The Grindcore Thread

Unseen Terror - "Human Error" (1987)

Early UK grindcore/thrashcore ala Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Heresy, Carcass & Cryptic Slaughter.

3/5

Pig Destroyer - "Terrifyer" (2004)

Some of the better US grindcore I've heard. For fans of Napalm Death, Brutal Truth & Nails.

4/5

Napalm Death - "Scum" (1987)

The debut album from this Birmingham-based grindcore outfit represents the birth of the subgenre & is generally placed on a pedestal by the grind community. I first became acquainted with it around 1989/90 when I purchased the Earache reissue that placed both of Napalm Death's first two albums in the one package. I'd already been introduced to grindcore through Terrorizer by that stage & it's interesting to see just how far the scene had come in just a couple of years because "Scum" already sounded pretty primitive by the time it hit my ears. The production & performances are very sloppy but that's not really the point of grindcore now, is it? What is important is sheer energy & aggression & you'll find plenty of that here. It's just that I feel these tracks rarely reach their potential due to the sloppy execution. Drummer Mick Harris is the obvious exception here as his pounding performance is responsible for giving the underground scene an immense shot in the arm that saw extreme metal taking enormous strides in a more brutal direction forever after. The two sides were recorded in different sessions & with completely different lineups & it's very obvious. The A side (with Godflesh front man Justin Broadrick) is generally very strong with the production & consistency dipping a bit on the B side (with Carcass guitarist Bill Steer). All things considered I find "Scum" to leave me with similar feelings to Venom's classic releases in that I think I would have found it a little more appealing if I'd been onboard at the time of release because metal had already evolved in positive directions from here. As it stands though, "Scum" is an important (if slightly immature) take on early grindcore that serves the short-term purpose of getting me thrashing my body around pretty well but has never commanded regular return visits. For fans of Terrorizer, Brutal Truth & Repulsion.

3.5/5

Pig Destroyer - "Prowler In The Yard" (2001)

The 2001 second album "Prowler In The Yard" from Washington grindcore legends Pig Destroyer is right up there with my favourite grind releases ever. It's not the most substantial of records. I mean you shouldn't go into it expecting an emotional rollercoaster. Instead, you can expect to leave the experience feeling a little shaken up & disturbed, particularly after the five minute finale to the epic "Piss Christ" which is some of the most fucked up shit you're ever likely to hear & reminds me of something from a Rob Zombie horror film.

The album starts off on a real high with it's two strongest & most brutal tracks giving you a solid battering of blast beats & insane shrieking. As the album progresses Pig Destroyer become a lot more riffy & you'll pick up the obvious influence of Slayer, Pantera & Machine Head. It's this strong riff component that gives founding guitarist & Agoraphobic Nosebleed main man Scott Hull his edge & enables the album to dig its teeth in.

Unfortunately, much like most grindcore releases, the novelty does wear off after a while & I usually use this record for a short blast of enjoyment that I don't have to think about too much. It's strength is in its consistency with no weak songs amongst the 22 included in the tracklisting. It's interesting that I've always found the most popular track "Trojan Whore" to be the weakest of the lot, perhaps due it also being the most accessible. The production is excellent & J.R. Hayes' insane vocal performance really adds to the unhinged atmosphere. You don't even notice the lack of a bass player here as the guitars have a lovely thick tone.

"Prowler In the Yard" is a solid & professional example of the grindcore genre that's been put together by a group of dudes that really know what they're doing. As far as Pig Destroyer's back catalogue goes, I rate it slightly ahead of its more highly regarded follow-up "Terrifyer" from three years later but a fair way behind their incredible one-track sludge metal E.P. "Natasha" from 2008 which is on another level to anything else they've done in my opinion.

For fans of Napalm Death, Brutal Truth & Agoraphobic Nosebleed.

