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Voorhees were a hardcore punk band formed in Durham City, U.K. They existed for over 10 years from early 1991 until late 2001, releasing a plethora of records on various international record labels, backed up by numerous gigs and tours.
Contents |
History
Voorhees formed from the ashes of various other local hardcore bands (Steadfast, Know Your Enemy, False Face, The MacDonalds). Ian Leck and Sean Readman were the driving force and principal songwriters, and the first lineup was completed by Darrell Hindley, Gary Cousins and David Brown. They played their first gig at the Rowing Club in Durham in September 1991.
Voorhees gigged regularly, including a tour with Slapshot, and released the "Violent..." EP on Armed With Anger Records. Michael Gillham became the established drummer, and Graeme Nicholls the lead guitar player, joining Paul, Ian and Sean to form the first stable line-up. Early in 1994, the band's debut LP, "Spilling Blood Without Reason" was released on AWA Records. A European tour and a John Peel Session[1] was recorded for BBC Radio 1 in early 1995.
Maximum Rock'n'Roll [2] magazine's review of the album was one of many favourable reviews; "...I sensed that Voorhees could blow doors off, not just peel the paint. So here you've got it - a 26 track LP harkening back to the days of hardcore bands having something that drove them, the kind of anger and frustration that drives some people out of the room and has others turning it up louder. Wow!"
Kerrang![3] described the band's sound as a 'blistering" cross between "Discharge and Extreme Noise Terror".
Other releases recorded by the Voorhees line-up of this period were a split 7" with Stalingrad (AWA Records) and the "What You See Is What You Get" EP on Crust records. Voorhees made it to the US in April 1996, playing shows with Hatebreed, 25 Ta Life, Charles Bronson, Drop Dead, Fit For Abuse and Los Crudos among others, and playing in infamous hardcore dives like ABC No Rio, CBGB's and the Bomb Shelter in Minneapolis.
The line-up metamorphisized in the coming years, and Voorhees embarked on various U.S. and European tours before recording the final album "Crystal Lake's Legacy" on 6 Weeks Records in 2001.
Reunion
In October 2004, the 'Spilling Blood Without Reason' line-up of Voorhees got together for a one-off show, "Night of the Living Dead At Sea", which was played on a ferry boat on the Mersey River in Liverpool.
Discography
- Everybody's Good at Something... Demo Tape 50 copies made - Self Released 1992
- Fowlers Yard Demo Tape 1 copy made - Unreleased 1993
- Violent 7" 2000 copies made - Armed With Anger - 1993
- Everybody's Good at Something... Except Us! 7" flexi 1000 copies made - Armed With Anger - 1994
- Spilling Blood Without Reason LP 3000 copies made - Armed With Anger - 1994
- Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie / State Opression 7" Acetate 1 copy made - Armed With Anger - 1994
- split 7" w/ Stalingrad 1000 copies made - Thinking Smart / Caught Offside - 1995
- Smiling at Death CD 1500 copies made - Grand Theft Audio - 1996
- What You See Is What You Get 7" 2000 copies made - Crust - 1997
- Fireproof 7" 1000 copies made - Chainsaw Safety - 1998
- 13 LP 3000 copies made - Six Weeks / Armed With Anger - 1998
- 13 CD - Six Weeks / Armed With Anger - 1998
- split LP" w/ Devoid of Faith 5000 copies made - Coalition / Gloom 1999
- split CD w/ Devoid of Faith - Coalition / Gloom - 1999
- split 7" w/ Kill Your Idols 2000 copies made - Indecision - 2000
- Bookburner 7" 1500 copies made - THD - 2000
