Review - Napalm Death

Napalm Death
Utilitarian
Century Media

Ok - second post. I know this album came out last year, so I'm a little late reviewing it, but this blog didn't exist last year, and I'm hardly going to not review a new Napalm release, especially when it's one of their best so far.

A lot has changed since Napalm Death released Scum, the album that gave birth to grindcore - back when that record came out, the Tories were in power, Britain was torn by inequality, and the Yanks were bombing anyone who looked at them funny...

Ok, so maybe not that much has changed.

In musical terms, though, things are very different. When ND released their first album, they were the undisputed kings of extremity; noone played faster, harder or heavier than them. Now, on the other hand, great grindcore bands are ten a penny. If Napalm were going to hold their own against the likes of Noisear, Pig Destroyer and thedowngoing, their new record would have to be something really special.

Mission accomplished.

Album opener Circumspect is a big, lumbering behemoth of a track, striding around swinging its fists like a silverback gorilla. Then the second track Errors in the Signals kicks in, and from there on in it's pure, straight-ahead grindcore. There are a few slower moments, and even some unnecessary and frankly irritating Gregorian chant, but basically this is a grindcore album, pure and simple, and what's wrong with that? The production is clean, but don;t think that that means this is a slick, toned-down version of Napalm Death; on the contrary, the clarity of the sound only means that every brutal, ear-punishing note is captured perfectly. There's some great vocal interplay between Barney's roars and guitarist Shane Embury's throat-ripping shrieks - at times, those two blokes sound like a lion and a wolverine fighting in a blender. Every track drips with righteous anger - while it's not always possible to tell what the band are singing about (even with the aid of a lyric sheet), it's clear that they aren't pleased.

There are negative aspects to the record, of course. First of all, it's bloody long, especially by grindcore standards - nine of the album's sixteen songs are over three minutes, which by the standards of the genre is practically epic. And those of you who (like myself) were excited by the news that John Zorn would be appearing will be sorely disappointed; he phones in a by-the-numbers sax-ual assault on one track, and that's all. But despite all this, Utilitarian is still a blistering set of songs - the length in this case merely means more of a good thing. This album just goes to show that, even more than twenty years after John Peel fell in love with them, Napalm Death are still the band to beat.

Rating: 9/10