4/5

Repulsion - "Horrified" (1989)

The only album from legendary Michigan-based grindcore godfathers Repulsion was actually a collection of old demos that was distributed by Carcass on their own label Necrosis Records. The band's demos are often recognized as some of the most seminal examples of the early grindcore movement & are commonly credited as being responsible for popularizing the use of blast beats as a primary creative tool which has always added to the appeal of "Horrified" but, despite these claims, it's a damn fine record in its own right. It doesn't sound like a collection of demos to be honest as the vast majority of the tracklisting offers a similar style of song-writing & production. The death metal component in Repulsion's sound is often overstated in my opinion. They really sound very much like a particularly aggressive thrash metal band that has recruited a grindcore drummer, kinda like former Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris has joined Slayer with Venom front man Cronos behind the microphone & that can't be a bad thing. The groovier riffs don't appeal to me half as much as the pure blast-fests like "The Stench of Burning Death", "Crematorium" & "Maggots in Your Coffin" but they rarely hang around for long. "Horrified" is a top five grindcore record for me personally & serves the purpose of the subgenre perfectly i.e. a brutal blast of energy that doesn't require much thought or overstay its welcome.

For fans of Napalm Death, Brutal Truth & Cretin.

4/5

Great album Daniel. I'm not exactly a grindcore aficianado, but Horrified is my second-favourite example of the genre after Terrorizer's World Downfall. I didn't realise it was a  collection of demos. As you say, you can't tell that it wasn't all recorded at the same time and shows that if nothing else, Repulsion were consistent.

For this weekend's top ten list I've decided to go with grindcore. Please be aware that I've omitted releases that are generally regarded as deathgrind as I'll do a separate list for that particular subgenre. Here's my Top Ten Grindcore Releases Of All Time:

01. Discordance Axis – “The Inalienable Dreamless” (2000)

02. Pig Destroyer – “Prowler In The Yard” (2001)

03. Pig Destroyer – “Terrifyer” (2004)

04. Repulsion – “Horrified” (1989)

05. Unseen Terror – “The Peel Sessions” (1989)

06. Cretin – “Stranger” (2014)

07. Napalm Death – “The Peel Sessions” (1987)

08. Napalm Death – “From Enslavement To Obliteration” (1988)

09. Napalm Death – “Scum” (1987)

10. Fuck The Facts – “Die Miserable” (2011)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/149

What do you top tens look like?

After checking out Cretin's Stranger for this month's Horde feature, I said that I should probably check out more grindcore as I have rated the limited number of albums I've listened to in the genre quite high. So in search for more of the same, I picked out Insect Warfare's World Extermination. Now, I was completely into it from the outset, but that's not really the point of this post. I was listening to it for the third time whilst taking the dog round the block this evening and I got to thinking "Why do I feel drawn to this kind of extreme music? Grindcore and war metal are not really the kinds of music (almost) sixty year olds go for, nor do the vast majority of younger people for that matter, so what's up with that?" The only viable and honest answer I could give myself was that these kinds of short, chaotic bursts of nihilism are, in fact, reflections of what it's sometimes like inside my head. I can hear a grindcore track or a war metal track and recognise and relate immediately to that chaos as if it was a musical reflection of my incoherent, but silent, mental railing at the world.

So what I'd like to know from any other grindcore, war metal or any other super-extreme metal fan is "Why do you think you listen to it?" Be as honest as you can in your answer as I am genuinely interested because for 99.9% of the population it is just an unholy fucking racket so I'd like to know what attracts us extreme metal fans to the music we love but almost everyone else hates.

