Lock Up is a British grindcore supergroup originally formed in 1998 as a Napalm Death side project by Shane Embury and Nicholas Barker with then ND guitarist Jesse Pintado. The band was conceived as a booze-fueled return to the raw brutality of 1980s proto-death metal, and Embury remains the only original member. Hypocrisy vocalist Peter Tägtgren sang on their debut album, Pleasures Pave Sewers, in 1999. For 2002's Hate Breeds Suffering, At the Gates/Disfear vocalist Tomas Lindberg claimed the frontman role. Pintado died in 2006. For 2011's Necropolis Transparent, the band recruited Brujeria/Criminal guitarist Anton Reisenegger. Lock Up's members were so busy with their other projects that it was a full seven years before they released Demonization with Venomous Concept vocalist Kevin Sharp. On 2021's The Dregs of Hades, they debuted new drummer Adam Jarvis (Pig Destroyer) and a two-voice frontline from Lindberg and Sharp.

In 1998, Barker was based in Birmingham, and laying down tracks for Cradle of Filth's Cruelty and the Beast. After completing work for the day, he would regularly meet Embury in a local pub to discuss music. Napalm Death guitarist Jesse Pintado also joined in these outings. From the barroom, camaraderie developed and an idea formed between these men to start a band that embraced the spirit of old-school death and thrash metal, fused to the blast attack of late-'80s grindcore acts such as Repulsion and Terrorizer. (Lock Up's name signifies a death metal drumming method where the instrumentalist's arms are locked in extended position in order to produce blastbeats.)

Inspired by their conversations and the opportunity, Embury demoed many ideas on an old four-track recorder over several months. He called his collaborators to Backstage Studios on short notice, and the three-piece entered the studio with a very young Andy Sneap as a producer and blasted out 13 tracks in three days in order to capture the spontaneity and intensity of '80s death metal. Barker suggested Hypocrisy's Peter Tägtgren as a singer. The band recorded him later in his Swedish studio, resulting in the their 1999 debut album, Pleasures Pave Sewers.

On the subsequent tour, Tägtgren's place was taken by At the Gates vocalist Tomas Lindberg, who made his studio debut with Lock Up on 2002's Hate Breeds Suffering, which was produced by Russ Russell. It was this quartet who issued the seminal Play Fast or Die: Live in Japan in 2005. The album proved to be Pintado's last. He died in 2006, age 27, from liver failure while in a diabetic coma.

Not seeing a reason to continue, Lock Up went on what they perceived as permanent hiatus. In 2009, The Damnation Festival approached Barker and Embury about reuniting to headline the event's Terrorizer stage. After intense discussions, Embury suggested Criminal/Brujeria guitarist and longtime friend Anton Reisenegger, who had recently emigrated from Chile to Spain. He agreed and after getting Lindberg back on board, the band re-entered the studio. Issued in July 2011, the brutal 17-track Necropolis Transparent proved to be the group's most well-received outing and featured guest spots by Tägtgren and Jeff Walker (Carcass, Brujeria). Though Lock Up toured Europe, South America, and Japan in support, the bandmembers' various other commitments soon claimed their attention. Other than a pair of singles, the group would not record again for six years.

When they did, Lindberg was otherwise occupied, so he had to bow out of Lock Up. The remaining trio recruited longtime American friend and Venomous Concept vocalist Kevin Sharp. Spread over two continents, the band recorded their parts separately. Demonization was released in 2017 to almost universal acclaim. The new lineup undertook their first world tour, playing North America as well as Europe, Asia, and South America.

In April 2020, after 22 years Nick Barker left Lock Up during the COVID-19 pandemic to pursue his other projects; there was no bad blood between members. A month later, the group hired American Pig Destroyer/Misery Index drummer Adam Jarvis. Unable to rehearse together in person, they bided their time until the spring of 2021. As luck would have it, now freed of his previous commitments, Lindberg rejoined Lock Up. They became a quintet with two fine lead singers. This lineup made its debut with the self-produced The Dregs of Hades in November 2021. ~ Thom Jurek