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Napalm Death | |
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 Napalm Death performing in 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Meriden, West Midlands, England |
| Genres | |
| Works | Discography |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Labels | |
| Spinoffs | |
| Members |
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| Past members | List |
| Website | napalmdeath |
Napalm Death are an Englishgrindcore band formed inMeriden, West Midlands, in 1981.[1] The band currently consists ofBarney Greenway on vocals,Shane Embury on bass guitar, John Cooke on lead guitar and Danny Herrera on drums. None of the founding band members remain in the band. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they addedJesse Pintado andMitch Harris as replacements for guitaristBill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece. Mitch Harris left the band in 2014.[2] Since Mitch's indefinite hiatus, guitarist John Cooke can be seen on guitar during live shows.
The band is credited as pioneers of the grindcore genre by incorporating elements ofcrust punk anddeath metal, using a noise-filled sound that usesdistorted,down-tuned guitars, grindingoverdrive bass, high-speedtempo,blast beats, vocals that consist of incomprehensiblegrowls or high-pitched shrieks, extremely short songs, and sociopolitical lyrics. After hiring drummerMick Harris in 1985, the band gained immense speed and started pushing the limits of how fast drums can be played.[3] The band's debut albumScum, released in 1987 byEarache Records, proved substantially influential throughout the global metal and punk communities.[4] By their third albumHarmony Corruption (1990), the band shifted to death metal and began writing longer songs.
Napalm Death have released sixteen studio albums, and as of 2003 are listed byNielsen SoundScan as the seventh-best-selling death metal band in the United States.[5] According to former vocalistLee Dorrian,Scum andFrom Enslavement to Obliteration (1988) have sold a combined total of 400,000 copies worldwide.[6] In 2016, the staff ofLoudwire named them the 26th best metal band of all time.[7]
Napalm Death were formed in the village ofMeriden nearCoventry, in the United Kingdom, in May 1981 byNic Bullen and Miles Ratledge while the duo were still in their early teenage years. The duo had been playing in amateur bands since 1980 as an extension of their fanzine writing, and went through a number of names (including "Civil Defence", "The Mess", "Evasion", "Undead Hatred" and "Sonic Noise") before deciding on Napalm Death in mid 1981.[8] The band were initially inspired by the early wave of punk bands, particularly theanarcho-punk movement (a subgenre ofpunk music focused onanarchist politics), and associated groups such asCrass.
The first stable line-up of the group consisted of Nicholas Bullen on bass and lead vocals, Simon Oppenheimer on guitars, and Miles Ratledge on drums, and lasted from December 1981 to January 1982. Graham Robertson joined on bass in January 1982. Simon Oppenheimer left the group in August 1982 and was replaced by Darryl Fedeski who left the group in October 1982: at this point, Graham Robertson began to play guitar and Finbarr Quinn (ex-Curfew) joined on bass and backing vocals.The group played concerts throughout 1982 (playing their first concert on 25 July 1982 at Atherstone Miners Club) and 1983 (sharing billing with anarcho-punk groups such asAmebix,The Apostles andAntisect), and made four demo recordings in 1982 and 1983, one of which contributed their first released recording to theBullshit Detector Volume 3 compilation released byCrass Records in 1984.
The band entered a period of hiatus from the end of 1983 onwards, playing only one concert in 1984 (a benefit for striking mine workers) with additional vocalist Marian Williams (ex-Relevant POS, and sister of the drummer of the group Human Cabbages from Coventry, UK). During this period, Nic Bullen metJustin Broadrick, a guitarist from Birmingham with whom he shared an interest in the music of bands such asKilling Joke,Throbbing Gristle, Crass, Amebix,Swans, and the developingpower electronics scene. Bullen joined Broadrick'sFinal project for a period in 1983.
In July 1985, Napalm Death briefly reformed in order to appear at a concert at the Mermaid in Birmingham which was also notable as the last concert by Final. The group consisted of a four-piece line-up of Miles Ratledge on drums; Bullen - performing vocals, bass and guitar; Graham Robertson on guitar and bass, and Damien Errington on guitar. After this concert, Miles Ratledge and Bullen asked Broadrick to join Napalm Death as guitarist, with Bullen as vocalist and bass player. The band began to develop a musical style which blended elements ofpost-punk (particularly Killing Joke and Amebix), heavy hardcore punk in the vein ofDischarge, andthrash metal (with particular reference toPossessed and extreme metal groupCeltic Frost).