For me there's a few reasons. Firstly, both Ben & I seem to be drawn to niche things in general & are collectors & completists by nature. If it wasn't music it'd be something else but the extreme metal scene is fantastic because it's so underground & therefore represents something intriguing because I hate commercialism & the mainstream in general. I like to challenge myself by trying to understand more & more extreme examples of art & that's not isolated to metal. I'm just as obsessive about other styles of music like techno, drone & ambient but they all have one thing in common.... they take me outside of my everyday life to foreign & unfamiliar places & can be inherently dark & cerebral which I think this is the key because I'm very much an introspective loner who enjoys his own company & is fascinated by the darker side of life. I'm generally a very laidback & stress-free kinda guy. I'm non-confrontational & are a glass-half-full kinda guy. Therefore, extreme metal takes me the furthest from my comfort zone & challenges me the most. It also represents the ultimate avenue for the release of aggression & the more extreme it is the more successful it is at that task. Extreme metal gives me an adrenaline rush like no other & makes me feel a sense of power & belonging to something. Plus, it has the added bonus of shocking people when they first hear about my passion as you'd never pick it from looking at me (at least not these days).

I had this conversation once with my better half who listens predominantly to 80's pop and some modern pop also after I played some black metal in the car once which she thought was particularly unpleasant.  For me extreme metal is the ultimate zenith of creativity that abandons any concept of safety or normality and actively pursues the complete opposite end of those spectrums.  Now, I can listen to most music and hear creativity being done firmly in the realm of safety and familiarity and such music has its time and place in my life.  However, what I revel in hearing is a band or artist absolutely letting go of themselves, ripping up the "standard" format or structure of music and deliver truly challenging (to the point of being terrifying in some instances) music that doesn't need safety or conformity to hide behind as to these artists these concepts only stifle their creativity.

I might have said this elsewhere on here but I very much see metal as being "mine".  It is my passion and the associations it has with dark and macabre themes appeal to my increasingly reclusive nature which is the exact opposite of how I have to behave at work - extreme metal is the ultimate escape from life for me.

Thanks for the answers guys. One thing that  leaps out at me that we all seem to have in common is the fact we are the introspective types. Do you guys ever seem to get comments along the lines of "You think too damn much" like I do? Like Vinny I see metal very much as ""mine" and it doesn't bother me at all that no one around me has the same taste (my wife is a sixties/seventies rock fan - Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Yes etc, although she does love Wardruna, but hates metal).

Another interesting thing is that despite people hating extreme metal because of it's supposed aggression and inferred violence, I get the feeling that you guys are not at all violent people (I know I'm not). I'd rather listen to violent and aggressive music than actually be a violent and aggressive person. The rejection of commercialism is another very sound reason - I hate the rampant commercialisation of virtually everything - I never eat at McDonalds or other mass market fast food joints, I never wear clothes that make me look like a walking advert for some sportswear company and I hate Hollywood movies. Good luck to all those marketing motherfuckers getting more people to buy Autopsy, Esoteric or Blasphemy albums!

Thanks for the answers guys. One thing that  leaps out at me that we all seem to have in common is the fact we are the introspective types. Do you guys ever seem to get comments along the lines of "You think too damn much" like I do? Like Vinny I see metal very much as ""mine" and it doesn't bother me at all that no one around me has the same taste (my wife is a sixties/seventies rock fan - Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Yes etc, although she does love Wardruna, but hates metal).

Another interesting thing is that despite people hating extreme metal because of it's supposed aggression and inferred violence, I get the feeling that you guys are not at all violent people (I know I'm not). I'd rather listen to violent and aggressive music than actually be a violent and aggressive person. The rejection of commercialism is another very sound reason - I hate the rampant commercialisation of virtually everything - I never eat at McDonalds or other mass market fast food joints, I never wear clothes that make me look like a walking advert for some sportswear company and I hate Hollywood movies. Good luck to all those marketing motherfuckers getting more people to buy Autopsy, Esoteric or Blasphemy albums!

