Since the Melvins burst onto the hardcore scene in 1983, they have been honing their distinctive brand of melodic noise to a fine point. The core band of King Buzzo and Dale remains intact, despite numerous personnel changes in other departments; perhaps the Melvins' protean, shifting nature is the key to their continuing relevance 23 years down the road.

In 1999, after a long list of albums, tours and labels, they found themselves in the loving arms of Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings. After extensive contract negotiations and an all-expenses-paid Ipecac signing bonus party the boys set to work on their most ambitious project to date... "The Trilogy". Actually it should have been four albums but Ipecac got cold feet when presented with a quadruple fold- out four-CD jewel case that was almost six inches thick. Instead Ipecac presented them with the far more ordinary idea of doing three albums spaced apart by a few months each and MAYBE doing a fourth somewhere down the line. Disappointed but still under contract, the Melvins agreed and "The Maggot", "The Bootlicker" and "The Crybaby" came out over a nine-month period. The fourth in the series, " Colossus of Destiny", was eventually released in 2001. In that year Ipecac also re-released the Melvins' first album, "Gluey Porch Treatments", with extra tracks.

Relentlessly prolific, by 2002 they were busy again, releasing a great new album, "Hostile Ambient Takeover"; while 2003 saw the release of "26 Songs", an album that began life as a 6-song 7" EP in the early eighties - the Melvins' first proper release - before four tracks were added in 1986 to make the "Ten Songs" album, and more than 17 years down the road, another 16 were added to make "26 Songs". 2003 also marked the 20th anniversary of the Melvins' first ever show, and to celebrate Ipecac released a Melvins coffee table book: 224 full-colour pages and an 18-track accompanying CD.

In 2005, following a blistering performance at that year's Slint- curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Camber Sands, the Melvins released a live re-recording of "Houdini", their 1993 masterpiece, to critical acclaim ("Plan B" called the record 'a true snapshot of the Melvins' awkward, guttural metal' "Houdini Live" is shockingly vital, surprisingly energetic, and rocks harder than Stonehenge.?) October 2006 sees the release of the Melvins' eagerly-awaited new album "(A) Senile Animal", already tipped to be one of their heaviest and best; as fresh-faced as ever, they've enlisted the help of Coady Willis and Jared Warren, of Seattle's Big Business, to help them crank things up.