Noted for one of the earliest uses of dual vocalists in hardcore,[1] and for recording a number of sessions for BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, the band started as crust punks and helped characterise the early, archetypal grindcore sound with highly political lyrics, fast guitars and tempos, and often very short songs.

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 Darren "Pig Killer" Olley.

[2] Prior to ENT, Vane and Hurley had played with Discharge-influenced acts Freestate and Victims of War,[3] whilst Jones had been singing with Raw Noise.

[7] During this period, the drum stool was filled by former Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris, although he left soon afterward to form Scorn and was replaced by Tony "Stick" Dickens (of crust band Doom).

Bassist Clay was replaced by Mark Gardener,[8] and this line-up recorded ENT's debut album, A Holocaust in Your Head, which was later voted number 3 in Terrorizer's essential European grindcore albums, who described it as "marrying a thick crust-punk crunch and vitriolic lyrical assault with the newborn, clattering fury of grindcore, 'Holocaust...' followed Napalm's heroic uppercuts and haymakers with a Doc Martin in the goolies.

In 1990, Jones and future ENT guitarist Ali Firouzbakht guested on Raw Noise's "Sound of Destruction" single release,[8] and bassist Gardener was replaced by Pete Nash from the band Doom.

[6] The BBC, however, felt that the song was inappropriate for broadcast on daytime television and thus refused to air the track, leading to the KLF boycotting the show.

"[12] The two bands were later asked to appear at the 1992 BRIT Awards, at which they caused controversy by firing blanks from machine guns into the audience,[6][8] a performance that the NME listed at number 4 in their "top 100 rock moments".

At the request of Digby Pearson, this line-up signed to Earache in June 1994 and recorded Retro-bution, essentially a compilation of re-recorded material from the band's earlier days, which was released in January 1995.

The motivation behind this release was due to the band's dissatisfaction with their earlier recordings and saw ENT take a slightly more metal direction, including the addition of some guitar solos.

[8] In an example of trading places, Napalm Death frontman Mark "Barney" Greenway agreed to join ENT during the recording of their next album, Damage 381.

The band also played a fourth session for BBC Radio 1 in February 2001[17] and continued to tour round Europe, including a slot on the main stage at Wacken Open Air in 2003.