INTENSE DEGREE recorded their Peel session on this day in 1988. Later that year (October) they released the crushing album War In My Head.
Maida Vale 4 hosted several UK hardcore / grind bands at that time! HERESY recorded their second Peel session a couple of days after this. A week after that NAPALM DEATH recorded their second.
Tracks on this session:
Hangin' On / Vagrants / Skate-Bored
Intense Degree / All The Guys / Daydreams
Take No Chances / Future Shock / Politician
Allegiance / Bursting
Lineup:
Rich Hill (Vocals), Rich Cutts (Guitar), Rich Collins (Guitar), Liz Thirtle (Bass), Frank Pendlebury (Drums, Backing Vocals).
Earache INTENSE DEGREE bio:
Mansfield's finest Superfast Hardcore band of the late 80's shared countless stages with the leading lights of the newly spawned UK grindcore scene, Heresy ,Napalm Death, Doom, Bolt Thrower etc all over the UK in the 86-87 period, and attracted the attention of famed Radio 1 DJ John Peel -who booked the band into the BBC studios for a well received session, first broadcast in March 1988. The band were less metallic sounding than their contemporaries, concentrating instead on super swift HC based material, and in drummer Frank they boasted one of the fastest in the scene. Intense Degree were also notable for having a female bass player, which was unusual for the time, Bolt Thrower aside.
Earache became good friends with the band and arranged for them to record their debut LP in Birdsong Studios, Worcester in October 88. Studio owner Steve Bird deserves an honourable mention in the history of Grindcore for recording the B-side of Napalm Death's "Scum" and all of the "From Enslavement" album- most engineers were perplexed by the unlistenable noise that grindcore bands unleashed in the studio, but Steve was actually encouraging and even made the bands vaguely listenable, all with a zero budget. The resulting album "War In My head" became the 9th Earache release (mosh 9) and was available on vinyl LP only.