Voorhees | en

Voorhees is a hardcore punk band formed in Durham, England. From early 1990 until late 2001 they released numerous records on various international record labels and toured Europe and the USA frequently. Although essentially disbanded, the group reformed for rare shows in 2004, 2010 and have reformed again in 2012 and will be playing several shows (TBA) over the next year.

Voorhees formed from the ashes of various other Durham based hardcore bands (Steadfast, Know Your Enemy, False Face, The MacDonalds). Ian Leck and Sean Readman were the driving force and principal songwriters, and the first lineup was completed by Darrell Hindley, Gary Cousins and David Brown. They played their first gig at the Rowing Club in Durham in September 1991.

Voorhees started gigging regularly including a UK tour with Slapshot, and released the Violent... EP on Armed With Anger Records. Michael Gillham (drums) and Graeme Nicholls (lead guitar) joined the others to form the first stable line-up. Early in 1994, the band's debut LP, "Spilling Blood Without Reason" was recorded and released on AWA Records. A European tour and a John Peel Session was recorded for BBC Radio 1 in early 1995.

Maximumrocknroll magazine's review of the first album; "...I sensed that Voorhees could blow doors off, not just peel the paint. So here you've got it - a 26 track LP harkening back to the days of hardcore bands having something that drove them, the kind of anger and frustration that drives some people out of the room and has others turning it up louder. Wow!"

Kerrang! described the band's sound as a 'blistering" cross between "Discharge and Extreme Noise Terror".
Other releases recorded by the Voorhees line-up of this period were a split 7" with Stalingrad (AWA Records) and the "What You See Is What You Get" EP on Crust records. Voorhees made it to the US in April 1996, playing shows with Hatebreed, 25 Ta Life, Charles Bronson, Dropdead, Fit For Abuse and Los Crudos among others, and playing in infamous hardcore dives like ABC No Rio, CBGB's and the Bomb Shelter in Minneapolis. The line-up metamorphisized in the coming years, and Voorhees embarked on various U.S. and European tours before recording the final album, Crystal Lake's Legacy, on 6 Weeks Records in 2001.

In October 2004, the 'Spilling Blood Without Reason' line-up of Voorhees got together for a one-off show, "Night of the Living Dead At Sea", which was played on a ferry boat on the Mersey River in Liverpool. On April 23 and 24 of 2010, Voorhees re-banded to do shows in Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Leeds (UK). These gigs were meant to be with the classic 'Spilling Blood' line-up, but the volcano ash cloud which grounded all flights to and from Europe the week previous meant Graeme and Paul could not make it as they got stuck in the U.S. Sam Layzell filled in for both shows. He also plays in Leeds bands such as Closure, Bonestorm and SickFuckinO with Ian leck. Ian Leck has gone on to provide vocals for Rot in Hell. On Sunday 13th May 2012 Voorhees played an impromptu set at Morrowfest in Nottingham as a tribute to their friend John Paul Morrow who passed away 10 years ago. This prompted the them to reform with a pick and mix line up from all the previous incarnations of the band, they will be playing with Negative Approach in Manchester on Tuesday 16th October 2012 and will be announcing other shows soon. .