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Napalm Death

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Napalm Death
File:NapalmDeathLegacy.png
Background information
OriginBirmingham, England
Years active1982 – present
MembersMark "Barney" Greenway
Shane Embury
Mitch Harris
Danny Herrera
WebsiteOfficial Napalm Death website

Napalm Death is a grindcore band formed in the village of Meriden near Birmingham, England in 1982 by Nicholas Bullen and Miles Ratledge. The group are generally acknowledged to have been the first group to invent the grindcore genre, a fusion of thrash metal and hardcore punk. However, the band progressed from these beginnings after their first two albums and became a death metal sounding band. Indeed, the early history of the band is one of constant member rotation - by the second side of their debut album Scum, they did not contain any original members.

Members of Napalm Death have moved on to form bands such as Carcass, Godflesh, Cathedral, and Scorn. Additionally band members have formed numerous side projects, including Painkiller, Brujeria, Lock Up, Meathook Seed, Defecation, Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine and Jesu.

Although Napalm Death was the first band who actually coined the word "Grindcore" to classify and define the type of music that they played, others had previously played very similar music. Groups such as Siege, Larm, Heresy and Cryptic Slaughter were also playing a similar fast and brutal style of music. However, Napalm Death cemented the fusion of punk aggression, high velocity tempo, metallic production and deep guttural vocals that later became synonymous with the "Grindcore" genre.

Biography

Early history 1982-1986

Napalm Death started in the village of Meriden near Birmingham, in the United Kingdom, in 1982. The band was formed by Nic Bullen and Miles Ratledge who were still at school at the time (they were 13 and 14). The duo had been playing in 'bedroom' bands since 1980 as an extension of their fanzine writing and went through many names including "Civil Defence", "The Mess", "Evasion" and "Undead Hatred" before they settled on Napalm Death at the beginning of 1982. The band were initially inspired by the early wave of punk bands, particularly the anarcho-punk movement which included artists such as Crass, Flux of Pink Indians, Rudimentary Peni and The Ex: anarcho-punk was a sub-genre of punk music which was focused on extreme left-wing anarchist politics.

The band recorded a number of demo tapes in 1982 and 1983, one of which contributed their first studio recording to the Bullshit Detector Volume 3 compilation released by Crass Records in 1984. However, the band had reached a point of stasis by the end of 1983, and only played 1 concert in 1984 (a benefit for the Miner's Strike which was occurring at the time in Britain).

Meanwhile, a young guitarist from Birmingham called Justin Broadrick was playing music under the name "Final". Nic Bullen met Broadrick at a record and tape cassette stall in the Rag Market in Birmingham in early 1983 where they bonded over a shared interest in groups such as Killing Joke, Throbbing Gristle, Crass, Amebix, Swans and the developing "Power Electronics" scene. Nic Bullen joined the "Final" project for a period in 1983, and later asked Justin Broadrick to join Napalm Death as a guitarist when the band reformed after a hiatus in mid-1985. The band began to blend a mixture of the post-punk of Killing Joke and Amebix with heavy punk in the vein of Discharge and the thrash metal scene led by groups such as Possessed and Celtic Frost. The band recorded a demo Hatred Surge in 1985.

Following the recording of the demo (and numerous concerts through the later half of 1985), Bullen and Broadrick decided that they wished to pursue a more extreme form of their music which was not to the taste of Ratledge. As a result, the group splintered and Mick Harris, a local fan, was admitted into the band as the drummer in December 1985. The band then became a three-piece, with Bullen focused on vocals and bass, Broadrick on guitar and Harris on drums. "It became more metal influenced as the three of us played more," said Harris.

The band played many concerts through 1986, recording a demo "From Enslavement to Obliteration" in March 1986 and then recording another demo which later became the first side of the band's debut album Scum in 1986. The demo was financed by Digby Pearson, owner of the small label "Earache Records".

However, Napalm Death was about to undertake a number of line-up changes. Bullen was becoming frustrated with the direction of the group (which was moving towards a more 'metal' style) and began to lose interest. He initially decided to stop playing bass (so a new new bassist - Jim Whiteley - joined) in order to focus on vocals.

During a show with brutal but more industrial band Head of David, Broadrick received an offer to play with them provided he leave Napalm Death for good. Being a Head of David fan, he did not think twice before leaving Napalm Death for good and joining Head of David on drums (he would later go on to play in Godflesh as well). Napalm Death was now without a guitarist.

After Broadrick's departure, Bullen lost all interest in the project and stopped attending rehearsals in December 1986. He shifted his focus away from music towards his studies and went to university to study English Literature and Philosophy.

1987-1989

Shortly after Broadrick left, Bullen left as well. So they had to look for new members. Guitarist Bill Steer played in a local band called Carcass and given the affinity between the bands, he joined Napalm Death while still playing an active role in Carcass. Also, a new singer was added: Lee Dorrian. With this line-up they recorded what was to become the B side of Scum in the Rich Bitch studios in May 1987. The result was finally released through Earache. This classic attempt against logical musical structure and good taste features seminal Grindcore classics such as "Dragnet", "Mind Control", and "You Suffer".

Shortly thereafter, the band went on tour. Napalm Death lost another member. Whitely left just before the tour for Scum. Enter Shane Embury, an avid Napalm Death fan and formerly known as the drummer for Unseen Terror. After this small line-up change, they took part in two compilations (North atlantic noise attack and the Pathological), recorded two Peel sessions and a Split 7" with Japanese grinders S.O.B.. On top of that, they went to Rich Bitch studio once more and recorded their second album: From Enslavement To Obliteration.

