(Weymouth, MA) Listen up you guys, I have something that I need to say. I have been with you all since the early days of Siege and Napalm Death. I was there when the first ever blast beat was played and we collectively knew that we were experiencing nirvana. I sipped fine wines with Mitch Dickson and Shane Embury, okay? I have street cred is what I am saying. And, despite all of that, I must say that grindcore just isn’t as fun as it used to be.

There, I said it. It feels good to get that off of my chest.

Now, before you come for me in the comments section of http://www.pukingblood.net I need to explain my defense. If you don’t agree with this assessment, fine by me. You are entitled to your opinions and you can go make a website for those if you want. But this is my website and these are my opinions.

Grindcore used to be so much fun, you know? Back in the day where all we were concerned with was playing music faster than any other band had before. That was the fun stuff. Now it’s all sold out shows at the defunct milk duds factory every Thursday night and you collect the check on Friday. There’s no art to it anymore. I think in the process of trying to create music that makes our parents hate us we accidentally sold out.

I mean, I’m not saying I was with anyone big like Goblin Smash or Thunderous Plunder but I made my fair share of clams off this little subgenre. I just think somewhere after the second Chili’s show we really lost our heads. We became something that none of us wanted to be.

I think that’s when the magic was lost for me, if I’m being honest. And I am being honest, you should be too. I think we can all leave grindcore underground where it belongs, a myth only some will remember, but will forever cherish. We’ll have secret reunions under a dark moon in the fall and we’ll get together another time for trivia in the spring.

We don’t have to become what we have always feared. We can still be us. But for that to happen, we have to leave grindcore behind. I’m sorry. I feel this needed to be said.

Thank you.

This article was written by Nathan Ellwood, who loves grind and core separately, but together it’s just too much. Follow him for more useless music opinions on Twitter @NPEllwood.