I don't get such comments because I rarely get much time to think.  There's very much two versions of me, the work type taking up most of the persona because I have a high pressure job that although pays well dominates most of my life as a result because I have to plan my work to the minutest of detail.  The home version of me gets a lot less air time and time spent with music is often so precious that I focus little on thoughts in all honesty.  I am not a violent person at all but I do have a short fuse (and this is getting worse as I get older) which can sometimes make me look more aggressive than I intend to be.  There's things in my life that need to change to make that better but not looking to go into that, needless to say that I find some of the most extreme art forms very calming in these moments.  I have the artwork to the album cover for Visions of Trismegistos by Nekromantheon on my office wall and despite the horrific images and violent red colour over grayscale I am instantly calmed by the image and can look at it for minutes on end.

Great comments guys, and so much of it rings very true for me. Like the rest of you, I couldn't care less what other people think about me and what I enjoy. This sense has become stronger as I get older, and watching the world's inhabitants jump from one trend to another while my interests remain the same can be fairly amusing at times. If I'm honest, I think I enjoy it more when people are disbelieving and shocked at my interests these days than when they try to connect with me because they once heard a Disturbed or Dragonforce album. If COVID has taught me anything, it's that I really don't need very many people in my life to be genuinely happy. If I never had to go into the office another day for the rest of my life, I'd be genuinely happy. As long as I have my direct family, a few mates to share a beer with, and appropriate access to follow my passions (including Metal Academy of course), I'm all set!

To answer the original question though, I know it seems at odds to outsiders, but I often find dark things to hold immense beauty. It can be hard to explain why something that is undeniably violent and at times outright terrifying can provide a sense of euphoria to those of us that have this inclination, but that's my reality. That said, I do think that a lot of my favourite metal music has aspects that even non-metal fans would admit are quite beautiful. It just so happens that I'm also attractive to the dissonant, the technically challenging, the melancholic, the violent, the fucking strange, the outright scary, and all the other aspects that come into play in this incredible genre of music.

Have just updated my top ten after submitting a genre tag vote on Terrorizer's "World Downfall" & realising that Nails' "Unsilent Death" needs to be in there somewhere:

01. Discordance Axis – “The Inalienable Dreamless” (2000)

02. Pig Destroyer – “Prowler In The Yard” (2001)

03. Pig Destroyer – “Terrifyer” (2004)

04. Terrorizer - "World Downfall" (1989)

05. Repulsion – “Horrified” (1989)

06. Unseen Terror – “The Peel Sessions” (1989)

07. Nails - "Unsilent Death" (2010)

08. Cretin – “Stranger” (2014)

09. Napalm Death – “The Peel Sessions” (1987)

10. Napalm Death – “From Enslavement To Obliteration” (1988)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/149

Nails - "Unsilent Death" (2010)

A 13 minute blitzkrieg that combines blasting Napalm Death style grindcore with Entombed's "Wolverine Blues" then throws in a bit of d-beat, crust punk & sludge metal for good measure. "Unsilent Death" didn't do all that much for me at the time of release but my drastically improved score is a sure sign of the development in my taste for grindcore & hardcore punk in general over the last decade.

For fans of Full Of Hell, Dead In The Dirt & Trap Them.

4/5

Wormrot - "Hiss" (2022)

Singapore's metal pride & joy return with another enjoyable blast of grindcore shenanigans, this time choosing to dilute their blasting grind sound with a whole range of different subgenre shifts in the name of creativity. You'll even find the use of strings on a number of tracks although still in a fairly stabbing & abrasive manner for the most part. To be honest though, I still listen to grindcore for the short, sharp shock of brutality that only that subgenre can bring so I found myself enjoying the more traditional tracks a lot more than some of the more artsy ones. "Hiss" doesn't overstay it's welcome at just over half an hour for the 21 tracks though & ticks most of the grindcore boxes along the way but I can't say that it's something I can see myself returning to all that often even though I enjoyed it while it was on. It may be the talk of the town on Twitter right now but there's better grind releases out there in my opinion.

For fans of Insect Warfare, Nasum & Pig Destroyer.