Very much in the same vein of the second half of Scum, From Enslavement To Obliteration differs as far as production goes, but that is about it. Following the release, Napalm Death had a participation on BBC's Arena Heavy Metal Special, which proved how successful the band could be. The band went on touring around the world for a while, but as soon as they came back home from Japan, in July 1989, Steer and Dorrian left the band. Steer decided to dedicate himself full-time to Carcass, while Dorrian formed the doom metal outfit Cathedral. Soon enough the remaining members contacted Jesse Pintado (ex-Terrorizer). A new singer, Mark "Barney" Greenway, who sung in the death metal act Benediction was also called, and immediately joined.

After recruiting new members, the band took part of the Grindcrusher tour, with fellow labelmates Carcass, Bolt Thrower and Morbid Angel. After the touring, they called in a second guitarist, Mitch Harris (ex-Righteous Pigs), and soon started writing new songs with this line-up. They went to the American death metal producer Scott Burns who lives and works in Florida and records mostly in the Morrisound Studio.

1990-1994

In Florida, they started working on their next album, Harmony Corruption. While writing Harmony Corruption they changed their style a little, from grindcore, to a mix of blast beats and some slower, more rhythmic parts. In addition, death metal was a major influence on Harmony Corruption, more so than their previoius records. After releasing the new record, they went on touring around the world and from the material filmed at those concerts they released a home-video, Live Corruption.

Mick Harris eventually left Napalm Death because of conflicts regarding their musical style. A thus far unknown American drummer was brought in to replace him, Danny Herrera. Napalm Death released a new record, Utopia Banished. Now working with producer Colin Richardson. This release was a kind of "return to the roots" - grindcore.

After recording The World Keeps Turning EP, the band toured Europe with Dismember and Obituary on the "Campaign for Musical Destruction" tour. The tour continued in the US, where Napalm Death played with Cathedral, Carcass and Brutal Truth.

Thereafter, they went to the studio and recorded Fear, Emptiness, Despair. Although it was still as heavy and aggressive as ever, the new record took a different direction and sounded more experimental; they added more rhythmic riffs, an industrial-like structure, and then added grindcore blast beats. Live concerts with Entombed, Obituary and Machine Head showed the audience how violent and aggressive the new Napalm Death sound was.

1995 onwards

The Greed Killing EP was the next release from the band, through Earache. After the preview with the EP, Diatribes, a full-length album was released. Although things seemed to be going smoothly from outside, they were going through problems. Misunderstanding between the members and lead singer Greenway being expelled from the band in late/mid 1996. Greenway went to record with Extreme Noise Terror (the ENT release Damage 381 features Barney on lead vocals) and ENT's main singer Phil Vane went to fill vocals slot in Napalm Death. Things did not go as well as they were supposed to, and Vane was kicked out of the band just before they got into the studio to record the new album. And so Greenway returned to Napalm Death.

The next albums Inside the Torn Apart and Words from the Exit Wound continued with the experimentation but displayed more signs of grindcore, notably faster tempos than the last two albums. This return was completed with the release of Enemy of the Music Business. It shows their anger with the music industry and especially with Earache. Order of the Leech continued where their previous album ended and can be seen as even more faster and aggressive.

In 2004, they recorded a covers album called Leaders Not Followers: Part 2, the sequel to their earlier covers EP. It contains covers of old hardcore punk and heavy metal bands, including Cryptic Slaughter, Massacre, Kreator, Sepultura, Siege and Discharge.

Due to personal problems, Jesse Pintado did not play on either Order of the Leech or Leaders 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. The two guitars that you hear is Mitch over-dubbing.

In April 2005, the new album The Code Is Red...Long Live the Code was released. It features guest appearances of Jeffrey Walker (formerly of Carcass), Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed vocalist) and Jello Biafra (formerly of Dead Kennedys). The album continues the band's progressive approach to their brutal brand of extreme metal, with their trademark grindcore sound retained.

Napalm Death finished recording their new album titled Smear Campaign in June 2006; released on September 15, 2006 featuring a guest appearance by Anneke van Giersbergen, vocalist for the Dutch rock band The Gathering. There is a limited edition digipak version of Smear Campaign, which has two new songs, "Call That an Option?" and "Atheist Runt".

On August 27, 2006, Jesse Pintado died in a hospital in the Netherlands due to liver failure.

Members

Current lineup

Past members

Discography

Trivia

  • The name of the group - Napalm Death - was partly influenced by films relating to the Vietnam War.
  • Though bassist Shane Embury has been playing in the band since 1987, and is therefore the member to be in the band the longest, there are no original members in Napalm Death's lineup.
  • The band earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for recording the shortest song ever, You Suffer which is precisely 1.316 seconds long and consists of the almost incomprehensible lyrics "You suffer - but why?".
  • Dream Theater singer James LaBrie wears a Napalm Death t-shirt in their Pull Me Under music video.
  • 'Unfit Earth' from Harmony Corruption was used on the Vic and Bob pilot sitcom The Weekenders.
  • The character Sol Badguy's (from Guilty Gear) Instant Kill move was called Napalm Death, after the band.
  • In the children's film Matilda, Matilda's brother Mikey is wearing a Napalm Death t-shirt in the scene where the TV blows up.
  • In David Firth's Burnt Face Man series of cartoons, the character Anger Man is seen wearing a Napalm Death t-shirt.

External links

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