Dave Grohl nearly ''had a seizure'' recording Nirvana's 'Heart Shaped Box'.

The grunge band's drummer told how he and bandmates Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic used a strobe light to help them stay in time while recording one of their last songs in 1993, but the bright flashing light nearly gave him a fit.

He told Rolling Stone magazine: ''I remember everyone was concerned about the tempo of 'Heart-Shaped Box'. But click tracks [metronomes] were not cool.

''Kurt and Steve [Albini, producer] came up with this idea - we should use a strobe light.

''We had this long conversation about how it won't dictate the tempo, just imply the tempo.

''I sat there for a take or two with this f***ing strobe light in my face until I practically had a seizure.

''I said, 'Can we just play? A little ebb and flow. Don't worry about it.' ''

The song was released on the band's last album, 1993's 'In Utero', and while Dave calls the record a ''remarkable achievement'' he says it was also ''a really f***ed up time'' and seven months after its release Kurt took his own life.

Reflecting on his bond with the singer and guitarist, Dave said: ''Living with Kurt was funny. He isolated himself in a lot of ways, emotionally. But he had a genuine, sweet nature. He never intentionally made you feel uncomfortable. Living with him in that tiny apartment in Olympia, Washington, there was some sort of bond. But it was much different than his relationship with Krist. I looked at Krist and Kurt as soulmates. The two had such a beautiful, unspoken understanding of each other. Those two guys, together, totally defined the Nirvana aesthetic.''

'In Utero' is being re-released in an expanded edition on September 23.