The Locust
United States · formed 1994 · last active 2012
San Diego's insect-costumed answer to the question of how much chaos fits in thirty seconds: The Locust fused grindcore and powerviolence velocity with squealing new-wave synths, delivering albums like Plague Soundscapes (2003) as swarms of sub-minute songs with abrupt, inconsistent time-signature changes. On stage the quartet performed in skin-tight full-body nylon insect suits, lined up across the front of the stage like a hive presenting itself. Formed in 1994, the band dissolved in 2022 after the death of drummer Gabe Serbian, leaving a body of work The New York Times framed by declaring that if noise-rock had superheroes, The Locust would surely be among them.
SCORE PROFILE
Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.
MEMBERS
- Justin Pearsonbass, vocals· also in Dead Cross, Retox
- Bobby Brayguitar, vocals
- Joey Karamkeyboards, vocals
- Gabe Serbiandrums· also in Dead Cross, Retox
CONNECTIONS
- Bastard Noisepath →
Bastard Noise remixed The Locust's "Well I'll Be A Monkey's Uncle" on the 2000 remix 12-inch single. source ↗
- Melt-Bananapath →
The Locust / Melt-Banana (2002) Gold Standard Laboratories source ↗
- Bastard Noisepath →
Shared label roster: Three One G, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Convergepath →
Shared label roster: Epitaph, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Deafheavenpath →
Shared label roster: Anti‐, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Melt-Bananapath →
Shared label roster: Gold Standard Laboratories, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Venowlpath →
Shared label roster: King of the Monsters, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13Monastat 7HardcoreTechnicalGlitch
Monastat 7 was a Cheyenne, Wyoming grindcore trio whose 1993/94 debut 'Now Available Without A Prescription' — produced by Dan Lilker of Brutal Truth and reissued on Relapse — paired technical cybergrind riffing with heavy sampling, comedy/rap interludes and skits (a track built around a grocery-store clerk's price-check announcement over the PA). The lineup leaned into avant-garde instrumentation for a 1993 grind band, with Henkaboo E. Boltz credited on guitar, programming AND violin alongside Dr. Stat3's bass/keyboards. A 1995 follow-up EP, 'Operatic Genitalia Of 7 Bowel Movements,' continued the project on the same Japanese DIY label, Lost Frog Productions.
- Patton-verseEI 13Dead CrossHardcoreTechnicalTheatrical
Dead Cross is a Southern California crossover-thrash/hardcore supergroup formed in late 2015, uniting drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Fantômas, Mr. Bungle), bassist Justin Pearson (The Locust, Retox), and guitarist Michael Crain (Retox). The Locust's Gabe Serbian was the original vocalist but left after the debut was recorded; Mike Patton replaced him in December 2016, rewriting the vocals over the existing instrumentals. The band has released two albums via Patton's Ipecac Recordings — the self-titled debut (2017) and II (2022) — delivering short, violent blasts of thrash and hardcore punk.
- UnaffiliatedEI 18Inferno Sci-Fi Grind'n'RollHardcoreTechnicalGlitch
Inferno Sci-Fi Grind'n'Roll was an Italian grindcore/mathcore band from Rome, active 2002-2012, founded by five friends with disparate musical influences. Signed to Subsound Records, their sound mixed distorted, metallic grind/mathcore riffing with 'electro-noise sonorities' and unexpected quieter 'roots'-inflected passages, wrapped in sci-fi/pop-culture conceptual song titles.
- Mathcore / DEP-verseEI 14Today Is the DayHardcoreTechnicalGlitch
Today Is the Day is an American noise-rock and experimental-metal band led by guitarist/vocalist and producer Steve Austin, formed in Nashville in the early 1990s. Blending grindcore, hardcore and avant-garde metal with heavy sampling and unhinged, erratic arrangements, the group became a touchstone for the noisecore and mathcore underground. Their 1999 Relapse album In the Eyes of God featured a young rhythm section of bassist Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor, both formerly of Lethargy, who soon left to co-found Mastodon.
