Assück was an American grindcore band from Saint Petersburg, Florida, active from 1987 to 1998.

Assück
Background information
OriginSt. Petersburg, Florida, United States
Genres
Years active1987–1998
Labels
  • Allied
  • Ax/ction
  • Common Cause
  • Forfeit
  • Goatsucker
  • Join the Team Player
  • La Caliya Project
  • Liquefied Tapes
  • Mordam
  • No Idea
  • No System
  • Open
  • Rigid
  • Ripping Headaches
  • Schematics
  • Slap-a-Ham
  • Smell of Silence
  • SOA
  • Sound Pollution
  • Troubleman Unlimited
Past members
  • Steve Heritage
  • Jason Crittendon
  • Rob Proctor
  • Steve Kosiba
  • Daryl Kahan
  • Pete Jay
  • Dave "Spinach" Malinksky
  • Paul Pavlovich

History

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Assück was founded by vocalist Paul Pavlovich and guitarist Steve Heritage. The band went through several line-up changes, in particular changing vocalists four times. Despite these changes, Assück maintained its heavy and fast sound — and anarchist sensibilities — from its first release to its last.

Legacy and reception

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The band proved influential,[1] with their album Anticapital (1991) voted number 4 in the Terrorizer list of their top 20 US grindcore albums; Terrorizer described it as a "low-calibre battery of brooding, malicious, doom-ridden grind pitched somewhere between early Napalm Death and even earlier Bolt Thrower".[3]

According to journalist Greg Pratt, "Assück were an incredible band with probably metal's best drummer [Rob Proctor], although no one ever mentions his name. They combined well-written poetic and political lyrics with catchy songs, insane musicianship and a short-fast-loud brutality that no one has topped since."[6]

Writing for Maximumrocknroll, Felix von Havoc describes the political punk and metal roots of this band, stating "Assuck managed to combine the anger, fury and social commentary of a punk band with the musicianship and production quality of a Death Metal band."[4]

Members

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Final line-up
  • Steve Heritage - guitar, vocals (1987-1998)
  • Jason Crittendon - bass (1998)
  • Rob Proctor - drums (1987-1998)
Former members
  • Paul Pavlovich - vocals (1987-1993)
  • Dave "Spinach" Malinksky - vocals (1994-1995)
  • Daryl Kahan - vocals (1993-1994)
  • Pete Jay - bass (1991-1992)
  • Steve Kosiba - bass (1992-1998)
Timeline

Paul Pavlovich

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Paul Pavlovich (born March 3, 1970) is an American artist, graphic designer, and musician. Currently living in St. Petersburg, Florida, he is best known as the first lead singer for Assück, which he co-founded in 1987. In October 2008, IGN Entertainment named Pavlovich one of the '10 Best Death Metal Singers' stating "In terms of the guys doing the deeper or what some fans call "guttural" vocal style, Pavlovich is in an elite class."[7]

Since his departure from the band in 1992, Pavlovich shifted his attention to visual art and design. After graduating from the Ringling School of Art and Design in 1994, Pavlovich spent a period of time in New York City developing his unique system of painting and image making. During his short residence in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York Pavlovich spent several months rehearsing with the band Cattle Press (Hydra Head Records).

Pavlovich returned to the Tampa Bay Area with a developed body of artwork which he began showing in group shows. In 2002 Pavlovich was selected to show several works at the Tampa Museum of Art. In 2004 Pavlovich was approached by curator Timothy Warner of the Covivant Gallery in Tampa who was interested in organizing Pavlovich's first solo exhibit of work entitled "Temporary Past Life" which received praise from national and local media.[8][9] Pavlovich continues his visual work which has been widely seen in both print and web-media.

In late 2004, Pavlovich was asked by longtime friend and guitarist Sam Williams to contribute vocals to a recording project called Track the Curse. In 2006, the album The New Land was released by the Tennessee label Spins Good Records, and in 2007, They've Taken Everything (VA CD; Profane Existence).

Pavlovich appeared as a guest vocalist on the 2014 album, Longhena, by technical grindcore band Gridlink, contributing on the track "Chalk Maple".

In 2018, Pavlovich founded his own label called Roman Numeral Records, and also formed a new grindcore band called Alphanumeric, whose debut EP was released in 2019 through Roman Numeral.

Discography

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Studio albums
  • Anticapital (1991, Sound Pollution)
  • Misery Index (1997, Sound Pollution)
Extended plays
  • Born Backwards demo tape (1989, Liquified Tapes)
  • Necrosalvation 7-inch (1990, Rigid Records)
  • Split 7-inch with Old Lady Drivers (1990, No System)
  • Blindspot 7-inch (1992, Open Records)
  • State To State 7-inch (1992, SOA)
Compilation albums
  • Anticapital/Blindspot +3 (1994, Sound Pollution)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Assück biography @ MusicMight". Archived from the original on 2013-12-28. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  2. ^ Allmusic.com review of Misery Index
  3. ^ a b Hoare, James (March 2009). "Criminal Records: Essential Records|US", Terrorizer 181, p. 44.
  4. ^ a b Felix von Havoc, Maximum Rock'n'Roll No. 198. "Havoc Records and Distribution". Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008. Archived by Havoc Records. Access date: June 20, 2008.
  5. ^ Moore, Doug (March 22, 2013). "Waxing Atrocious – Assück's Steve Heritage". Invisible Oranges. Archived from the original on November 29, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  6. ^ Stewart-Panko, Kevin (March 2009). "US Grind", Terrorizer 181, p. 43.
  7. ^ "IGN: 10 Best Death Metal Singers". Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
  8. ^ "Planet Picks | See & do | Creative Loafing Tampa". Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Citytimes: Putting color in artists' enclave". Archived from the original on 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
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