3.5/5

Nasum - "Helvete" (2003)

Blasting ball-out grindcore from Sweden. This genre doesn't get much better than when Nasum lets go of the shackles & just goes for it. The slower tempo groove sections aren't as strong but they maintain a nice level of consistency across the 22 tracks with no obvious weak tracks. I fucking love the ultra-aggressive vocals & drumming. "Helvete" kicks serious arse in my opinion.

For fans of Rotten Sound, Wormrot & Brutal Truth.

4/5

Have just updated my top ten after revisiting Nasum's "Helvete" today & realising that it needs to be in here somewhere:

01. Discordance Axis – “The Inalienable Dreamless” (2000)

02. Pig Destroyer – “Prowler In The Yard” (2001)

03. Pig Destroyer – “Terrifyer” (2004)

04. Nasum - "Helvete" (2003)

05. Terrorizer - "World Downfall" (1989)

06. Repulsion – “Horrified” (1989)

07. Unseen Terror – “The Peel Sessions” (1989)

08. Nails - "Unsilent Death" (2010)

09. Cretin – “Stranger” (2014)

10. Napalm Death – “The Peel Sessions” (1987)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/149

Have just updated my top ten after checking out this month's The Revolution feature release in Atka's "Untitled Album 1" & finding that it has to command a place in my list at the expense of Napalm Death's "The Peel Sessions":

01. Discordance Axis – “The Inalienable Dreamless” (2000)

02. Pig Destroyer – “Prowler In The Yard” (2001)

03. Pig Destroyer – “Terrifyer” (2004)

04. Nasum - "Helvete" (2003)

05. Atka - "Untitled Album 1" (2018)

06. Terrorizer - "World Downfall" (1989)

07. Repulsion – “Horrified” (1989)

08. Unseen Terror – “The Peel Sessions” (1989)

09. Nails - "Unsilent Death" (2010)

10. Cretin – “Stranger” (2014)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/149

Nails - "You Will Never Be One Of Us" (2016)

I really enjoyed Nails' third record back at the time of release but was perhaps too preoccupied with the Metal Academy podcast at the time which didn't allow me to fully grasp just how much hardcore violence it contains because these guys are kinda unparalleled in that regard. Look, I love albums like "Unsilent Death" as much as the next extreme metal nut & 2013's "Abandon All Life" sophomore album is my all-time favourite grindcore record but I honestly have no idea how this release can be seemingly overshadowed by the band's previous work because it's an outstanding example of the genre with a ridiculously powerful production that could not possibly be better for this style of music. The 22 minute run time is dominated by the eight minute sludge metal classic that is closer "They Come Crawling Back" which perhaps goes part of the way to explaining it but the bass guitar & drum sounds are absolutely immense on this record with Todd Jones' vocals sounding utterly monstrous. Don't believe me? Check out tracks like "Friend to All" or "Into Quietus" & tell me you can sit still, let alone stop flailing your arms around & fly kicking anything in close proximity with complete disregard for your own or anyone else's well-being. With the exception of "Abandon All Life", I've struggled to rate a grindcore release higher than a 4/5 on Metal Academy but "You Will Never Be One Of Us" has come within a bee's dick of achieving that feat with this revisit to what is an outstanding release for the genre.

For fans of Full Of Hell, Dead In The Dirt & Trap Them.

4/5

Nails - "Abandon All Life" (2013)