- split 7" w/ Insult 1000 copies made - Balowski Records - 2000
- split CD w/ Out Cold - Blackfish - 2000
- split 12" w/ Out Cold - Deranged - 2001
- Crystal Lake's Legacy LP 1000 copies made - Six Weeks - 2001
- Crystal Lake's Legacy CD - Six Weeks - 2001
- Spilling Blood Without Reason - Reissue LP (with 4 extra tracks) 500 copies made - Armed With Anger - 2001
- split CD w/ Out Cold - Reissue - Thorp Records - 2002
- Spilling Blood Without Reason - Reissue LP (with 4 extra tracks) 500 copies made - Zandor - 2004
- split 7" w/ Radio Alice 1000 copies made - Hermit - 2004
- The Final Chapter CD - Violent Change - 2008
Compilations
- Consolidation 7" 2000 copies made - Armed With Anger - 1992
- Illiterate 12" 2000 copies made - Ebullition - 1993
- All For One... One For All CD - Grand Theft Audio - 1995
- Endless Struggle: The Worst of the 1 in 12 Club vol. 12/13 2x12" 2000 copies made - 1 in 12 Records - 1995
- The Boredom & the Bullshit 7" 1000 copies made - Refusenik - 1995
- Strictly Ballroom 7" 1000 copies made - Caught Offside - 1996
- A Means to an End 12" 2000 copies made - Armed With Anger - 1997
- Reproach 7" 5000 copies made - Ugly Pop - 1998
- Decade of Dissidence - Worst of the 1in12 Club Vol 14/15 CD 1000 copies made - 1 in 12 Records - 1999
- Hurt Your Feelings CD - Six Weeks - 2001
- Indecision Records Split Series CD - Indecision - 2001
- Off Target CD - Coalition - 2004
- The Bitter Days Ahead CD - Ghost City - 2005
Line Up
Demo Line-up c.1991-1992
- Ian Leck - Vocals
- Sean Readman - Guitar
- Darrell Hindley - Guitar
- David Brown - Bass
- Gary Cousins - Drums
"Violent EP" Line-up c.1993
- Ian Leck - Vocals
- Sean Readman - Guitar
- Darrell Hindley - Guitar
- Paul Rugman-Jones - Bass
- Gary Cousins - Drums
"Spilling Blood LP" Line-up c.1994-1996
- Ian Leck - Vocals
- Sean Readman - Guitar
- Graeme Nicholls - Lead Guitar
- Paul Rugman-Jones - Bass
- Michael Gillham] - Drums
"13 LP" Line-up c.1997-1998
- Ian Leck - Vocals
- Richard Armitage - Guitar
- James Atkinson - Lead Guitar
- Andrew Wright - Bass
- Dave Allen - Drums
"Crystal Lake's Legacy LP" Line-up c.1998-2001
- Ian Leck - Vocals
- Richard Armitage - Guitar
- James Atkinson - Lead Guitar
- Steve Stewart - Bass
- Dave Allen - Drums
Other short term members inc. Gareth Pugh - drums c.1996
Related Bands
- Blood Simple - Ian Leck/Andrew Wright/Michael Gillham
- Bm Relocation Program - Graeme Nicholls
- Break It Up - Sean Readman/Paul Rugman-Jones/Graeme Nicholls
- Cockfight - Ian Leck
- Embittered - Michael Gillham
- False Face - Darrell Hindley/Gary Cousins
- Genghis Khan - Steve Stewart/Dave Allen
- Gentlemans Pistols - James Atkinson
- Hara Kiri - Michael Gillham
- Hard To Swallow - Michael Gillham
- Haters - Michael Gillham/Sean Readman/Paul Rugman-Jones
- The Horror - Richard Armitage/James Atkinson/Dave Allen/Steve Stewart
- Ironside - Richard Armitage/Andrew Wright
- Klonopin - Michael Gillham
- Know Your Enemy - Ian Leck/Darrell Hindley/Gary Cousins
- Lowlife UK - Gareth Pugh
- The MacDonalds - Ian Leck/Sean Readman/Paul Rugman-Jones
- Manfat - Michael Gillham
- Meatlocker - Ian Leck
- Mid Life Crisis - Sean Readman
- Pellethead - Michael Gillham
- The Mercy Suite - Dave Allen
- The Prestidigitators - Michael Gillham
- Revolt - Michael Gillham
- Sex Maniacs - James Atkinson/Dave Allen/Steve Stewart
- Sick-fucken-O - Ian Leck
- Snotnosed - Michael Gillham
- Sour Face - Michael Gillham
- Stalingrad - Ian Leck
- Steadfast - Ian Leck/Sean Readman/Paul Rugman-Jones
- Unborn - Andrew Wright
- Vengeance of Gaia- Steve Stewart/Dave Allen
- Walk the Plank - Ian Leck
- We Be the Echo - Graeme Nicholls
- Withdrawn - Ian Leck