The group played their first concert as a trio on 31 August 1985 (playing two concerts on the same day: Telford withChumbawamba andBlyth Power, and Birmingham withWe've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It), and began to play regularly in the Birmingham area (particularly at The Mermaid public house in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham) with a wide range of musicians includingIcons of Filth,Concrete Sox,The Varukers, Indecent Assault, Decadence Within, andThe Groundhogs.[citation needed]
In September 1985, Peter Shaw joined on bass. The four-piece line-up recordedHatred Surge (the band's fifth demo recording) on 23 October 1985 which the band made available at their concerts and by mail. Following the recording of the demo, Bullen and Broadrick wished to extend their exploration of a more extreme musical style which created a split in the group with Ratledge: as a result, the group splintered andMick Harris (a local fan) was asked to join as drummer in December 1985.
The trio – Bullen on vocals and bass, Broadrick on guitar and Harris on drums – made their first performance on 15 December 1985 and went on to play many concerts in 1986, predominantly in the Birmingham area, with musicians such as Amebix, Antisect, Chaos UK, Varukers,Disorder and Dirge. The group recorded a sixth demo,From Enslavement to Obliteration, on 15 March 1986, which the group made available at their concerts and through mail, before making a seventh recording later that year,Scum, which was provisionally intended to form part of a split LP with the English hardcore band Atavistic on Manic Ears Records. This recording later became the first side of the band's debut albumScum in 1987.
The band then faced a number of line-up changes. Nic Bullen was becoming frustrated with the musical direction of the group, and began to lose interest as a whole: as a result, Jim Whiteley was asked to join as bass player. The band played a number of concerts as a four-piece before Justin Broadrick left the group to play drums for local bandHead of David. The group attempted to find a new guitarist by askingShane Embury (ex-Unseen Terror and a fan of the group) to join and giving a trial period toFrank Healy (ex-Annihilator, later ofCerebral Fix andSacrilege).[9] After Broadrick's departure, Nic Bullen's dissatisfaction with the musical direction of the group led him to leave the group in December 1986 (in order to focus on his studies in English Literature and Philosophy at university), leaving the group without any of its original members.
| External videos | |
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 Napalm Death live in Germany, 1987YouTube, authorised byEarache Records. |
With the departure of Broadrick and Bullen, the remaining members started looking for people who could fill in the roles. GuitaristBill Steer played in a death metal band based in Liverpool calledCarcass, and given the affinity between the two, he joined Napalm Death while still playing an active role in the former. They had also asked another friend, CoventrianLee Dorrian, to join as vocalist due to his good relationship with the group, even though he had never been in a band before. This line-up recorded the B side of theScum LP at Rich Bitch studios in early May 1987, and the album was released through Earache Records.
The band promptly lost another member just after they undertook a short tour after the release ofScum. Jim Whiteley left the group (and subsequently joined Weston-Super-Mare based band Ripcord with whom the aforementioned tour had been shared) andShane Embury (former drummer ofUnseen Terror) moved to bass. The band then appeared on two compilation records ('North Atlantic Noise Attack' and the 'Pathological Compilation'), recorded twoPeel sessions and a split 7-inch withJapanese bandS.O.B. They also returned to Rich Bitch studio once more and recorded their second album:From Enslavement to Obliteration. FRTO was a pioneering record both in terms of speed and vocals. They were the first band to mix deep gutteral vocals with fast blast beats.
A follow-up release to "Enslavement..." came in the form of the six song 12-inch EP "Mentally Murdered", which was to be the last recording with the Harris/Steer/Dorrian/Embury line-up. This EP was recorded at the Slaughterhouse Studios and took on a slightly different sound, blendinggrindcore withdeath metal. Following the release, Napalm Death were featured on national television in the United Kingdom in a heavy metal special by Arena (BBC 2).[10]
The band continued to tour, but as soon as they came back home fromJapan, in July 1989, Steer and Dorrian left the band: Steer decided to dedicate himself full-time to Carcass, while Dorrian formed thedoom metal groupCathedral. The group recruitedJesse Pintado (ex-Terrorizer) on guitar andMark "Barney" Greenway (ex-Benediction) as vocalist. This line-up took part in the Grindcrusher tour organised by Earache Records and featured fellow label-mates Carcass,Bolt Thrower and Florida'sMorbid Angel.[11] The group recruitedMitch Harris (ex-Righteous Pigs) as second guitarist after the tour.[citation needed]
In Florida, the group began work onHarmony Corruption.Corruption saw stylistic changes from the band. It exhibited stronger influence fromdeath metal by incorporatingblast beats and slower tempos.[12] Following the record's release,Live Corruption, a live recording of the band's 30 June 1990 performance at theSalisbury Arts Centre, was released in 1992.[13]
Negative fan reactions toCorruption and accusations of selling out, compelled the band to reconsider its stylistic changes. The group entered Eddie Van Dale's Violent Noise Experience Club in March 1991 to record six new tracks. The songs produced by this session and released on the "Mass Appeal Madness" 12-inch EP exhibited a much more "raw" quality, again finding favour with fans. This recording, along with the "Mentally Murdered" 12-inch, the split 7-inch with S.O.B. and live tracks fromLive Corruption, were released onDeath by Manipulation.
