Extreme Noise Terror (often abbreviated to ENT) are a British crust punk / grindcore band originally formed in Ipswich, England in 1985. The band are widely considered one of the earliest and most influential European grindcore bands, and particularly the forefathers of the crustgrind subgenre.

Notable for one of the earliest uses of dual vocalists in hardcore punk, and for recording a number of sessions for BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, Extreme Noise Terror started as a crust punk band and helped characterise the early, archetypal grindcore sound with fiercely political lyrics, grinding guitars, extremely fast tempo and often very short songs.

Biography

Early years

Extreme Noise Terror were formed in early 1985 in Ipswich, England, originally consisting of dual vocalists Dean Jones and Phil Vane, guitarist Pete Hurley, bassist Jerry Clay and drummer Pig Killer. Prior to ENT, Vane and Hurley had played with Discharge-influenced acts Freestate and Victims of War, whilst Jones had been singing with Raw Noise. Hurley claims that the band name came from an insert for an album by the Dutch band Lärm: "It featured a bandanna-ed hardcore kid with 'Extreme Noise Terror' surrounding him. Those three words summed up exactly what we were aiming at." Aside from Discharge, the band cite as early influences Anti Cimex, Rattus and Antisect, another early proponent of the "one high, one low" vocal approach. ENT signed to the small UK-based indie label Manic Ears after a solitary gig supporting fellow UK punks Chaos UK.