Siege (band)

Siege

Siege was an influential American hardcore punk group from Weymouth, Massachusetts. They were active in the 1980s Boston hardcore scene from 1983 to 1985, and reunited briefly in the early 1990s.

Siege's unprecedented level of extreme hardcore punk was some of the fastest and heaviest of its time, incorporating lightning fast tempos, chord changes, vocal delivery, and blast beats, thus setting the stage for the emerging grindcore scene. And though rather short-lived and little-known during their existence, subsequent musicians have cited the group as a profound influence, including the famous British grindcore band Napalm Death and the American crust punk band Dropdead, whose namesake was derived from the title of Siege's demo of the same name.

Band history

Siege formed in 1983 in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The band's original lineup consisted of vocalist and saxophonist Kevin Mahoney, guitarist Kurt Habelt, bassist Hank McNamee, and drummer Rob Williams. Mahoney was from Braintree, while 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 McNamee smashed his instrument onstage.

Despite their proximity to Boston, Siege did not fit into the Boston Crew-dominated Straight edge hardcore scene as they performed most of their gigs further away in Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The band played gigs in Greenfield with local hardcore bands DYS, Cancerous Growth, The Freeze, Outpatients, and Deep Wound, 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. Mahoney did not show up for the gig, and Siege disbanded shortly after. Williams later formed the band Nightstick.

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 disbanded again the following year.

Recording history

Siege recorded a six-song demo tape at Radiobeat Records in Kenmore Square on February 6, 1984. The demo was produced by Lou Giordano (who is also the producer of Hüsker Dü, Negative FX, S.S.Decontrol, Goo Goo Dolls, and many others), and has been extensively bootlegged. In October 1984 the band recorded three 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.

Band members

Original line up

• Kevin Mahoney - vocals, saxophone
• Kurt Habelt - guitar
• Hank McNamee - bass
• Rob Williams - drums

Reunion line up

• Seth Putnam - vocals
• Kurt Habelt - guitar
• Hank McNamee - bass
• Rob Williams - drums

Discography

Demos

• Drop Dead (1984) (Cassette, Self Released)

Albums

• Drop Dead (1994) (CD, Relapse Records) (Demo '84 + Cleanse The Bacteria Comp Tracks)
• Drop Dead (2004) (12", Deep Six Records) (Demo '84 + Cleanse The Bacteria Comp Tracks)
• Drop Dead (2006) (12", Deep Six Records) (Demo '84 + Cleanse The Bacteria Comp Tracks + "Two Faced" and "Trained to Kill")
• Drop Dead (2006) (CD, Deranged Records) (Demo '84 + Cleanse The Bacteria Comp Tracks)

Compilation Appearances

• Cleanse the Bacteria (1985) (12", Pusmort Records) (3 Tracks - Sad But True/Cold War/Walls)
• 13 Bands That Think You're Gay (2004) (12", Menace To Sobriety Records) (1 Track - Cameras)

Bootlegs & Unofficial Releases

• 1985 - Larmattacke Vol. 3 [Cassette] [????] (3 Tracks taken from Demo '84 - Life Of Hate/Starvation/Armageddon)
• 1989 - Drop Dead [7"] [Off The Disc Records] (Demo '84 Tracks)
• 1990 - Drop Dead [7"] [Revoltation Records] (Demo '84 Tracks)
• 1991 - Drop Dead [CD] [Lost And Found Records] (Demo 84' + Cleanse The Bacteria Comp Tracks)
• 1992 - Siege / Deep Wound Split [7"] [????] (Cleanse The Bacteria Comp Tracks)
• 1992 - Pusmort View [CD] [Toy's Factory Records] (Cleanse The Bacteria Comp Tracks)
• 1993 - Nation Of Pain [7"] [????] (Live Recording - Boston, USA 26th Jan 1985)
• 1993 - In Crust We Trust Compilation [CD] [Lost And Found Records] (2 Tracks from Cleanse The Bacteria Comp - Cold War/Walls)
• 1994 - A Time We'll Remember #7 Compilation [CD] [Lost And Found Records] (Demo '84 + Cleanse The Bacteria Comp Tracks)
• 1995 - Destroy Power, Not People Compilation [7"] [Lost And Found Records] (1 Track from Cleanse The Bacteria Comp - Cold War)
• 1996 - Network Of Friends Compilation [CD] [Ataque Sonoro Records / Ox Records] (2 Tracks from Demo '84)
• 2001 - Siege / Stark Raving Mad / D.R.I. Split [CDr] [????] (Cleanse The Bacteria Comp Tracks)
• 2004 - Older Than Old School Compilation [CDr] [????] (1 Track from Demo '84)
• 2004 - Siege / Lip Cream Split [12"] [No Answer Records] (Live Recording - Connecticut, USA 25th Jan 1985 - Drop Dead/Conform/Life of Hate/Starvation/Armageddon/Grim Reaper/Sad But True/Cold War/Walls/Untitled 1/Why/Under Siege)

External links

• Live on Public Access TV in 1984
• Siege Lyrics
• Battle of the Bands Live Review
• Interview with Surburban Punk #9
• Seth Putnam interview