Drummer Mick Harris—the only remaining member of theScum line-up—eventually left Napalm Death due to creative differences regarding stylistic direction. In April 1991, Harris recordedGuts of a Virgin, the debut album forPainkiller, along withJohn Zorn andBill Laswell. Harris later recalled theGuts sessions were when he decided to leave Napalm Death and explore different genres of music.[14] Danny Herrera, a close friend of Jesse Pintado, was brought in as the new drummer. Herrera's drumming style has been noted for its uniqueness; it has been described as "Euroblast", a variant ofblast beat in which simultaneous eighth notes are played on the ride cymbal and kick drum, with alternate eighth notes added on the snare drum.[15] The addition of Herrera would be the last major line-up change of the band save for Jesse Pintado's departure in 200, which returned the band to a quartet configuration.
Napalm Death released the albumUtopia Banished in 1992, produced byColin Richardson. Stylistically, the album was described as a "return to the roots" form of grindcore. After recordingThe World Keeps Turning EP, the band toured Europe withDismember andObituary on the "Campaign for Musical Destruction" tour.[16] They then toured the US withSepultura,Sacred Reich andSick of It All.[17]
Napalm Death toured the US withCarcass,Cathedral andBrutal Truth on the Campaign for Musical Destruction tour in 1992.[18]
The proceeds of Napalm Death's 1993 EPNazi Punks Fuck Off were donated to anti-fascist organisations. This EP was inspired by Napalm Death touring South Africa during 1993, which was particularly controversial given that the band faced a lot of opposition from manywhite supremacists following theend of Apartheid.[19]
The band remixed the track "Mind of a Razor" by London-basedhip hop crewGunshot. The remixed version of the track appeared on theEP of the same name in 1992. Thereafter, they went to the studio and recordedFear, Emptiness, Despair, which was released on 31 May 1994. The album represented a stylistic transition for Napalm Death.[20]Fear, Emptiness, Despair maintained the complex music structures of their previous albumsUtopia Banished andHarmony Corruption,[21] but there was a greater emphasis placed on incorporating elements of groove into the band's style, resulting in a wider use of mid-paced music.[22] BassistShane Embury recounts thatHelmet and their albumStrap It On influenced the band's style at the time, as they did many other heavy metal bands during the 1990s.[20] Live concerts withEntombed, Obituary andMachine Head followed the album's release.
Their EPGreed Killing was released through Earache in December 1995, followed by the albumDiatribes in January 1996. There was greater animosity between the band during this time, with a rift between Greenway and the remainder of the band, especially over the band's stylistic transition and the interference of background presences in the band, exemplifying the former when he stated that the band were "letting go of what made the band special".[19] Greenway was hence expelled from the band later in 1996, and went to record with fellow grindcore actExtreme Noise Terror (ENT) on their releaseDamage 381. Greenway has stated that following his expulsion he was "devastated" and did not want to commit to ENT in fear of a repetition of the events that took place within Napalm Death.[19]
ENT's vocalist Phil Vane replaced Greenway in Napalm Death. Alas, Shane Embury stated that Vane "couldn't pull off what was required. It was a hard day when I had to pull Phil aside and tell him it just wasn't working. We had been too much into doing our own thing to acknowledge all of the parts that made the Napalm machine tick. I quickly made the call and asked Barney if he would rejoin—time away certainly gave all of us the chance for reflection, regrets and hopes for the future. He was surprised by the material, as it was heavy and some of the songs were fast—I don't know what he really expected us to do!".[23] Following Vane's departure, Greenway returned and the band released the albumInside the Torn Apart on 3 June 1997. AnEP and music video were released for the album's track "Breed to Breathe" on 17 November 1997.