I have to say that after revisiting all three of Californian grindcore legends Nails’ full-length albums over the last few months I’ve come to the conclusion that they’re really out there on their own as far as the leading grindcore exponents go. No one can touch them in this space as they simply possess another gear to even the most highly regarded of opposition & this sophomore album may just be the high point of the entire movement. Once again we have an extremely short run time at just over seventeen minutes in duration but one that’s dominated by the inclusion of two lengthier sludge metal pieces that take up just under half the run time. Both of these tracks are utterly superb & you get the feeling that Nails might have been one of the greats of the sludge scene if they’d chosen their niche a little differently as they have serious talent in the elusive & highly desirable art of riff creation. The rest of the album is made up of the most extreme grindcore violence you’ve ever heard in your life, only with ultra-clinical performances & a wonderfully powerful production job from Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou. The drum sound & guitar & bass tones are all spectacular & go about tearing your face off in the most efficient manner imaginable. The performance of drummer Taylor Young should be highlighted in particular as the guy is an absolute beast. His blast beats are as pummeling as any in extreme metal & he’s a major contributor to making “Abandon All Life” sound so fucking tight. The only negative I can find here is that I’m not sure I dig the slight change in vocal delivery from front man Todd Jones as much as his other efforts but that’s a small price to pay for what has essentially now become my favourite grindcore release of all time from my favourite grindcore band of all time.

For fans of Full Of Hell, Dead In The Dirt & Trap Them.

4.5/5

Here's my revised Top Ten Grindcore Releases of All Time list for those that are interested:

01. Nails - "Abandon All Life" (2013)

02. Nails - "You Will Never Be One Of Us" (2016)

03. Discordance Axis – “The Inalienable Dreamless” (2000)

04. Pig Destroyer – “Prowler In The Yard” (2001)

05. Pig Destroyer – “Terrifyer” (2004)

06. Nasum - "Helvete" (2003)

07. Atka - "Untitled Album 1" (2018)

08. Terrorizer - "World Downfall" (1989)

09. Repulsion – “Horrified” (1989)

10. Unseen Terror – “The Peel Sessions” (1989)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/149

Hayaino Daisuki - "The Invincible Gate Mind of the Infernal Fire Hell, or Did You Mean Hawaii Daisuki?" E.P. (2010)

When I returned to metal following a decade of electronic music indulgence in 2009, I went on somewhat of an extreme metal marathon in order to catch up on everything I’d missed since leaving the scene behind back in 1998. Death metal, black metal, extreme doom metal, thrash metal & grindcore received my full attention & while undertaking that process I came across a deceptively-titled & little-known US side project called Hayaino Daisuki which included vocalist Jon Chang (Discordance Axis/Gridlink/No One Knows What The Dead Think), guitarist Takafumi Matsubara (Gridlink/Takafumi Matsubara/Guilty Connector), bassist Teddy Patterson III (Burnt By The Sun/Gridlink/Human Remains) & drummer Eric Schnee. In classic grindcore fashion, Hayaino Daisuki released just the two short EP’s in their eight year existence in 2008’s debut effort “Headbanger’s Karaoke Club Dangerous Fire” & their 2010 sophomore record “The Invincible Gate Mind of the Infernal Fire Hell, or Did You Mean Hawaii Daisuki?” with the latter generally being the more highly regarded of the two. Neither received enough of my attention to warrant me attempting a review or even a rating at the time as my mission didn’t allow me to invest too much of my attention on a single release unless it was absolutely belting me but I do recall quite enjoying “The Invincible Gate Mind of the Infernal Fire Hell, or Did You Mean Hawaii Daisuki?” in particular so I thought it might be time to give it a return viewing.

Hayaino Daisuki’s second E.P. is the shorter of the two with its four tracks coming to a total run time of just 12 minutes so it doesn’t require an enormous investment of your time. None of the four tracks included really stand out from the other three as the quality is very consistent throughout but the band leaves no stone unturned in their efforts to pulverize the listener with a whirlwind of high-velocity activity. You shouldn’t expect a blastathon though as the blast-beats are used quite sparingly for a grind-related release & I do say "related" because Hayaino Daisuki are very hard to pin down into any one subgenre. Their sound seems to pull together over-the-top grindcore screaming with consistently up-tempo & thrashy riffage, the melodic focus of melodeath/meloblack & some very exciting & shreddy Slayer-style lead guitar work. This combination of different techniques works nicely too as all of those components are well integrated into a cohesive sound that doesn’t need to jump around too much in order to showcase all of the available elements.

