How do you revue Napalm Death? The Gods of Grindcore. nineteen years in albums and still going strong albeit with no surviving original members. They manage to stick to the tried and trusted formula yet still have something fresh to say.  

Barney Greenway and his “I’m in a rush to get to the end of the song before anyone else” colleagues have managed to put a smile on my face just by reading the song titles and seeing how long they last. Try Puritanical Punishment Beating or Call That an Option? How about the grin inducing Warped Beyond logic or the superb Rabid Wolves (for Christ!). Sixteen songs in 45 minutes, they don’t mince words, in fact they still don’t sing them much either!  

The great evolution as far as the band are concerned has been the introduction of far better production values over the years and Smear Campaign is well assembled. There is some subtlety with the intro but following that one and a half minutes it’s down to business.

Guitarist Mitch Harris, Bassist Shane Embury (slow right arm round?) and drummer Danny Herrera produce a myriad of thousand mile an hour riffs and time changes to keep me guessing, even after continued listening I can’t quite keep up now. The themes of religious interference and government control dominate the proceedings though Barneys trademark growl still obliterates whole paragraphs of lyrics. But these guys are about naked unfettered aggression nailed to confrontational lyrics with just a dash of self depreciation and a wry smile. All in all it’s a fun listen, my motorway miles just melted away in a frenzy of fuzzy chords and double bass drum ass kicking. And the look on the woman’s face in a beamer at the lights when I wound the window down mid album was hysterical.  

The last time I saw this mob at last years Download, they only played one song that lasted over three minutes in a fifty minute set. The bloke next to me complained that they were going “proggy”?? Well there are four songs on here that go over the sacred three minutes, hail the next Genesis anyone?

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Track List

Weltschmerz
Sink Fast, Let Go
Fatalist
Puritanical Punishment Beating
Well All Is Said And Done
Freedom Is The Wage Of Sin
In Deference
Short Lived
Identity Crisis
Shattered Existence
Eyes Right Out
Warped Beyond Logic
Rabid Wolves (For Christ)
Deaf And Dumbstruck
Persona Nongrata
Smear Campaign

Line Up

Barney Greenway - Vocals
Shane Embury - Bass
Mitch Harris - Guitar
Danny Herrera - Drums