM DEATH, NASUM and AxCx. The band headlined the 2004 New England Metal and Hardcore Festival and was profiled by the FUSE Network’s “Uranium” program. Meanwhile, a video for “Prowler”’s “Piss Angel” surfaced and saw air time on both MTV2 and FUSE.
Fall, 2004: PIG DESTROYER return with TERRIFYER the long-awaited full-length follow up to the critically acclaimed Prowler in the Yard. PxDx's, frighteningly compelling mix of metal, grind, thrash and punk rock seethes with an intensity that will unnerve the unprepared. PIG DESTROYER's vicious attack envelops the listener in a cocoon of grisly nihilism. TERRIFYER features 32 minutes of PIG DESTROYER's finest music to date as well as the 37 minute audio DVD track NATASHA, mixed in glorious 5.1 Surround Sound.
Immediately upon the release of “TERRIFYER”, PIG DESTROYER will headline the 2004 Relapse Records CMJ Showcase in NYC. The band will then embark on their first UK headlining tour, fronting the 2004 “Grind Over UK” tour with TOTAL FUCKING DESTRUCTION (ex-BRUTAL TRUTH), HALO and others in tow. Prepare!
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