The production job is very effective as it provides a good balance of raw intensity & clarity with each instrument being easily decipherable through the face-melting metal maelstrom. Perhaps the bass could have been a little higher in the mix but there’s not much to complain about really. The guitar solos I mentioned are the clear highlight for me personally with their tone being high in mid-range which enables them to comfortably pierce through & ride on top of the wall of sound. Jon Chang is a rabid, psychotic mad dog of a front man & you suspect that the short run time has allowed him to simply go for broke without the fear of blowing his voice out through over-exertion. If I’m being honest, it’s the more melodic material that keeps Hayaino Daisuki from breeching my bank of higher scores though as I’m not the biggest fan of an overtly melodic focus in my extreme metal & there's a surprising amount of that on offer for a grind record.

At the end of the day, “The Invincible Gate Mind of the Infernal Fire Hell, or Did You Mean Hawaii Daisuki?” is an enjoyable blast of fun that’s probably unlikely to change many lives but will no doubt enhance some for short periods. It serves its purpose nicely as I can definitely see a few people throwing themselves around their bedrooms while playing air guitar frenetically & screaming violently. I’d suggest that its consistency is also it weakness though as it's lacking the one or two highlight tracks required to stop it from flying past in somewhat of a blur, an entertaining blur it has to be said but a blur none the less.

3.5/5

Napalm Death - "From Enslavement To Obliteration" (1988)

I can still vividly recall my reaction to hearing Birmingham grindcore godfathers Napalm Death for the first time when I was just an innocent & naïve early teenager. I was sitting in my bedroom in the dark listening to a late-night underground metal radio program & recording it with my cassette deck so that I could give it some repeat listens throughout the coming week. It was late in the show & I was getting very tired when a track from the brand new “Mentally Murdered” E.P. was given an airing. I believe it was the closer “No Mental Effort” & it made me stand straight up with new life having been breathed into my weary body. I simply couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The music coming out of my headphones was the most savage thing I’d ever heard in my life &, even though I found it to be awfully confronting, I also found myself captivated & intrigued. It would only be a matter of weeks before I’d head into the city with all of my pocket money to purchase a copy of a compilation CD that included both of Napalm Death’s first two records (i.e. their 1987 debut full-length “Scum” & 1988 sophomore album “From Enslavement to Obliteration”) as well as four of the five tracks from 1988’s “The Curse” single. Upon returning home I’d very quickly find that the sound of Napalm Death’s earlier material leaned noticeably closer to the crust punk side of the grindcore equation compared to what I’d heard from “Mentally Murdered” which had a more familiar & relatable death metal edge. It wasn’t as instantly appealing if I’m being honest but I persisted as this music simply sounded so vital & important to my young ears, not to mention dangerous & exciting.

The debut album “Scum” was very rough in its execution & production & relied heavily on raw energy & the battering blast-beats of Mick Harris (Scorn/Defecation/Extreme Noise Terror/PainKiller/Unseen Terror) for its appeal. It was very much a tale of two halves too with the A side (featuring Godflesh/Jesu/Fall of Because mastermind Justin Broadrick on guitar & Scorn bassist Nik Bullen) being noticeably stronger than the B side (which featured Carcass guitarist Bill Steer & future Prophecy of Doom bassist Jim Whitely). It presented a young band that was clearly still fine-tuning their style while “From Enslavement To Obliteration” sees them offering up a sound that takes all of those initial elements & pushes them to even greater extremes, only it does it with a little more maturity than “Scum” could muster. Whitely & Bullen had both left the scene by this stage, being replaced by Napalm Death’s longest term member in Shane Embury (Unseen Terror/Lock Up/Brujeria/Meathook Seed/Venomous Concept). Broadrick had also departed in order to focus on a string of his own industrial projects so Embury would join Harris, Steer & vocalist Lee Dorrian (Cathedral/Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine/With The Dead) to create a more stable lineup that could focus on delivering what they hoped would be the most extreme recording ever produced at the time. Did they succeed? Shit yeah, they did!