The albumWords from the Exit Wound followed this, being released on 26 October 1998. The album was their last to be produced byColin Richardson, who Embury believes hindered the album's creation, ultimately affecting the album's success.[23] Embury has stated that bands such asNasum influenced the album, and in Embury's view, this album represented a turning point in the band's sound, stating "it was also a turning point in us moving towards rediscovering our roots."[23] Embury also mentioned that following the album's release, the band found it hard to tour due to restricted budgets from their record label, butCradle of Filth andNick Barker were able to alleviate this problem.[23]
In 1999 the band made an appearance onChris Evans'TFI Friday, playing three songs on a set lasting 59 seconds.[24]
The band acrimoniously departed from Earache Records followingWords from the Exit Wound and later, on 25 September 2000, releasedEnemy of the Music Business on the record label Dream Catcher. The album demonstrated the band's anger with the music industry and Earache in particular, whilst also incorporating a greater grindcore influence than on their previous few albums. The album was produced jointly bySimon Efemey andRuss Russell, the latter of whom has since been a long-time collaborator with Napalm Death.
Order of the Leech, released on 21 October 2002, continued the previous album's style, with production credits again shared by Efemey and Russell. In 2003, Embury and Hererra formed the side-projectVenomous Concept with Kevin Sharp andBuzz Osborne, and that group has since released four albums.[25][26] In 2004, Napalm Death recorded a covers album calledLeaders Not Followers: Part 2, the sequel to their earlier covers EP. It contains covers of oldhardcore punk andheavy metal bands, includingCryptic Slaughter,Massacre,Kreator,Sepultura,Siege andDischarge. Due to personal problems,Jesse Pintado did not play on eitherOrder of the Leech orLeaders Not Followers: Part 2, and left the band in early 2004. Nevertheless, Pintado stated that he left because he grew tired of Napalm Death and wanted to start something new.
In April 2005, their next albumThe Code Is Red...Long Live the Code was released. It features guest appearances fromJeffrey Walker (Carcass),Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed vocalist) andJello Biafra (formerly ofDead Kennedys, andLard among many other bands). The album continued the band's progressive approach to their brutal brand of extreme metal, with their trademark grindcore sound retained. Also in 2005, Embury and Herrera joined the extreme metal bandAnaal Nathrakh for one tour.
Napalm Death finished recording their follow-up album titledSmear Campaign in June 2006, and it was released on 15 September 2006 to strong reviews from fans and critics alike. The main lyrical focus is criticism of theUnited States Government and other governments who are strongly religious. The album features a guest appearance byAnneke van Giersbergen, vocalist for theDutch rock bandThe Gathering. There is a limited editiondigipak version ofSmear Campaign, which has two new songs, "Call That an Option?" and "Atheist Runt". They played a series of headline shows in support of the release including the Koko in Camden withGutworm.
In early 2006 Napalm Death headlined a tour withKreator,A Perfect Murder, and Undying. On 27 August 2006,Jesse Pintado died in a hospital in theNetherlands due toliver failure, prompting Mitch Harris to express his sadness at the loss of someone he thought of as "a brother" on the band's official website.[27] After the Smear Campaign tour, the band did a 2007 "World Domination Tour". BassistShane Embury is currently working on a project withMick Kenney ofAnaal Nathrakh, their work together will be released on FETO Records at the end of 2007. In November 2008, Napalm Death's fourteenth studio album, entitledTime Waits for No Slave, leaked onto the internet; it was officially released on 23 January 2009. Similar toSmear Campaign,Time Waits For No Slave also had a digipak version containing two extra songs ("Suppressed Hunger" and "Omnipresent Knife in Your Back").