- UnaffiliatedEI 17Angelwings MarmaladeHardcoreGlitchTechnical
Angelwings Marmalade is Angel Marcloid's noise/cybergrind outlet — the looser, harsher counterpart to her better-known blackened-new-age project Fire-Toolz. Where Fire-Toolz builds structured genre-collage songs, Angelwings Marmalade leans into harsh noise, musique concrete, noisecore and cybergrind textures, often stitched together from years of accumulated source material and guest vocal/sample contributions. It's one of several aliases (alongside MindSpring Memories, Nonlocal Forecast, Toad Computers) through which Marcloid works out a specific corner of her sound.
- Mathcore / DEP-verseEI 9SikthHardcoreTechnicalTheatrical
SikTh are a British progressive/technical metal band formed in Watford, Hertfordshire in 1999, known for their dual-vocalist attack, dissonant mathcore-adjacent riffing, and unorthodox compositions. They are widely cited as pioneers of the djent and tech-metal movement, breaking through with their debut album The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild (2003), followed by Death of a Dead Day (2006) and, after a reunion, The Future in Whose Eyes? (2017).
- Mathcore / DEP-verseEI 12Melt-BananaHardcoreTechnicalGlitch
Melt-Banana is a Japanese noise-rock band formed in Tokyo in 1992, built around vocalist Yasuko Onuki's rapid-fire, high-pitched yelp and guitarist Ichiro Agata's surgical, effects-drenched noise assault. Blurring grindcore velocity with electronic glitch, pop hooks and pure sound-sculpture, they became one of the defining bands of a new Japanese hardcore, finding a bigger audience abroad than at home. John Zorn captured them for his Tzadik label on the 1998 live album MxBx 1998/13,000 Miles at Light Velocity, and their relentless touring saw them open for Mr. Bungle, the Melvins, Fantômas and Tool.
- UnaffiliatedEI 15Worm HeroHardcoreTechnicalGlitch
Worm Hero is a UK avant-grind outfit from Stoke-on-Trent, formed in 2020, spinning sprawling in-house mythology (personas like Opalescent O'Coinn, Countess Chellibal, and Dildwuar Esquire) across concept releases such as "The Dastardly Dangerous Misadventures of the Maverick Marauders" and "The Scarrakh's Contradiction." Their Bandcamp/RYM tags stack avant-garde metal and grindcore alongside mathcore, nintendocore, powerviolence, and spacegrind, reflecting a genuinely genre-promiscuous, electronics-laced take on extreme metal rather than straight grind. Splits with acts like Lure In and a four-way split ("FUCK YOU LIKE AN OUROBOROS") point to an active underground grind/avant-grind scene presence.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13SectlineforHardcoreTheatricalGlitch
Sectlinefor is an NYC/London duo of Jared (vocals) and Piton (guitar, production, drum machine) making deliberately genre-shredding 'cinematic rock' that collides alternative/psychedelic metal, hardcore-ish punk energy, hip-hop-inflected interludes, and glitchy 80s/90s electronica. Formed in 2015 and solidified as a two-piece by 2018, they're compared to Faith No More, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Deftones, Devin Townsend, and early Ministry; their pandemic-era third album Kissing Strangers During an Outbreak (2021) leans hardest into disturbing, comedic, boundary-smashing songwriting.
- Southern Lord / droneEI 13PhantomsmasherHardcoreGlitchTechnical
Phantomsmasher is a glitch-grind / digital-hardcore project led by guitarist James Plotkin, previously known as Atomsmasher, that fuses grindcore with electronic noise and cut-up programming. The trio of Plotkin (guitar, bass, electronics), vocalist DJ Speedranch, and drummer Dave Witte released their self-titled album on Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings on August 19, 2002. Plotkin is a prolific experimentalist also known for OLD, Khanate, Khlyst, Jodis, and Scorn.