Siege

Siege was a highly influential hardcore punk group formed in 1983 in Weymouth, Massachusetts that some people credit with singlehandedly inventing the style and sound of the genre that was to become known as grindcore. Siege were active in the 1980s Boston hardcore punk scene.

Though rather short-lived and little-known during their life, subsequent musicians have cited the group as a profound influence. Many credit Siege as the pioneering grindcore band; others credit the UK band Napalm Death, who coined the term 'grindcore'.

Siege's original lineup consisted of Kevin Mahoney on vocals & saxophone, Kurt Habelt on guitar, Rob Williams on drums, and Hank McNamee on bass guitar.
Kevin Mahoney was from Braintree, the rest of the band was from Weymouth. Siege's first official show was at a 'Battle of the Bands' in the spring of 1984 at their Weymouth high school. They were disqualified when bassist Hank McNamee smashed his instrument onstage. Robert Williams later formed the band Nightstick.

Despite their proximity to Boston, Siege did not fit into the Boston Crew-dominated Straight edge hardcore scene; they played most of their gigs further away in Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. They played in Greenfield with local hardcore bands DYS, Cancerous Growth, The Freeze, Outpatients, and Deep Wound. Siege played gigs out-of-state at the Living Room in Providence and at Anthrax in Stamford.

In 1985 Siege was scheduled to play their first show in New York City at CBGBs with The Necros. Singer Kevin Mahoney did not show up for the gig, and Siege disbanded.

In 1991 Siege reformed with Anal Cunt frontman Seth Putnam on vocals. They recorded a demo tape from which only 1 track has so far been released, appearing on the "13 Bands Who Think You're Gay" Compilation LP. Ironically, their track 'Life of Hate' denounces homophobia.

Siege recorded a 6-song demo tape at Radiobeat Records in Kenmore Square on February 6, 1984. The demo was produced by Lou Giordano (producer of Hüsker Dü, Negative FX, S.S.Decontrol, and many others), and has been extensively bootlegged. In October of 1984 Siege recorded 3 more songs at Radiobeat with Giordano for Pushead's classic 1985 hardcore compilation called Cleanse the Bacteria. Those 3 songs were Siege's only official original release.

Giordano later recalled those sessions:

"The way our studio operated was that anything that comes in –there’s no value judgements made about the music. We just record it. Still, one of the things that I guess was cool about being a staff engineer is that I wouldn’t have sought out a band like that. I wasn’t philosophically into anything that they were doing, but they were all good musicians –you would have to be to stay together at the speeds they were playing at. So there was that aspect of it, and just the whole pushing the envelope thing. It sounds like it’s just gonna completely break apart going 700 miles through the sky and then all of a sudden everything just comes right together again."
"And they were some of the most unassuming, laid-back people to ever work with. I mean, they had no attitude at all. They just came in and they were just really polite and very thankful, and then when they turned on the amps and made that noise, it was just unbelievable that it was coming from them."
Siege's 3 songs from the Cleanse the Bacteria compilation and 6-song demo were released by Relapse Records in 1994 as the Drop Dead CD. The same material was released on 12" vinyl in 2004 by Deep Six Records.

At the moment, Williams and Putnam are collaborating with saxophonist Jim Hobbs and guitarist Chris Joyce, performing and recording improv noise material under the name The Death's Head Quartet. Kevin Mahoney was last seen doing theatre in Cambridge, MA. In addition, Siege had an impact on Uk bands like Ripcord, Heresy, and Napalm Death. Many credit Siege as the pioneering grindcore band; others credit the UK band Napalm Death, who coined the term 'grindcore'. But in an interview Napalm Death cites Siege as one of their biggest influences.

Besides playing Boston-area shows, Siege would also play shows in the Western Mass area with bands like Deep Wound and The Outpatients. Siege has left a impact on the hardcore scene, with their intense style of hardcore influencing many with their sound.