Cerebral Bore: Forged In Fire

Formed in Glasgow by core members Paul McGuire and Allan "McDibet" MacDonald in 2006, grindcore outfit Cerebral Bore have worked tirelessly to forge a name for themselves in a musical community dictated by tradition and expectation, yet growing in appreciation every day under most of our noses. Dropping and picking up bassists and singers with frustrating unpredictability, the band now appear to be galvanised as a fully-fledged four piece, but that wasn't without considerable effort:

"We’ve had a fair few members since we got started," guitarist McGuire explains. "Most people want the glory without the work. When we started afresh [with new personnel], we made the decision to take it seriously and try to get our name well known throughout the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. In order to do that, anyone involved would have to be absolutely dedicated to a lot of rehearsing, touring and jumping on every opportunity that we could get our hands on."

He's not kidding either, as the band have already toured relentlessly across the globe, clocking up a slew of appearances at many of the planet's most prestigious death metal festivals, as well as countless support slots – playing alongside the likes of genre-spawning legends such as Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation and Carcass.

Bolstered by the addition of bassist Kyle Rutherford over a year ago, last year saw the arrival of an unlikely secret weapon in the form of 18 year old Dutch vocalist, Som Pluijmers. Having practised guttural vocal techniques from the age of 12, the young girl from Vlissingen is utterly terrifying, producing some of the most unnatural yet fantastically brutal noises one could ever hope to hear from any metal vocalist.

In the space of merely a few weeks, the band's long-gestating debut had a new voice, and, finally devoid of flaky frontmen, everything seemed to click. The resulting album, Maniacal Miscreation, was as merciless as you might expect, demonstrating an obvious love for both the most melodic and destructive elements of extreme metal whilst driven by a remarkable fluency and energy that sets them above merely playful amateurs.

"We wanted to get as much of our own loves and hates in there as possible, as well as throwing in some of the usual gory bullshit you would expect from a typical death metal band," McGuire explains before musing on their subtle patriotism. "The cover is a picture of Glasgow, completely destroyed, with only a few structures remaining including the famous Clydeport crane. Lyrically, we have thrown in tons of Glaswegian slang and references, so we have tried to celebrate our Scottish roots, although it may come across in a negative way with samples from Trainspotting in our tracks, including Renton’s immortal line: ‘It's shite being Scottish!’"

Having just inked a deal with the internationally reknowned Earache Records (Dillinger Escape plan, Clutch, Godflesh), Cerebral Bore seem eager to play away from home. As 2010 saw the band play more consecutive dates in Israel than old Caledonia, their elusive trend is set to continue with gigs lined up in Spain this February. With one date in the diary for Ivory Blacks, a rare chance to see the band on home turf presents itself in April, and in McGuire's own words: "Anyone reading who’d like their face battered in by loud music would do well to check us out.” You’ve been put on notice.