Napalm Death – Apex Predator – Easy Meat
As always I have been eagerly awaiting the new Napalm Death lp for months. As you might have noticed, Napalm Death is my all time favourite band. And yet again they deliver as expected. I have been continuously satisfied by their releases for the past 15 years (DON’T mention their records from the 1990’s).
I have been through my intense love for Napalm Death in earlier posts, but as the big fat fanboy I am, I’ll try to expand my earlier outpourings:
Why I love Napalm Death
By Janus W. aged 44.
First and foremost; they have such a massive sound, I’m no stranger to listening to frail sounding music, but nothing pleases me as a true wall of sound (no offence, Phil Spector, but you didn’t have a clue as to what WOS is…).
Second; they play FAST – and I love speed.
Third: Barney’s and Mitch’s trade off vocals makes me sincerely happy
Fourth; they aren’t afraid to voice their opinions, in an intelligent manner too. Their lyrics have always been thought provoking and interesting.
Fifth; they are still evolving. I have a deep respect for their constant mutations, soundwise.
Sixth; c’mon, it’s motherfucking NAPALM DEATH!!!!
I shall say no more.
Well, one last thing, I’m proud (in a non nationalistic way, of course) that they have chosen Danish artists for both the cover – Frode Sylthe, and the video for Smash A Single Digit – Elf Shot Lame Witch.
As Shane told 17 year old me back in 1988, when I asked him how he got his bass sound: “If you wanna grind, you have to have distortion on the bass…”
http://www.discogs.com/Napalm-Death-Apex-Predator-Easy-Meat/release/6557389
Napalm Death – Utopia Banished
When this lp came out in June 1992, I had just moved to Copenhagen. I had been quite disappointed by Harmony Corruption, and was wary of the thought of a Napalm Death without Mick Harris.
“The world keeps turning – We overdose on overdrive.”
(The World Keeps Turning)
But I wasn’t dissapointed.
Not at all. In fact this was and is one of the best Napalm Death albums ever. Mind you, I still worship every second of grind made by the Steer/Dorrian/Harris-lineups, but since that gang went to its grave, this new revitalized band is a bloody good substitute. Danny Herrera is one of my all time favourite drummers, and Barney has here honed his trademark vitriolic lyrics and singing to something Unique.
“We overdose on overdrive, we spin out of control.”
(The World Keeps Turning)
A funny thing about Utopia Banished, is how much influence there is from the From Enslavement To Obliteration lp.
It is as if Harmony Corruption had never existed. And I consider it a tragedy for grindcore in general and me personally (yeas yeah) that they didn’t follow the path laid out for them here, but instead chose that boring industrial route they blundered around in for the next 8 years. The of course came Enemy Of The Music Business and Napalm Death were back with a vengeance.
Go have a beer and a listen!
Either this original lp version: http://www.discogs.com/Napalm-Death-Utopia-Banished/release/739080
Or this great remastered cd: http://www.discogs.com/Napalm-Death-Utopia-Banished/release/3703196
Oh and let’s not forget this industrial schlager:
Contemptuous
Sadness, despair.
Sometimes the things I cherish,
Sometimes that’s all I’ve got,
And that’s enough.
Bitterness, anger.
Man made torture,
Not to be shared.
Napalm Death – Utilitarian
My love affair with Napalm Death began in the summer of 1987. My brother had gotten hold of a cassette with Scum on one side, and some Septic Death on the other.
Need I say I was blown to bits? It was – and possibly will be for ever – the most intense musical experience of my life.
As I sit here in my comfy couch, 42 years old, pudgy around the waist and with a severe case of receding hair line, listening to Utilitarian by a band with the same name, but with no band member left from the recording of Scum, I am somehow brought in sync with that skinny long haired wannabe-crusty I was all those years ago.
Scum is now older than Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was back the…That in it self is mindblowing and terrible, on the other hand, getting older isn’t as bad as the leeches in fashion and botox industry wants you to believe. And here is one of the many reasons for my contiuing love for Napalm Death. They have aged too, they have fat bellies and are going bald, but the mind reminds the same – or the essence of the mind does. Surely we are all wiser than those dirty long haired punks we were back in ’87. But I am still angry. Angry at greedy businessmen – sharks in suits – who neglect basic human decency and respect for life and our planet, in favor of a fucking irrelevant buck.
That anger and the following impulse to act differently than Nestlé and Monsanto wants us to, is the reason why Napalm Death will always be so much more relevant than The Beatles.
Maybe this isn’t very sophisticated or even very interesting, but to me listening to Napalm Death and getting my hopes up for a better world is a big deal.
Peace and love, make noise not war…
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