There comes a time when you've simply had enough – enough of the pissy, smug faces, the convenient angst, the generic “dum-de-dum-de-chugga-chunka-chug” guitar sounds that you could quite happily go out and machine-gun the entire population of a small town to...

The irritating state of the current popular rock scene was a subject broached over many Birmingham-based Saturday nights on the town in late '98 by Napalm Death men Shane Embury and Jesse Pintado and then-Cradle Of Filth drummer Nick Barker. Fuelled by a sea of strong lager, it also got them talking about the good old days, not of cheap fares on public transport but of bands like Dark Angel, Death, Repulsion and Slayer at their bulldozing best. Very soon it was decided that putting their frustrations to music was the only way forward. And so Lock Up was born.


With a decidedly low budget that barely scraped past double figures and a desire to bash an album out in double-quick time to preserve the rawness, Shane and Jesse set to work. A few sessions on a 10-watt practice amp and an unpredictable four-track recorder later, and they were ready to go into the studio. What? No rehearsals? Not quite. Not even with the drummer? Absolutely not! Basically, Mr. Barker parked his butt on the drum stool, asked, “What do I do to this one, then?” and proceeded to blur through the entire album in one take.


But there was still the small matter of recruiting a singer to contend with. Leafing through their little black book of growlers, they happened across Peter Tägtgren, Hypocrisy singer/guitarist and workaholic extreme metal producer. With rabid enthusiasm he agreed to do it, and so, fittingly, the rest of the band made the journey to deepest, darkest Northern Sweden to Peter's Abyss Studio. In keeping with the spontaneity, the screams and growls went to tape instantaneously with all the subtlety and restraint of a wounded bull elephant.

The press reacted very enthusiastically about Pleasures Pave Sewers (Rock Hard Rank 1 in the Soundcheck, Hammer 6/7 points, Heavy Oder Was? 1 10/ 12 points), because this was the album they had waited years for. “Old school” was the most written word. And that was the point!


Because all the members were very busy with all their main bands, there was no Lock Up tour possible. There was only one very successful gig at the famous Wacken Open Air back in 2000 with an awesome performance. 20,000 people went crazy, and they were surprised, cause Peter Tägtgren was not playing with the band. He was busy with Hypocrisy and Pain. His replacement was none other than Tomas “Tompa” Lindberg, the legendary ex-At The Gates frontman. After this show, he became a permanent member of Lock Up.


In February 2000, Lock Up entered the Framework Studio in Birmingham, England to record their second album. Produced by Russ Russels and engineered by none other than Napalm Death guitarist Mitch Harris, Hate breeds suffering became another old-school grindcore monster. There is no other band around nowadays with as much anger, hate and raw power as Lock Up. Check out the album and you know what we are talking about.

Source: Label Officiel: http://www.nuclearblast.de