“From Enslavement To Obliteration” takes a very similar stylistic approach to “Scum” in that it’s built on a base that’s been borrowed from crust punk. It’s only very short for a full-length album, featuring 22 songs with an average duration of around a minute in length. The opening track (my personal favourite & somewhat of a classic for me as a youngster) “Evolved As One” can work to present the listener with a false sense of security as it sounds nothing like the rest of the tracklisting, instead opting for a much slower & more industrial approach that sounds uncannily like Broadrick’s Godflesh project that was recording it’s self-titled debut E.P. at around the same time. It’s hard to imagine that this was coincidental given the close ties there. The other 21 songs are short bursts of blindingly fast & outrageously aggressive grindcore with Dorrian going completely nuts over the top. This is a tighter & more organized Napalm Death than we'd heard on “Scum” with Steer’s guitar technique having come one quite a bit in the time between the two recording sessions.

This all sounds very positive for the album’s chances of eclipsing the 3.5 star rating I awarded to “Scum” now, doesn’t it? So why is it exactly that I’ve found myself opting to go with the same rating for “From Enslavement To Obliteration” when it’s generally regarded as the more classic release then? I guess it comes down to taste & personal preference really. You see, I’m simply not that big a fan of the punkier end of grindcore, particularly when it’s presented in such a primitive form. Dorrian’s psychotic, rabid-dog style barking can be pretty tough going at times & (opening track aside) there really aren’t too many tracks that stand out as genuine highlights. “Impressions”, “Blind To The Truth” & “Sometimes” come the closest & I don’t think it’s too surprising that they’re the most relentlessly blasting tracks with the smallest punk components. Despite the fact that there’s not a single weak song included across the 22 on offer, I do think that the rest of the album sounds a little samey with a lot of the material being based on the exact same concepts.

So, I guess the outcome of all of this is that (much like it’s older sibling “Scum”) “From Enslavement To Obliteration” served more of a novelty role in my childhood than anything else. Even though it's the better record of the two, I’ve never seen it as essential listening (even for grindcore) & prefer Napalm Death’s later material which I find to be more creative & engaging. It did however give the underground metal scene a major shot in the arm & saw the extremity levels going up a few notches very quickly so it deserves a lot of credit for that & fans of bands like Brutal Truth, Repulsion & Nasum will definitely want to make themselves accustomed with it, if only for its importance in what was to come.

3.5/5

Napalm Death - "The Curse" single (1988)

While giving The Birmingham grind gods' sophomore record a detailed revisit yesterday, I thought I'd also cover the 7" single that's included as a bonus with the Spotify version of the album these days. It was originally a part of the "Scum"/"From Enslavement To Obliteration" compilation CD I owned back in the day (well, four of the five tracks were anyway) & it sounds very similar to the "From Enslavement To Obliteration" album so I never even realized it wasn't a part of the actual record until much later on. The production job is pretty much identical so I assume that it was all recorded in the one session.

"The Curse" is a short five minute affair comprising of the three-minute title track (i.e. the entire A side), two ridiculously short 4-6 second blasts similar to the band's famous 4-second anthem "You Suffer" & a couple of more traditional sub-one minute grindcore offerings. The title track is a low-tempo, Godfleshy industrial metal piece that's not too dissimilar to the opening track from the "From Enslavement To Obliteration" album "Evolved As One". It may not be as effective but it's still a very solid piece of work in its own right & I find it to be the most rewarding track on the single. The other main point of interest for me personally is the 45-second "Morbid Deceiver" which is a superior reworking of "Deceiver" from the "Scum" album.

I actually really like this single. It may only be short but the more substantial inclusions are solid enough to see me reaching for a higher rating than I've afforded to either of Napalm Death's first two full-lengths.

4/5