In February 2011, Napalm Death appeared in an episode of E4'sSkins. In October 2011, Napalm Death performed at The Zoo, in Canada in which they debuted their song 'Quarantined'.[28] Napalm Death entered Parlour Studio in Kettering, with producerRuss Russell to begin working on a new album. Also in 2011, they recorded the single "Legacy Was Yesterday". Napalm Death released their fourteenth studio album,Utilitarian, on 27 February 2012 in Europe and 28 February in North America via Century Media.[29] In March 2012, Napalm Death headlined the Metal Mayhem IV festival organized by "Defenders of Metal" in Nepal. This was the first time Napalm Death played in Nepal.[30]
Napalm Death were scheduled to play a special one-off show at theVictoria and Albert Museum in London, on 22 March 2013.[31] The show was eventually cancelled at the Victoria and Albert Museum, due to concerns that the noise levels could damage parts of the museum.[32] The show was relocated to theDe La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, and was performed on 29 November 2013.[33] The performance was a collaboration with ceramicist and Victoria and Albert Artist in Residence Keith Harrison.[34] The show featured 10 large-scale wooden speakers filled with liquid clay that were left to solidify. When the band began to play, the clay inside the speakers was expected to vibrate, causing the speakers to crack and eventually explode.[33] The actual performance was considered anticlimactic, as the speakers withstood the sonic vibration.[35]
In April 2014, the band released a cover of theCardiacs' song "To Go Off and Things" viaBandcamp. All proceeds from the single went towards Cardiacs frontmanTim Smith's recovery from a simultaneous heart attack/stroke he suffered in 2008.[36] The band announced on 5 November 2014, via Facebook that due to an illness in the family, Mitch Harris would be taking a hiatus from the band, to be replaced by various guitarists on their tour.[citation needed] Napalm Death's fifteenth studio album,Apex Predator – Easy Meat, was released on 26 January 2015.[citation needed] On 4 July, a Nepal Charity Event track from the Apex Predator sessions called "Earth Wire" was released on their page.[citation needed]
In August 2017, it was announced that Napalm Death entered the studio to begin recording their sixteenth studio album for an early 2018 release.[37] In September, frontmanMark "Barney" Greenway spoke to Australia'sSticks for Stones condemning the announcement and stated that no material was being worked on at the moment but was in the "preliminary stages". He then said that it would not be released until later next year.[38] In an interview atDownload Festival in June 2018, Greenway confirmed that guitaristMitch Harris would appear on the new album, which was not expected to be released until 2019, but did not know if he would tour with them again.[39][40] BassistShane Embury confirmed in a March 2019 interview with Extreme Metal Festival News that Harris "did come over and record guitars on the new record" and Greenway has "nearly recorded all his vocal parts". He added, however, that the album would not be released before early 2020.[41]
Napalm Death (along withLamb of God,Anthrax, andTestament) opened forSlayer on theirfinal North American tour in the summer of 2018.[42] In October 2019, Shane Embury announced that he would be unable to join the band during their North American Tour. Vernon Blake was announced as substitute live bassist.
An EP titledLogic Ravaged by Brute Force was released on 7 February 2020.[43] The band released their sixteenth studio album,Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, in September 2020.[44]
Napalm Death announced a 2026 North American tour with support fromPrimitive Man andDeadguy on select dates. This tour includes an appearance at theSonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio.[45]
Napalm Death are considered agrindcore band. The band played "usual heavy metal fare" in the beginning of their career, but later began to incorporate elements ofhardcore punk andthrash metal. The band eventually began to incorporate elements ofcrust punk,noise rock,industrial music anddeath metal. Napalm Death are known for the brief durations of their songs.[46]Harmony Corruption has been described as a "standard death metal" album.[47]
The band espouseanarchism,[48]humanism,[49]socialism[50] andanimal rights.[51] Napalm Death congratulated theIndonesian PresidentJoko Widodo, a fan of the band, on their Facebook page.[52] However, the band wrote an open letter asking Widodo to show clemency forLindsay Sandiford, who was sentenced to death after a drug smuggling conviction in Indonesia.[53]
Jason Ankeny ofAllMusic conferred the title of "the fathers ofgrindcore" on Napalm Death, contending the band broke ground by pushingheavy metal "into new levels ofextremity".[46] Jason Birchmeier, also of AllMusic, called Napalm Death "the definitive grindcore band", arguing that the albumsScum andFrom Enslavement to Obliteration "practically alone" define the genre.[54]
Napalm Death coined theblast beat terminology for the famous hardcore punk drum technique.Dave Vincent of influential death metal bandMorbid Angel recalls hearing Napalm Death for the first time:
“I remember I was at the Morbid house and Trey came running out of his bedroom, holding up one of the very first Napalm records—it might have beenScum — running out going, ‘Oh, my God, I cannot believe this. Listen to how fast this is. They call this a blast beat.’[55]
Current members
In the E4 teen comedy-dramaSkins, the seasons 5-6 characterRich Hardbeck (Alex Arnold) is a metalhead whose self-proclaimed favourite band is Napalm Death. In the show's fifth season finale, a special appearance from Napalm Death's Mark "Barney" Greenway featured a scene in which he and Rich have a heart-to-heart. Regarding the band's appearance, Barney stated,
"One thing that bothers me about TV is the way that teenagers are portrayed. It's down to the f--kingDaily Mail's war on teenagers. They stigmatize young kids and it's bulls--t. The thing I like aboutSkins is it gives a genuine perspective on growing up. That's why we agreed to do this show."[58]
In Season 5, Episode 3 of Silicon Valley, titled "Chief Operating Officer", Gilfoyle uses Napalm Death's "You Suffer" as an alert for fluctuations in Bitcoin.
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