Goregrind (also known as grindgore and gorecore) is a subgenre of grindcore, which is related to music styles such as death metal, thrash metal, and crust punk. The main features that musically distinguish goregrind from grindcore can be narrowed down to two main aspects: 1) The use of an octave shifter on the vocals, creating a unique low pitch gurgle texture, known as the gore growl, similar to the effects used in horror movies for a possessed, demonic, or undead character. 2) More of a reliance on metal influence, or more specifically, in later years, on a primitively constructed aspect of the downtuned textures frequently used in death metal, which had, in many cases, taken the place of the crust influence on its grindcore bretheren.
Its beginnings can be placed with the band Carcass who began their career in the late 1980s. The genre has, however, changed from the original archetype offered by Carcass, who were influenced by the hardcore punk and thrash metal popular in the 1980s underground scene. Carcass used pitch shifters, medical imagery and a host of other 'visceral' associations when they originally conceived the band, a deviation from the frequently political or left wing lyrics commonly used in the hardcore and grindcore scenes. An example of their lyrics can be seen below:
"An abrasive concoction is formed in my throat,
Methylated bile, jaundiced kidneys bloat,
Tumorous stomach, coughing up gall,
The thorax infected with furuncles and boils"
The band's other lyrics were similarly awash with complicated medical terms and stomach-churning bodily functions. Until their middle period where more focus on technicality and heavy metal with a variety of other styles, changed their sound.