[ATTENDED: April 29, 2022] Napalm Death
Napalm Death are legends. They have been around since 1981 although formed a solid lineup in 1987. Although their Wikipedia page lists 18 former members, the lineup I saw was almost has been with the band since at least 1991.
Current members Shane Embury – bass, backing vocals (1987–present) Mitch Harris – guitars, backing vocals (1990–present) Danny Herrera – drums (1991–present) Mark “Barney” Greenway – lead vocals (1989–1996, 1997–present).
That’s pretty impressive for a grindcore band whose first album contained songs that were almost all under two minutes long.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from them, but they came out and did exactly what Napalm Death should–they played fast and heavy and lead singer Barney shouted and screamed and growled his way through the first song (which is almost four full minutes). It was followed by three songs from their newest album (from 2020), all three of which were proper full length songs (including guitar solos!)
Then Barney talked to us and he turned out (I’m sure everyone knew this but me) to be a funny working class bloke from England. His between song banter was awesome as he wasn’t afraid to call a Nazi a Nazi and to call Christian fakers out for their bullshit.
Once they moved back to some of their older songs, like “Lucid Fairytale” the songs got shorter (that one is a minute long). And “The Kill” is all of 23 seconds.
But these short songs were little breathers in between the newer more lengthy ones. And when Barney described what the songs were about you could almost hear the vocals making sense of the lyrics.
Napalm Death is actually literally famous for having released the world’s shortest song. Which they did play. Only once. As they got near the end of the set, they played “You Suffer” which is precisely 1.316 seconds long (the live version may different in length a bit).
After one more song, they delighted everyone by playing a cover of Dead Kennedys’ “Nazi Punks Fuck Off.” Their version was grindcore and fast, but we tried our best to sing along.
Even though Napalm Death is intense and serious about their lyrics, they are also very funny, as evidenced by their T-shirt. Which I had to buy.
Silence Is Deafening √- Fuck the Factoid ∉
- Backlash Just Because ∉
- Contagion ∉
- Lucid Fairytale ⊗
- Everyday Pox Ü
- Invigorating Clutch ∉
- Narcissus ®
- Scum §
- Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism ∉
- The Kill §
- Suffer the Children ©
- When All is Said and Done ‰
- You Suffer §
- Dead ⊗
- Nazi Punks Fuck Off (Dead Kennedys)
§ Scum (1987)
⊗ From Enslavement to Obliteration (1988)
© Harmony Corruption (1990)
‰ Smear Campaign (2006)
√ The Code Is Red… Long Live the Code (2005)
Ü Utilitarian (2012)
∉ Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism (2020)
® Resentment Is Always Seismic – A Final Throw of Throes (2022)
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