Voorhees (band)

Voorhees were a hardcore punk band formed in Durham City (north-east England). 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 many regular gigs and tours. They were one of the few bands playing "real" hardcoreFact|date=October 2008, taking their influences from bands like Negative Approach, SSD and Black Flag at a time when the scene was flooded with metalcore or emo influenced bands. Although often overlooked at the time they are now recognised for being one of the first bands to bring back the early 80's hardcore sound.

History

Voorhees formed from the ashes of various other local 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 City in September 1991.A demo was recorded with this line-up which later became the "Everybody's Good At Something...Except Us" flexi. They started to play more gigs outside Durham with touring bands such as Born Against, Sick Of It All and Rorschach. Just before the band were due to go in the recording studio again, David went missing and was never seen again, making way for new bass player Paul Rugman-Jones.

Voorhees gigged regularly at this time, including a tour with Slapshot, and released the "violent..." EP on Armed With Anger Records, next some tracks were recorded for a Negative Approach tribute for Dysgusher records (which never saw the light of day until it came out on Ugly Pop records over 5 years later). Shortly after, the line up transformed into a more stable one. Michael Gillham became the established drummer, and Graeme Nicholls the lead guitar player, joining Paul, Ian and Sean.

Late '93 and early 94, songs were written for and beacame the infamous "Spilling Blood Without Reason" LP, released on AWA, arguably one of the most important UK hardcore albums ever. Shows were regular, including a European tour and a John Peel Session was recorded for BBC Radio 1 in early '95.

Other releases recorded by the Voorhees line-up of this period were the split with Stalingrad, which featured Newcastle United's Kevin Keegan on the cover, which was re-released with the entire recording session as the "What You See Is What You Get" EP a couple of years later on Crust records.

Voorhees made it to the US in early '96, 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. This tour is also notable for the bar brawl between Lecky and a guy (supposedly Earth Crisis's tour manager...) which escalated just a little...at the very first show in Connecticut. Tensions grew on this tour however, and resulted in Sean and Michael leaving the band upon returning home, followed by Graeme a few months later.

The next two years were rough for the band with more line up changes but they still managed a second US tour in '97 leading to them releasing the much maligned "Fireproof" EP followed by their worst release, the "13" LP. Over the next year or so, the band metamorphised into the final line-up; Ian Leck, Richard Armitage, Steve Stewart, James Atkinson and Dave Allen. Voorhees was more productive in these final 3 years and continued to tour regularly, both home and abroad, including 2 further US tours, 2 European tours and saw them return to the more classic Voorhees sound for split records with Devoid of Faith, Out Cold, Radio Alice, Insult and Kill Your Idols, the "Fireproof" 7" and the final full length "Crystal Lake's Legacy". Voorhees played their last show at ABC-No Rio in New York in October 2001, just over ten years after their first show.

In October 2004, the Spilling Blood line-up of Voorhees (apart from Paul who was working in California and was replaced by Steve) 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.

In July 2008 a compilation of the last few years recordings was released entitled "The Final Chapter".

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

* "Blessed Realm" - Michael Gillham
* "Blood Simple" - Ian Leck/Andrew Wright/Michael Gillham
* "Break It Up" - Sean Readman/Paul Rugman-Jones/Graeme Nichols
* "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 Nichols
* "Withdrawn" - Ian Leck

External links

* [http://www.voorhees.co.uk Official website]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/sessions/1990s/1995/Mar21vorhees/ Peel Session Page]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Voorhees Voorhees' Discogs entry]