Unseen Terror

Unseen Terror
Origin Birmingham, England
Genres Extreme metal, hardcore punk, grindcore
Years active 1986–1990
Labels Strange Fruit, Earache
Associated acts Heresy, Napalm Death
Members Mitch Dickinson
Shane Embury
Past members Pete Giles
Mick Harris

Unseen Terror was a British extreme metal band formed by Mitch Dickinson (Heresy) and Shane Embury (later of Napalm Death), and played extreme metal with a technical edge along with elements of hardcore punk.[1] Their most notable feat took place in March 1988, when they recorded tracks for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 program.

History

The band formed after the demise of arguably the first UK Death Metal band WARHAMMER. (Line up: Wayne Aston, Mike Clarke, Mitch Dickinson, Shane Embury).

UNSEEN TERROR was named after Mitch Dickinson was listening to the classic Boise, Idaho band SEPTIC DEATH. The song "Terrorain" by SEPTIC DEATH has the lyric "Unseen Death - Terrorain". The Chernobyl disaster was very fresh in the minds of many at the time, and Mitch thought of the term "Unseen Terror", as the radiation in the air around the area of the disaster was invisible. It WAS literally an Unseen Terror. Incidentally, The band was not named after the S.O.B track "Unseen Terror" as some internet sources state. The song "Unseen Terror" by S.O.B in fact came a while later.

This short-lived, but highly influential group was founded in early 1986 by singer/guitarist Mitch Dickinson and Shane Embury.

Mitch and Shane wrote many songs together as a two piece band during mid 1986 - mid 1987. These tracks were recorded on to cassette during rehearsals (mainly at Mitch's father's house). These rehearsal tapes were subsequently distributed on an international level via the tape trading network of the time. These tapes caught the attention of Digby Pearson who later founded Earache Records.

A few months into 1987 the band were invited to contribute two tracks to the compilation LP Diminished Responsibility, a 1987 Thrash compilation album,[2] the group landed a record contract at Earache Records.

Just after the recording the tracks for this compilation LP, the band recruited Pete Giles (from the then, very far away, Essex) as their bass player. Pete came to the pairs attention via his penpal generated collaboration with ex WARHAMMER guitarist Wayne Aston. Pete and Wayne wrote songs together which came to light under the moniker of AZAGTHOTH. Incidental note: Shane was invited to play drums on the AZAGTHOTH demo "Shredded Flesh". This relationship between the various musicians involved in such a small geographical location led to Shane and Mitch asking Pete to collaborate in UNSEEN TERROR on bass guitar. Unfortunately, this line up did not last very long. Earache Records (with very little notice) booked the recording studio for the recording of "Human Error" during a time when there were various difficulties occurring (both logistically and personally) for the band. These unchangeable dates for the recording ultimately meant that Shane and Mitch had no choice but to fulfill the agreement with Earache. Pete, due to work and personal commitments was unfortunately unable to record the album.

Regarding The original album back cover photo: Photos were taken on location in Broseley, Shropshire, England (by Earache Founder Digby Pearson).

As stated: The album Human Error was recorded by Mitch Dickinson and Shane Embury as a two piece band during September 1987. After their debut-album, Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris joined the band as singer. The band were invited via a phone call from John Walters to a recording session for BBC Radio One legend John Peel,[3] and a one-off performance in Nottingham with bassist Wayne Aston. Incidentally, Wayne Aston did not appear on the Peel sessions recordings.

The Peel sessions were released as a limited 12" EP )in the UK) and a CD (with uncomissioned artwork) in the USA. See Discogs for info. These releases remained as collectors items until the recent releases of the session on the Earache compilation "Grind Madness at the BBC" 3 CD collection. The Peel session was more recently released on vinyl again via Earache in a collaborative pressing with HERESY and INTENSE DEGREE.



Band members

Former members

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Liner notes of Earache Records' Human Error reissue
  2. ↑ Napalm Death, Unseen Terror, Warhammer: An Interview with Shane Embury
  3. ↑ The Peel Sessions: Unseen Terror, Spirit of Metal Webzine
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