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Harmony Corruption

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Harmony Corruption
Studio album by
Napalm Death
Released30 July 1990[1]
StudioMorrisound Recording, Tampa, Florida, United States
GenreDeath metal
Length41:02
Label
Producer
Napalm Death chronology
Mentally Murdered
(1989) 		Harmony Corruption
(1990) 		Mass Appeal Madness
(1991)
Singles from Harmony Corruption
  1. "Suffer the Children"
    Released: 13 August 1990[2]

Harmony Corruption is the third studio album by British grindcore band Napalm Death, released in July 1990 on Earache Records.

Music

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According to music journalist T Coles, Harmony Corruption "makes a clear effort to be structured, naturally bringing their style closer to the bands in the Florida scene" and introduces a "tighter architecture to their berserk style."[3] The album represents a shift in genre from grindcore to "standard death metal", featuring technical riffs and deep low vocals. The tracks have been called "full-fledged songs [...] not start-stop eruptions of noise" and "straightforward death metal songs, not grindcore blasts."[4]

Notably, it was recorded at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida, where many classic death metal albums were recorded. Additionally, members of prominent Florida Death Metal bands Glen Benton (Of Deicide) and John Tardy (Of Obituary) were guest vocalists for the song "Unfit Earth".[5] The album has been described as "more expansive" than its predecessors, which have been called "one- or two-minute grindcore blasts."[6]

The guitar work between Pintado and Harris has been described as "varied and intricate" compared to that of Bill Steer, their predecessor in the band, whose style was described as a "frenzied, distorted blur."[7]

It is the first Napalm Death album to feature Mark "Barney" Greenway as the vocalist and Americans Mitch Harris and Jesse Pintado as guitarists, and the last with Mick Harris on drums.[citation needed]

Release

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Harmony Corruption was the band's third UK chart entry, peaking at number 67. Richard Johnson, a member of Agoraphobic Nosebleed, says that the wide distribution of Harmony Corruption ensured that it had a greater impact on the American grindcore scene than earlier Napalm Death efforts.[8]

The track "Suffer the Children" was released as single on vinyl and CD, which features the non-album tracks "Siege of Power" and "Harmony Corruption".[9] A video was made for "Suffer the Children".[10] Additionally, limited vinyl pressings included the bonus LP with a live performance recorded at I.C.A.[11]

The tracks from the Mentally Murdered EP,[12] are included at the end of early editions of the CD, though versions now in print feature only the standard eleven tracks.[citation needed]

In 2012, Earache Records released a remastered edition, containing bonus tracks.[citation needed]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal5/10[14]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[15]
Entertainment WeeklyC[16]
Select[17]
Spin Alternative Record Guide6/10[18]

The album was met with a polarized reception upon release and has continued to divide listeners. Decibel described the album as, "a milestone in extreme music history."[19] Conversely, Allmusic described the album as, "a bit of a novel album for the band, though one that's not especially remarkable in the big picture."[20]

Shane Embury has said of the album's reception, "it turned a lot of people on to the band who I guess had never given us the time of day, but also turned old-school fans off. Being young at the time and seeing the reactions was kind of scary; as you get older, opinions matter less, but it captured the time. Over in the states it has the same nostalgia as Scum. We will always have to play 'Suffer the Children.'"[19]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Vision Conquest"Shane EmburyEmbury2:42
2."If the Truth Be Known"
  • Embury
  • Mark Greenway
Embury4:12
3."Inner Incineration"EmburyJesse Pintado2:57
4."Malicious Intent"EmburyEmbury3:26
5."Unfit Earth"GreenwayMick Harris5:03
6."Circle of Hypocrisy"GreenwayMick Harris3:15
7."The Chains that Bind Us"
  • Embury
  • Greenway
Mick Harris4:08
8."Mind Snare"GreenwayMitch Harris3:42
9."Extremity Retained"GreenwayMick Harris2:01
10."Suffer the Children"GreenwayMick Harris4:21
CD bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
11."Hiding Behind"GreenwayMick Harris5:15
Live at the I.C.A. London 29 June 1990
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Rise Above"Lee DorrianEmbury 
2."Success?"Jim Whitely  
3."From Enslavement to Obliteration"   
4."Control"Justin BroadrickJustin Broadrick 
5."Walls of Confinement"DorrianMick Harris 
6."Instinct of Survival"BroadrickJustin Broadrick 
7."Siege of Power"Broadrick  
8."Avalanche Master Song" (Godflesh cover)GodfleshGodflesh 
9."You Suffer?"BroadrickNick Bullen 
10."Deceiver"Whitely  

Personnel

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Chart positions

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Chart (1990) Peak position
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 67

References

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  1. ^ Music Week- New Albums- 28 July 1990 issue, page 26
  2. ^ Music Week- New Singles- 11 August 1990 issue, page 27
  3. ^ Coles, T (2022). Death Metal. McFarland. p. 61.
  4. ^ Harmony Corruption - Napalm Death | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 29 December 2024
  5. ^ "Napalm Death's 'Harmony Corruption' Turns 30". 1 July 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  6. ^ Harmony Corruption - Napalm Death | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 29 December 2024
  7. ^ Harmony Corruption - Napalm Death | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 29 December 2024
  8. ^ Kevin Stewart-Panko, "Altered States," "Grindcore Special" part 2, Terrorizer #181, March 2009, p. 42-43.
  9. ^ "Napalm Death 'Suffer the Children'". Earache.com. Earache. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  10. ^ Newman, Melinda (16 February 1991). "The Eye". Billboard. Vol. 103, no. 7. New York: BPI Communications. p. 56. ISSN 0006-2510. OCLC 4086332.
  11. ^ Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption, retrieved 23 January 2023
  12. ^ "Napalm Death - Suffer the Children - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives".
  13. ^ Birchmeier, Jason. Napalm Death: Harmony Corruption > Overview at AllMusic. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  14. ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 305. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  15. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. pp. 1015–1016. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  16. ^ Browne, David (25 January 1991). "Death Metal new releases". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  17. ^ Perry, Neil (October 1990). "Masters Of Brutality". Select. No. 4. p. 116.
  18. ^ Norris, Chris (1995). "Napalm Death". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 265–266. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  19. ^ a b "Napalm Death's 'Harmony Corruption' Turns 30". 1 July 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  20. ^ Harmony Corruption - Napalm Death | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 10 November 2024
  21. ^ "Napalm Death | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
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